Students get a taste of Martial Law

Policemen surround student protesters holding posters during Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s visit at the Cebu City Hall on Thursday. (CDN PHOTO/JOSE SANTINO S. BUNACHITA)

Six millennials got a taste of what martial law must have been like when at least 20 tanods, police and security aides of Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. ganged up on them and threatened to arrest them for holding a rally against the vice-presidential candidate during his visit to Cebu City Hall  on Thursday afternoon.

Justine Balane of Akbayan Youth Visayas and his group were holding copies of the photograph of the young Marcos partying when his father was president at the Plaza Sugbo grounds fronting city hall when the police and tanods threatened to arrest them for failing to secure a rally permit.

“This was not 1972. It happened in a day when we are supposed to be free to say what we want. It’s scary when we have a candidate who inspires a rabid mob to silence us, especially when we feel that our voices are the only things that can save us now,” said Balane who took to Facebook to narrate their experience.

As of  5:20 p.m.  on Friday , Balane’s post reached 374 likes and around 1,300 shares.

“This election has become very personal to me. I’m out on the streets not because I have a different opinion. I’m out on the streets because I’m actually scared,” he said.

Balane and his friends gathered outside city hall about 3 p.m. shortly before Marcos arrived to pay a courtesy call on Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella and some city councilors. Mayor Michael Rama was in Manila.

Balane, chair of the University of Philippine Cebu student council and member of Akbayan Youth Visayas, said at least five men wearing red shirts  printed with  “Bongbong 2016” corralled them to keep the young protesters  away from the main entrance of city hall where the late dictator’s son was welcomed by city officials.

The students – aged 18 to 20 – were clad in plain white shirts and crimson bow ties – a pointed reference to the viral video on Facebook that showed the young

Marcos in white shorts and a shirt with  bow tie partying in the presidential yacht when his father was president.

Then Marcos arrived in a convoy of three vehicles and his campaign jingle blaring from the speakers.

“Bongbong Marcos arrived but as we were about to advance, his staff pushed us away saying that we had ‘no respect for the sitting Senator’. He told us to go away as we did not know what we were talking about. We stood our ground. We knew it was our right,” he said.

Balane’s companion, Isaac Saguit, called out Marcos’ name using a megaphone to call the senator’s attention.

But his megaphone was pushed down by one of the senator’s staff members. The students were then pushed away.

Balane said he saw Marcos glance  and wave at them while climbing up the stairs of the city hall.

He said they only wanted to convey the message that the Marcoses should not be trusted to hold a high elective office again after what happened during the Martial Law era.

“Dapat siya moangkon nga daghang bilyones nga gipangkawat ang mga Marcos. Dili pwede makalimot ang mga batan-on sa nahitabo (He should admit to the billions of pesos that the Marcoses stole. The youth should not forget),” he said in an interview during the protest.

MOCKED

Some Marcos supporters mocked them, saying they were too young to have their money stolen by the Marcoses since they were not even born during Martial Law.

“Kahibaw inyong mga mama ug papa nga nag-aktibista mo? (Do your mothers and fathers know that you are activists)?” another supporter said.

But they continued explaining how people should not forget what happened during the dictatorship, which included students being kidnapped and killed for holding public protests.

The students started to chant but before they could complete a sentence, a tanod of Barangay Sto. Niño ordered  them to keep quiet.

Afraid that they would be harmed since they were outnumbered, the students just stood in front of the City Hall building, holding their small posters.

They stayed for 30 minutes as the music of Marcos’ campaign jingle filled the streets and even drowned out the noise of traffic passing by.

“The police and the security team threatened us with arrest as we did not have a permit. Never mind that we were on a Freedom Park. Take note that in the Martial

Law era, the police can conjure criminal charges never heard of in law books to arrest a person arbitrarily,” Balane said in his post.

Balane said they may not have experienced the dictatorship of Marcos in the ‘70s, but last Thursday’s incident gave the students a glimpse of what it must have been like during Martial Law.