Not MARCOS Again, Please

Discussions are going around about Bongbong MARCOS running in the next PRESIDENTIAL elections.

WATDAHEK???

So, is this going to be a hate blog about their family? Or do I have something to share about the facts of history particularly what really went on during the Marcos era?  There are plenty of other writers and bloggers already doing that and they are doing a great job.  It is quite bothersome seeing posts in Facebook picturing Marcos as a "hero, actually".  It is a clear indication that they are already starting to campaign.  It seems there are already some getting swayed.

I'm no historian and I never had good grades in that subject back in school.  I would just like to share how it was being a "martial law baby".

I was born in 1968 and when I reached the "age of reason" as they call it, Marcos was already the president until he was ousted in 1986.  That's a good 18 years, not counting the years before I was born. Well, everyone knows that he was in power for 20 years. As I can recall, my parents were staunchly against him.  My Dad, the late Atty. Francisco A. Villa was serving the government - in the NBI and he was Chief of Police in Pasay.  When Marcos took over, he chose to do private practice. If any of my sisters and one and only brother is reading this, please correct me if it was Dad's choice or if Marcos just did not qualify him anymore.  My Mom, the late Lilia S. Villa was annoyed with Imelda's flamboyance.

In St. Scho Manila (St. Scholastica's College, Manila), where I went for elementary and high school, I remember a class in 3rd grade (I was about 9), when the teacher asked for a raise of hands for KBL or LABAN. (KBL was the party of Ferdinand Marcos and LABAN, of Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, the opposition) Almost everyone raised their hands for LABAN and just one or two for KBL. Clearly, a lot of other parents were also against Marcos. Then there was a noise barrage to show support for LABAN.  That joy ride with my Dad in his car was so much fun while he honked his horn along with so many other cars joining the cause.

In 1983, my Dad came home one day from work sad.  He said, "Ninoy was shot dead".  Later, I found myself with my sister Cordi joining the millions for Ninoy Aquino's funeral march. We found a spot to sit in the garden of the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque no matter how far it was from the burial site. We were there to express our family's sadness over the death of that one brave man who opposed the power of Marcos. It was a prelude to the People Power march in 1986.

1986.  The clamor against the power of Marcos was reaching its boiling point.  Back in St. Scho Manila, I was graduating from high school and in one of our CAT (Citizens Army Training) sessions, our batch made a movement to boycott the class.  In our notebooks, the name under the Commander in Chief was Ferdinand Marcos whom most of us were going against.  We were supposed to change to our CAT uniforms and head on to the school field for training.  Instead, we refused to change and headed away from the field where we were lead by our batch leader - if I remember it right, it was Gianna Rodriguez. Our cause for doing that was to refuse recognizing Marcos as our chief. The teachers did not admonish us for that move.

Then, the rest as they say is history.  It was during my 4th year in high school when the People Power march in EDSA took place.

Back to this day, almost 30 years after, there are talks about Bongbong Marcos, the son of Ferdinand, running for presidency.  He is already senator!  The Marcoses are back in the political arena where they were ousted, where, under the rule of their patriarch, our country fell to where it is now - economically and politically suffering.  While their full return to power is imminent, I am attempting to curb that through this blog, like what the others are doing.

In case this blog reaches Bongbong.... Sir, I am not condemning you and your family. I do not wish you dead.  I wish for you to redeem yourself away from politics.  You can still serve the country and do it even better far from the political arena.  You might be different from your father, yes, but history has marked your entire family as a political bane.

In the meantime, I wonder what I can do, as a voter, to get the right people in power.  I need to do more than vote wisely, to be more selective of the candidates.  I guess this blog is one attempt.  Friends, let's not just campaign for people.  Let's go for qualification and most of all SINCERITY.  Let's do away with popularity, please.

Thanks for reading and I hope you spread this word I have for the world - a better PHILIPPINES.