Akbayan Youth lay wreath at Martial Law marker to remember atrocities at that time

Members of a militant youth group, the Akbayan Youth Cebu, laid a wreath at the Martial Law marker in Plaza Independencia in Cebu City on Saturday to remember the killings and the human rights violations during the Martial Law years of the administration of then President Ferdinand Marcos in the 70s and 80s.

Bon Robert Luzon, Akbayan Youth Cebu member, said that they held the wreath laying activity on Saturday (Sept. 8) ahead of late President Marcos’ birthday on Tuesday Sept. 11 to let the Filipinos, especially the millennials remember the atrocities done during the Marcos administration.

“Ang mga opposition ni Marcos, gipangpriso. Ang tanan kababahin-an kay gitorture tungod kay nag-organize sila og groups para sa ilang kaugalingong interest. Gibawalan ang pagoppose ni Marcos (Those who opposed Marcos were put in prison. Women were tortured because they organized groups for their own interests. People were not allowed to oppose the President at that time),” Luzon said in an interview on Saturday.

Aubry Jon Ampoon, the head of the Akbayan Youth Cebu, said that they held the activity because they feared that some Filipinos might celebrate and call former President Marcos a hero on his birthday.

“Basin madeklara og holiday ang 11 ug matawag siya ug hero, apan dili na tinuod, tungod sa mga patay ug mga human right violation sa una (They might declare the 11th as a holiday, and call him a hero, but that isn’t true, because of the killings and human rights violations during that time),” said Aubry Jon Ampoon, the head of the Akbayan Youth Cebu, in an interview on Saturday.

The Akbayan Youth Cebu also announced the #MillennialsRemember movement to show that the millennials still remembered the atrocities during the Marcos regime.