Marking the 50th anniversary of the signing of martial law by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the Far Eastern University -Department of Communication (DepCom) in collaboration with human rights organizations, In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (iDEFEND) and LILAK: Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights, conducted “CineForum: #NeverForget the History, #NeverAgain to Martial Law”.
The whole-day activity through its FEU SCREEN program highlighted the experiences of different people during the time of Martial Law through films and actual accounts of Martial Law victims.
The event kicked off with the film viewing of two Martial Law-themed full-length films: “Liway” and “Bukas Na Lang Sapagkat Gabi Na.”
A roundtable discussion followed that shed light on the “real score” of the Martial Law period with Roman Sarmiento, Department Chair of FEU’s Interdisciplinary Studies, Jet Leyco, filmmaker and lecturer, and Martial Law survivors: Louie Crismo, Co-Chairperson, Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance, Ester Isberto, Board Member of Bantayog ng mga Bayani, and Ramon Isberto, a journalist and a TV show host tackled how martial law transpired and affected the lives of the people.
In the time where disinformation and historical distortion is in the works to sanitize the dark legacy of the martial law era while promoting the lie that the dictatorship was a golden age, the human rights community and the academic institutions vowed to combat the widespread historical distortion of martial law atrocities. FEU’s DepCom will continue to heed this call with such programs. We will continue to be brave and will never forget our history.
