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CALIFORNIA, United States?My column on Ferdinand Marcos struck a nerve. And that?s good. It serves as a wake-up call, even for me.
Now, to be sure, online reader comments, most of which are anonymous on this site, are not typically reliable in gauging the public mood. Still, there are valuable insights from the reactions, including the bitterly angry responses from Marcos?s admirers.
One thing is clear from the reactions: There?s much frustration out there, with the corruption, with the chaotic, dishonest politics, with the rampant inequality in Philippine society.
What I (and some friends) found most striking, even troubling, is this: That because of that mounting frustration, the growing disillusionment, some Filipinos are willing to believe that dictatorship?or ?constitutional authoritarianism? as Marcos put it?is superior to democracy.
One reader said, ?I studied Philippine history. Marcos walang katulad. Ang Pilipinas nung time niya maunlad, respetado ng ibang bansa, maraming nagawa. Ngayun kaya? (Marcos had no match. The Philippines during his time was developed, respected by the world, and got much done. And now?)?
The reader claimed he/she was 18 years old.
I?ve heard that there?s currently a push to make the history of the Marcos regime part of the standard curriculum for high school, perhaps even grade school, students. It?s time to push even harder on this.
That?s because nearly a quarter century after the end of the Marcos dictatorship, the memory of the corruption and the brutality we endured as a nation may be fading. And that shouldn?t happen. Young people, most especially, must know and understand what we experienced under the regime. Otherwise, we will be condemned to repeat that sad chapter of our history.
This is not just about Marcos.
The most important lesson from the regime is this: When people get disillusioned, when they are struggling with extreme poverty, are frustrated with political repression, inequality, and chaos, they may act to fight for democratic change as Filipinos did in 1986.
Or they may become vulnerable to a politically savvy, even charismatic, figure, who declares, ?I have the answers. All these others are your enemy. Rally to me, and everything will be fine.? (This also could apply to a group promising paradise, because they claim to have the correct and superior ideology, because they have God on their side, or because they are rich, highly educated, and can?t possibly go wrong.)
As the Philippines reels from another period of polarization and disillusionment, young people should know and understand about what we went through. And I?m not talking about Nazi-style brainwashing, in which young Filipinos are made to swallow drab, meaningless information about the evils of dictatorship.
We shouldn?t even cast the history lesson in good-versus-evil terms. Instead, young people should be encouraged to think critically. You don?t do that by censoring information, banning books, or restricting access to the Web. That?s Marcos?s way?the way of tyrants.
Instead, young people should be exposed to as much information about what happened to our country. Yes, including those put out by the dictatorship.
By all means, have them read ?The Filipino Ideology.? Have them watch all the TV coverage of Marcos and Imelda when they were in power.
Sure, even have them view footage of Imelda entertaining foreign guests and looking beautiful and glamorous?since some apparently believe that such spectacles were proof of how much better things were back then. Let them listen to Marcos?s speeches, and have them read all his executive orders and official pronouncements.
But then, also have them read the books chronicling the abuses of the regime, the reports from the alternative press during those years, those put out by publications Marcos shut down or tried to shut down.
They should see the photos of those who were tortured and massacred, of the displaced peasants and factory workers who were brutally dispersed by police. They should watch the documentaries about that era, including the classic ?To Sing Our Own Song,? featuring the late Senator Pepe Diokno. They should go over the thousands of articles and the reels of footage on the assassination of Ninoy Aquino and the upheaval that followed.
They should go over the reports of Amnesty International and other human rights organizations documenting the atrocities of the regime. They should go on field trips to the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, to learn about all the martyrs who gave their lives fighting dictatorship.
By all means, give young Filipinos access to all the available materials. Expose them to all the claims and counter-claims about what we went through. There should even be spirited debates about the Marcos years. Nothing should be held back.
For I?m willing to bet that young Filipinos, once they get the real, complete picture, will decide that yes, Philippine democracy may be messy and chaotic, and that there?s still much work to be done to create a more just society, but it still is far superior to, and more humane than, authoritarian rule.
This is not about being vindictive or hateful. It?s about learning from our past, so we don?t fall into the trap of believing demagogues and tyrants?those who claim to have all the answers, and to therefore deserve all the power.
Marcos may be dead, his decaying remains sitting harmlessly in some fancy freezer up north. But even as we mark the 20th anniversary of his death, the dictator?s ghost still haunts us today.
