It was 47 years ago when we Filipinos faced another predicament and it wasn’t because of the clutches of colonizers or foreign invaders. We were put under the rule of one man which later brought a huge impact and anguish to our society. Now free from the chains of the dictatorial regime, what exactly changed in our beloved country?
As we all know, Martial Law period is one of the dark ages of Philippines, There had been reported cases of people being tortured to death because of alleged accusations, women getting abused, rallies being conducted everywhere and some people with high ranks abused their power and used it to oppress people. Marcos deprived the Filipinos from publishing articles that are against the government. In other words the Filipinos back then had no ways to express their opinion and suggestions about the government. They were only obliged to obey the president because following the rules was compulsory and that’s probably the reason why the Filipinos felt like they are being trapped in a cage and that they need to fight to break free. In present time with the absence of martial law we are very fortunate to be given the right to choose what is best for our country. The government is all ears to the people’s wishes, needs and desires and everyone has the freedom to express themselves verbally and nonverbally.
Despite of Martial law being known as a notorious era, Little did many know that the early years of it are considered as the golden age of the Philippines according to some people, for that time the Philippines had what it takes to compete with other more civilized countries. In that time we were able to build several infrastructure, all roads didn’t have a single peck of trash , programs such as Rice and Roads program were executed and percentage of poverty and crime decreased. It also turns out that the Filipinos during the martial law are more disciplined because of the rules that were implemented that time.
As what we have observed, the relationship between Marcos and the Filipinos is somewhat similar to a father and child relationship with the father being strict and bossy and not letting his son do what he wants without his permission and whenever the child disobeys him he disciplines him in the way that the child would never had the guts to disobey him again. Having that kind of father was truly excrutiating but thanks to that the children became more disciplined and meticulous to their actions. Now without that kind of father the children became more and more impulsive. With democracy at its finest some Filipinos have forgotten that there is a limit on being free and that they need to draw a line at doing frivolous actions. The government itself doesn’t have the teeth to make the people follow the rules necessary to mantain peace and order. Without the strict implementation of rules, no matter how beneficial those rules are in our country, as long as the Filipinos refuse to follow it would all be futile.
Like what Heraclitus said, “The only constant in life is change” no matter how bad or good that change would turn out, and no matter how dark the situation before that change came we should always remember that there is always a beauty in everything and behind every negative scenarios there is an equal positive feedback.
Romylynn Demegillo 