21/09/2026
PRESS RELEASE | 21 SEPTEMBER 2026
OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES STUDENT COUNCIL COMMISSION ON STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS AND ACCREDITATION (PUP SC COSOA) ON THE 54TH ANNIVERSARY OF MARTIAL LAW AND THE CONTINUING FIGHT AGAINST HISTORICAL DISTORTION
"Kung patuloy tayong magbubulag-bulagan sa kasaysayan, patuloy din tayong mabibigong singilin ito ng katarungan."
It is easy to speak of Martial Law in the distant language of something that happened to someone else, somewhere else, long ago. It is more convenient to render bloodshed abstract, reduce its violence to dates, and confine its people to names in textbooks. Whatโs harder is to confront the fact that the passage of time does not automatically absolve us of what the past leaves behind, nor does it guarantee that the conditions that allowed such violence to take place have disappeared with it, because the agony of the past will continue lingering down to our current struggles. What becomes of remembrance when the past is not only forgotten, but actively reconstructed to detach from the consequences it left behind? The invocation of history accompanied by an evasion of the accountability owed to people is nothing but hollow commemoration.
Tila kapangyarihan lamang ang pinipiling ipagpatuloy, at hindi ang pananagutang kaakibat ng kasaysayan. Selektibo ang kalinga ng may kapangyarihan at paniguradong hindi ito para sa tao.
On 21 September 2026, as the nation marks the 54th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines under the administration of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., we are once again met with the grim realities that the Filipino people faced during those dark times. At gumuguhit pa rin ang apelyido ng rehimeng nagpahirap sa milyon-milyong Pilipino hanggang sa kasalukuyang pamumuno. Isang malaking insulto at pangungutya sa dangal ng mga buhay na nawala ang katwiran ni Marcos Jr. na ang Batas Militar ay inilunsad upang ipagtanggol ang bayan laban sa banta ng rebelyon. For what is more difficult to reconcile than a regime that claimed to defend the nation while the very people it governed became the ones who bore the weight of its repression? It is clear who was truly rebellious. It is clear who stood in defiance against the oath of safeguarding the welfare of the very people entrusted to his care.
Hindi pinalalampas ang panlalabis sa kapangyarihang hiram lamang sa masa, at hindi dagliang nalilimutan ang palpak na pangangalaga sa karapatang pantao. Yet, the Marcoses have returned to the very seat of national power, decades after their family's previous administration became synonymous with a period marked by widespread human rights violations. And the consequences of this regime are not matters of interpretation detached from Filipino experiences, among them were Liliosa Hilao, a student-journalist from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila who died in military detention in 1973; Archimedes Trajano, student-leader from Mapua Institute of Technology whose torture and death followed his public questioning of Imee Marcos in 1977; Edgar โEdjopโ Jopson, a former president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), who was captured and killed by military forces in 1982; and Charlie Del Rosario, who taught at the Philippine College of Commerceโnow Polytechnic University of the Philippines, who was abducted in 1971 and never seen again. If the past has truly taken root, why does political power continue to return to the same bloodline despite the documented abuses tied to its rule? How can we wonder why, no matter what education has promised, all we ever taste is the bitterness of distorted truth?
Hindi sapat ang mga tanong na humihinto lamang sa sintomas ng suliranin. Ang higit na dapat usisain ay: bakit paulit-ulit na iniluluklok ang parehong huwad na mukha ng pamumuno? Let us not tear down our own memory and bow to those in authority, hypnotizing us to forget. Ang lingkod-bayan ay hindi hari. Ang lingkod-bayan ay marunong managot. It is yet again another romanticization and reduction of the Filipino people to the narrative of resiliency and kindness. But our strength must never become an excuse for the injustices we are expected to endure, nor should our kindness be weaponized to make acceptance appear noble. Because above all, we are people of depth and truth.
Sa kawalan nito, lilipasan na lamang ng panahon ang katarungan. May pakpak man ang pekeng balita, tila lumpo naman ang hustisya. Regardless, whitewashing does not repair anything, but rather makes a spectacle of those who attempt to scrub themselves clean of a history written in the suffering of the people. But whether we allow historical distortion to settle into public trust or choose to confront what it attempts to bury is an obligation we could no longer afford to treat with indifference. Hence, we must refuse to grow satisfied with anything less than the real truth, accountability, and dignity owed to every Filipino who continues to inherit the freedom secured by those who resisted tyranny in hopes for a better country.
Hindi nalalason ang Pilipinong may pakialam sa bayan. Malaking kataksilan sa masa ang paglimot. Sa masa nag-ugat ang kapangyarihan, at sa masa rin ito mananagot.
It is for this reason that the PUP SC COSOA takes a resolute position in support of the commemoration of the 54th Anniversary of Martial Law, and its remembrance belongs first to the people whose lives were altered by the wrong exercise of power, while refusing to overlook the institutions, narratives, and circumstances through which that power was made possible and sustained. Beyond empty slogans and fake nationalism, we call upon youth to fight for an education that honors the struggles of our peopleโan education rooted in realities like Sikolohiyang Pilipino, looking at who we are through our own lens rather than foreign biases. Let us look past the lies, expose what the power seeks to conceal, and pierce through the narratives designed to manipulate the judgment of the masses. May this serve as an awakening and a reminder that we must never stop fighting for a society built on truth and justice.
Hindi maaaring tawaging ganap ang kasaysayan hanggaโt may baluktot na katwirang naglilibing sa pagdurusa ng sambayanan. Hangga't may katotohanang ikinukubli at pananagutang iniiwasan, patuloy nating hamunin ang naratibong lihis. Dahil ang pag-alala at paniningil ay pagpapatunay ng ating pagkatao. At sa laban na ito, hindi tayo kailanman magpapasailalim sa takot at kasinungalingan.
Iskolar ng Bayan, manindigan.
Sa bayan lamang maglingkod.
For the Filipino people, we will continue to serve and remember.
For service should never be divorced from the masses it is meant to honor.
Ducere est servire.
