History Video Lectures: Memory & Martial Law

 

Culture and Society During Martial Law by Dr. Enrique Niño Leviste


To say that Martial Law was just another event in Philippine history is an understatement. From the beginning, it was a deliberately planned takeover of a democratic government that began with the neutralization of institutions and individuals that could oppose it. For the next fourteen years, the economy was plundered, information controlled, and human life taken for granted by the very agents of the law sworn to protect it. To say that Martial Law was the action of one man is an understatement. Rather, Martial Law enabled specific Filipinos and their families to act with impunity, transforming public resources into private benefit.

The greater tragedy of Martial Law, however, is not the lack of legal accountability. It is the lack of memory itself. Over thirty years since the overthrowing of the dictatorship, the place of Martial Law in history, if not the very facts behind Martial Law, are still being challenged. This lecture discusses the nature and role of social memory in studying Martial Law, from how we as a nation have remembered since EDSA, the consequences of forgetting, and where we need to go today.


These martial law public lectures were part of an elective course, History 172: Martial Law and Memory, taught by Dr. Jose Ma. K. Tirol at the Ateneo de Manila University during the 2nd Semester of Academic Year 2016-2017.

 

Video coming soon

 

Video coming soon

 

Video coming soon