Upon the declaration of Martial Law, Marcos clamped down on news outlets, radios, books, songs, poems, and other media that were opposed to his rule. For the writers and artists, it was a time for creative subversion. Their creativity has played more active during this era.

During this time, poetry was used as a medium to expose and dismantle the fascist regime. For what price? Freedom. It was a gamble, a deadly one. Once caught, you could be detained without charges. Lacaba published the poem without using his real name. He used the pseudonym “Ruben Cuevas”. But later on, he got captured by the military personnel. It was a terrifying time to live as a journalist when you could be captured for no reason just because you published the truth you want the public to know (The Benildean).

Poets have been fearless active and creative social critics. The "Prometheus Unbound" used metaphors of Aeschylus, Prometheus, Orion, Aries, and Zeus. These Greek personas are completely unheard of and it took a while before the hidden message had been known. This was among the methods or strategies journalists had employed during Martial Law to protest the atrocities and oppression. Although sounded classy and mythological, the author made sure to use vernacular, simple words as he want to connect to the masses and not to the literary critics.

“Prometheus Unbound” joins Bonifacio's “Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa”, Mabini’s “Perlas Kong Mahal”, Casper’s novel “Wings of Stone”, Dalisay’s “Killing Time in a Warm Place”, and many more protest literature (Melendez).

Lacaba has both wits and creativity. Despite the rigid media censorship, he dared to publish a seemingly harmless poem about Greek mythology. The poem went under the nose of authorities and got printed under Focus Magazine in 1973, a government-controlled publication. Little did they know, it was not an ordinary unrelated poem but actually a cry of revolution against the tyrannical government.

Aside from being a poet, Lacaba was also a screenwriter. Living in an era where newspapers and TV shows were controlled, he was among the many journalists that have resorted to poetry as a silent weapon of dissent (Cabato). When read downwards, the first letter of each line of the acrostic poem translates to a hidden message:

“MARCOS HITLER DIKTADOR TUTA”

This statement has resonated as protest chants of the people who were against the burial in the hero’s cemetery of the late President Ferdinand Marcos. Furthermore, people had used this slogan for President Duterte for his campaign on the war on drugs and how he mirrored and implemented martial law in the whole of Mindanao in May 2017 (BBC News). Also, people had used this slogan recently to express their opposition to Bongbong Marcos, the son of the late dictator, taking the seat as the 17th President of the Philippines (East Asia Forum).

Even though 50 years have passed, this statement is still being echoed in protests against the dictatorship and still being used as headlines by media outlets.