CHAPTER 4

On January 17, 1981, President Ferdinand Marcos lifted Martial Law in the country in preparation for the visit of Pope John Paul II. In response, 500 students then assembled in the second floor lobby of the AS Building. The students called Marcos's order “deceptive and aiming to pacify national unrest by feigning reforms.” Representatives from different groups also shared their thoughts on the sham lifting of Martial Law.

In the article, a representative from the Law School Government pointed out that even with the lifting of Martial Law in the country, the right to assembly and to strike remained suspended. A former dean of students also shared his concern about the worsening conditions for political detainees. The assembly thought that lifting Martial Law was also an answer to the growing militancy of the people at that time, and an effort to win over members of the middle class.

In anticipation of Pope John Paul II’s visit, a peaceful procession of 6,000 religious, students, urban poor, and workers was held on February 13, 1981. It was sponsored by the People's Assembly on the Pope's Arrival, and started at 1:30 p.m. at the Liwasang Bonifacio. The multi-sectoral assembly aimed to express the real sentiments of the Filipino people upon the pope's visit. Supposedly, it would have culminated in a mass at Bustillos Church in Sampaloc, however, police broke the path of the marchers, and instead held mass in the plaza.

Seminarians could also be seen marching and holding up a wooden cross, which was eventually broken by the police. Fr. Art Balagad of the Philippine Priests Union, later said that the procession was a test of religious freedom in the country. Sr. Mariani Dimaranan of the Task Force Detainees also said that those in attendance were releasing emotions that have been pent up by all the years of Martial Law.

During the pope’s visit, a people’s mass was held on the morning of February 19, 1981 where more than 5,000 workers, students, and farmers marched from the Quezon Memorial Circle (QMC) to EDSA to express their grievances. These grievances included their demands for the release of all political prisoners, stopping military atrocities and political repression, repealing anti-worker labor codes, and stopping militarization of communities.

The night before the mass, an overnight vigil in the UP Sunken Garden was attended by 650 students from different schools in Metro Manila. There, student leaders took turns relating the conditions in their respective schools and discussed issues surrounding the pope’s visit. Nationalistic skits and songs were also presented, and afterwards, they joined the march toward QMC. Near the GMA 7 building, they were met with anti-riot police. For protection, the marchers linked their arms together.

In response to police harassment of students, Col. Alfredo Yson, superintendent of the Western Police District (WPD) had a dialogue with student leaders on September 23, 1981. Originally, 200 students from various Metro Manila schools, led by the League of Filipino Students (LFS), intended to hold a picket and a forum in front of WPD headquarters. Instead, Yson invited them inside to a dialogue.

UP Student Council Councilor Louis Corral said that they would speak for the studentry and not as aggrieved individuals. Sonia Soto, LFS chair, said that the organization will be seeking legal action on behalf of aggrieved students, referring to the police harassment of 10 students from University of the East the month before. Yson denied any act of police brutality but directed one of his captains to investigate. Yson also pledged to mediate between students of Adamson University and their school administrators to not harass or expel student leaders.

The student leaders emphasized that the dialogue is a right they have insisted upon, and that the campaign against campus militarization is part of the general campaign against militarization of the country.

On October 7, 1981, 200 individuals were injured when anti-riot policemen violently dispersed an assembly of over 4,000 students at Liwasang Bonifacio to call against tuition fee hikes, restoration of student councils and student organizations, establishment of free campus press, and condemn campus militarization. Student leaders from Metro Manila, Baguio, Davao, Cabanatuan, and Bacolod also criticized the US-Marcos regime for the state of Philippine education.

At 4:45 p.m., the students assembled and prepared to march towards Quiapo through Quezon bridge. The students cordoned their ranks to prevent infiltrators from entering, and ensured a solid marching group. Yson, acting WPD chief, refused to let them march and gave them ten minutes to disperse. However, before the period was up, anti-riot policemen began to move in and started swinging their truncheons at students, resulting in over 200 injured and nine arrested.

In a reflection of the events plaguing the country, the editorial reflected how the air of revolution has been since replaced with an air of victory in winning over past issues. In 1977, students marched for the rollback of tuition fees, and the UP Diliman administration listened—tuition fees were rolled back. In 1978, students rallied for a “free, democratic, and representative” student council, and in response, the first election of USC was held in September 1980. Looking back at these past victories, the editorial gave a glimpse of hope despite the various incidents of militarization in the campus. The editorial emphasized that the fight is not, and will never be, over.

