'Never forget': Filipino activists mark 50th anniversary of martial law declaration

Nation

by DZRH News23 September 2022

Candles are lit as part of an art installation during an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of martial law declaration by late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, father of the current president, at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City, Philippines, September 21, 2022. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

MANILA (Reuters) - Hundreds of Filipino activists on Wednesday took to the streets to mark the 50th anniversary of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr's declaration of martial law.

Marcos Sr assumed emergency powers on September 21, 1972, commencing what many remember as one of the darkest periods in the Southeast Asian country's history. He was ousted 14 years later after a popular uprising.

Activists chanted "never forget" and held banners condemning the crimes allegedly committed by the regime during martial law including extra-judicial killings, human rights abuses and forced disappearances.

His son and namesake, current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has defended the decision to impose martial law at that time, claiming it was done to protect the country from communist rebels and insurgents.

(Reporting by Jay Ereno; Writing by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)

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