Some Filipinos are in a rush to buy books documenting the divisive and savage 21 yr reign of the previous dictator Ferdinand Marcos as his son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jnr, assumes office as the latest president of the Philippines after a landslide election victory in May.
They say they fear that the model new Filipino president might attempt to whitewash the historical past of his father’s and families’ previous and they need to preserve the ‘truth’.
For his part, the model new Philippine president has never publicly acknowledged or apologised on behalf of his household for the human rights abuses, corruption, and financial theft that’s claimed to have taken place beneath his father’s tenure, most of it as a military-supported dictatorship, between 1965 to 1986.
Books, overlaying the stories of the Marcos family and their tenure running the Philippines, have practically doubled in price and have turn into increasingly popular as Filipinos, many of who now live outside of the SE Asian country, need to ensure that the voices, talking concerning the Marcos years, are kept protected.
Their response follows feedback made on the record by the new president. Back in 2020, when he was getting his presidential marketing campaign collectively, Marcos Jnr made it clear that he wanted to revisit historic textbooks that documented his parent’s excesses and the regime they led. Painless accused these in power since his father’s demise of “teaching youngsters lies.”
“We have been calling for that for years.”
But human rights groups claim that during the 21 years of the Marcos regime, tens of 1000’s of individuals have been imprisoned, tortured, or killed for criticising or protesting the federal government.
Both Ferdinand Marcos (who died in exile in 1989), and his wife Imelda, now 93, were found responsible, in absentia, of widespread corruption. Amongst essentially the most dramatic claims, the Marcos family were accused of stealing an estimated US$10 billion of public cash from Filipinos.
Read more in regards to the excesses of the previous ‘First Lady’ of the Philippines HERE.
The household, and Marcos Jnr. denies using any tax-payer funds for his or her private use, though their claims have been challenged and examined in a quantity of court instances as the evidence suggests in any other case.
There are no less than 10 titles masking the years of martial law and the legal past of the Marcos household. Many of them are now sold out and awaiting new printings, especially at universities around the Philippines.
Some of the titles include… “Some Are Smarter than Others: The History of Marcos’ Crony Capitalism” by Ricardo Manapat, “The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos” by Primitivo Mijares, “Canal de la Reina” by Liwayway Arceo Bautista.
Filipinos, who lived via the Marcos years, are additionally making certain that their stories are recorded for prosperity by doing new blogs and vlogs that chronicle the violence and personal stories concerning the Marcos-led army.
New media are additionally being targeted by the brand new presidency. Just one day earlier than Marcos Jnr. took workplace as the new Filipino president, Nobel laureate Maria Ressa says her news organisation, Rappler, was ordered to close down.
She claimed that Rappler had been repeatedly focused since 2016 by politically-led authorized motion and vexatious libel and tax evasion lawsuits.
“This is intimidation. These are political tactics. We refuse to succumb to them.”
As of at present, the Rappler news website continues to be available..