Some 1,500 farmers from Central Luzon picketed in front of the Ministry of Agriculture on December 9, 1981, in protest to the rising prices of fertilizers and pesticides. The farmers were allied with Alyansa ng mga Magsasaka sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL), and came from Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Bataan, Tarlac, and Pangasinan.

The protest was the result of the government dismissing farmers' petitions against the price hikes, which was raised last October 13 1981, and was consulted with 21 member-companies of the Agricultural Institute of the Philippines. Farmers, however, were not consulted with the hikes. Jaime Tadeo, AMGL spokesperson, stressed that the control of foreign monopoly led to these raised prices. Farmers also demanded that buying rice grains at lower prices than was set by the National Food Authority be made illegal.

Raising the prices of agricultural products was a product of Marcos’ "Green Revolution," which introduced new rice technology to supposedly boost farm production. However, the project did more harm than good as it increased inequality and prioritized crops that were more profitable and could be exported.

To commemorate the lifting of Martial Law, over 1,000 students walked out of their classroom and staged a noise barrage on January 14, 1982. The walkout left most classrooms empty in the AS Hall. In the symposium that followed, speakers condemned the Marcos regime and his New Society.

Former chair of the Law Student Government Alex Padilla cited the continued militance of the Filipino people and called on students to go beyond their role as critics, and lend a direct hand in the people’s struggle. Economist Gonzalo Jurado, also assailed the New Republic, asking why the protest had to be staged indoors when the Martial Law has already been lifted.

The walkout-symposium was also accompanied by a noise barrage and a tanaga rendition by Inang Laya, a new cultural group. UP University Student Council Chair Jose Alcantara reflected that the event drew massive participation due to the issue’s legitimacy and the students’ and faculty’s participation.

In a new wave of military crackdown sweeping various parts of Metro Manila from February 25 to March 6, 1982, 22 persons were rounded up and arrested. The arrested persons, some former UP students, were separately detained at the Military Intelligence Security Group, Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces, and Nichols Intelligence Unit. Some, however, were reportedly kept in military safe houses around Metro Manila.

Former Sen. Jose W. Diokno, assailed the arrests as illegal as they were executed without warrants of arrests. A petition for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus was filed with the Supreme Court. Allan Jasminez, one of the persons arrested and a former professor of Ateneo de Manila University, underwent heavy torture from the hands of the military.

During the regime, one of the many issues was the freedom of the press. The article stressed that a persistent issue that plagues the media is how to situate itself within the social milieu. Campus press, nonetheless, has evolved a certain tradition, where it has been called to the task of providing an alternative forum to counteract the pervasive influence of the large media.

The campus press should then undertake the role in order to attain a better society by having a set of definite political goals, preferences, and biases, as well as advocacies. Undertaking those tasks, then, made the Collegian an alternative media during the Marcos regime.

In Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, 22 political detainees began an indefinite protest fast to emphasize their demands for their immediate release. This is the fourth recorded instance in 1982 where incarcerated labor leaders, former journalists, politicians, and activists held a protest fast to stress their hardships as captive guests of the state. These hardships include their questionable arrests or arrests without warrants, torture and denial of due process and constitutional rights.

They demanded for the immediate release of 70 political detainees, their transfer to regular detention centers, and the increase of the daily food allowance. Participants considered their protest fast as a trial of the government’s sincerity as regards its normalization program and call for national unity. In their statement, they also said that “where once their protests were at least given cursory attention, now they are met with stony silence and are even accused of making up baseless complaints.”

This article was released roughly a month after the EDSA Revolution, and asked the question, “What is in store for the Filipinos with this new government?”

It first explored the role the US government played in deposing Marcos, as well as their vested interests in the Philippines. The article also showed that the structure of the military remained the same, although some changes have been made regarding military hierarchy as it was reorganized by Gens. Fidel V. Ramos and Juan Ponce Enrile. The article also noted that President Corazon Aquino had no choice but to ride on their rebellion, and now has come into the office on popular support as a result of her sincerity and moral courage. However, it expounded that she must establish direct links with the masses by helping them to organize their ranks. It further stated that Aquino must devote more time to integrating with people's organizations and focusing on their demands for a better Philippine government.

The Philippine Collegian, on the other hand, continued its struggle for press freedom, in-depth and critical reportage for the Filipino people and by the Filipino people. The same issue also published the editorials of the Collegian editorial examination. Dean Karlo La Viña would then lead the publication for the 1986-1987 term.