ARBOLEDA, Bea Marie Denise H.

September 28, 2018

BAAP – 1B Soc Sci 2 PM

Ignorance is Cowardice: On Martial Law

A reflection paper on the implementation of Martial Law under President Ferdinand E. Marcos

Prior to attending classes in University of the Philippines, I was ignorant. Ignorant to the
point of just letting things like politics pass me by. Ignorant that I turned my eyes away from the
news when they started talking about death and corruption and chalked it all off as “politicians
being greedy” for the nth time. Ignorant that it was too late to realize that I was ill-informed,
unaware, and uncaring. It wasn’t as bad when I turned 16, when the K-12 program began and
turned my parents’ 10-year plan for my schooling to ashes; I was upset, but at least I tried to
understand what was happening to my future because it was all over the news, and so I found
myself with an unnecessary amount of basic information on how government systems affect me
as a student. That ridiculous change in our curriculum wasn’t even enough to spark the fire that
is within me today… and it is disturbs me now that I know so much more than the basics how
much I really didn’t care about it.

Maybe it was the environment that I grew up in. My school was conservative and wanted
to “embrace peace and foster unity” among the student body and so didn’t tolerate anything that
resembles revolt. Yes, they helped me understand things that the government did, and tried to
instill within me the idea that all we had to do was study well and be able to “serve the community”
and make our parents proud by graduating well with honors and with good conduct. The problem,
now that I’ve realized the truth, was that they only gave the bare minimum about problems within
the community and the country. They barely talked about the past and said history books held the
only facts that we should know. Ignored our questions and gave hard exams to distract us,
because history was objective to them.

Maybe it was because I really didn’t try to understand. My friends used to constantly try to
get me to participate in discussions, try to drag me to activities and events and vote. They always
asked me for my opinions but respected when I turned away from that topic. I remember being
so uncomfortable when they began debating about the death penalty during lunch break, saying
that I should participate rather than being unaware, or worse, neutral.
 Maybe it was because I didn’t care because I was unaffected. My family doesn’t talk about
history nor about politics at all. I personally didn’t even try. It’s still a problem today, but it was
especially worse when Duterte was elected. When I started showing signs of criticizing him, my
parents were breathing down my neck about how the country needed a disciplinarian. How he
needed to control the drug problem in order to protect the citizens of this country. How things
were supposed to be like this, like someone had to cross the lines no other president – other than
Marcos – had ever dared.

Seeing things in a new, enlightened perspective gave me a purpose. Although yes, it

would take me so much more courage and strength of will to participate in a rally, but at least now
I know within myself that I am more politically aware knowing the effects of Martial Law not just
on our country but on its citizens. Letting things pass us by brought Martial Law into our nation.
Letting things pass us by gave birth to a new era that threatened our countrymen. Letting things
pass us by gave entitled people the chance to control us like their own puppets, like they hold
authority above us when all we want is a little peace in this world.

Our country is made up of a number of ridiculously diverse people that still call themselves
Filipino. We are a people made up of skin and bones, we are mirrors of the past and the present
Filipino… but why are we so uncaring of things just because it doesn’t affect us? Now I understand
exactly how and why people are so important, and is still the kind of recognition that our political
leaders fail to comprehend. The people are the powerhouse of the country: even if we sin, even
if we do not care, even if we continue to make mistakes, the people are the sole reason why the
country exists, why a country breathes life.

Watching documentaries and reading about how this dictator took hold of the Philippines
with a swish of his hand was the first straw. He controlled the government, controlled our guns
and ammunition, controlled law enforcement and lawmakers and men and women and children,
denied the fact that people suffered under his reign, continued to live the time of his life and left
us with nothing but dust and blood and nightmares.

If we let things pass us by again, who knows what will happen next.