Malacañang mum on martial law's 51st anniversary

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 21) — Malacañang on Thursday said it will not release a statement on the commemoration of the 51st year of the declaration of martial law in the country.

Asked for a statement, the Presidential Communications Office told reporters, "Wala daw po [There is none]."

In 2022, Malacañang also issued no statement as the country recalled the military rule of the elder Marcos, regarded as one of the darkest periods in Philippine history marked by torture, deaths, illegal arrests, and media repression.

Liberal Party President and Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman called out the "ominous silence" of the Office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, which he described as "deafening and revealing."

"It would appear that President Marcos Jr. refuses to acknowledge the very huge elephant in the room the avarice-tainted and repression-filled years of his father's misrule that he and his family continue to deny and refuse to atone for," Lagman said.

The lawmaker also slammed the memorandum from the Department of Education, headed by Vice President Sara Duterte, mandating the change of the term "Diktadurang Marcos" to "Diktadura" in the Araling Panlipunan subject of the new MATATAG curriculum.

"We cannot alter historical facts," he said. "We have a civic duty to be faithful to the truth and promote a culture of remembrance if we really want to come to terms with the disgraceful history of the Marcos Sr dictatorship and honor the men and women who have died; disappeared; and were raped, tortured, and maimed by the henchmen of the dictator Marcos."

The late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, father and namesake of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., declared martial law on Sept. 21, 1972. The younger Marcos is in his second year in power as the country's chief executive.

The Marcos patriarch placed the country under martial law through Proclamation No. 1081, resulting in thousands of human rights violations.

The martial law years of 1972-1981 also saw widespread corruption and the country racking up billions of dollars of foreign debt.

In 2022, Malacañang also issued no statement as the country recalled the military rule of the elder Marcos, regarded as one of the darkest periods in Philippine history marked by torture, deaths, illegal arrests, and media repression.

Meanwhile, human rights groups called out what they said is the administration's efforts to cleanse the Marcos name and bury the abuses of the late dictator's regime.