Millennials and the Marcos VP candidacy

I have been meaning to write a piece about the millennials and how the candidacy of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. have streamed a lot of attention to this segment of the society. As the survey figures of Marcos rise, the discussion intensifies and so I decided to finally pen my piece. The young Marcos is said to be favoured largely by millennials because these people did not experience life during his father’s administration. Mock polls in schools show that he is the run-away winner in the VP race. Many have been quick to judge these youngsters as insensitive and ignorant of the atrocities of the Martial Law regime. I do not consider myself a millennial as I was born in the late 1970s but since I was too young back then to have a meaningful assessment of everything, I count myself a part of this younger generation that has been deprived of an education on this very important part of our history. In my maiden post in this blog which I intend to build for discussion about Philippine politics and policies, I lay down my observations and opinions as part of this younger generation.

Better times?

Yes, we were born late in the day and therefore we don’t know what it’s like to live in those days. But why is it that many from the older generation, those who have lived during those times, say that those were better times than today? People were more disciplined and peaceful. My mom, at least, says so. And other parents and grandparents. It is unlikely that all these people are lying. People might say, do away with comparison, rather let’s look at it as it is. But can we prevent that? It is a fact that many people believe things were better in the Martial Law years despite the many horrible stories of human rights violations. It is also a fact that whether or not things were better during those times than today is DEBATABLE. And millennials make their own assessment out of this lack of consensus.

Deprived

I argue, as many people have, that this is, at least partly, a deficiency of the education sector, maybe it failed to educate many of the youth about the realities of the Martial Law era. As already mentioned, I was born in the late 1970s and the history books during my time did not have a nuanced discussion of why Martial Law was imposed in the first place, or why people have been detained, only the so-called human rights violations, only the effects and reactions. Perhaps this is because, as they say, history is written by victors. People have a habit of portraying things and events selectively. And so people like me and those who were born later have many questions in our minds left unanswered. It seems that the victors’ version of history have been shoved into our consciousness without the genuine objective to educate us but rather to brainwash us to look into events and things that matter to them the most. And the education sector is not solely to be blamed. I argue that the mainstream media has a huge responsibility and they failed in their share of the responsibility. This is why many of our youngsters resort to social media and alternative platforms like Youtube where they can get answers to their questions.

We read, you know.

You’re wrong to say we don’t read beyond Facebook news feed. Being born in the Internet era, the youth can access all the facilities available out there. People blame them for resorting to social media to get the information they need. What is wrong with that? At least they get some ideas, ideas that can guide their research. From Youtube, they get talking heads, not some articles written by biased authors and politicians. They get to listen to people who were actually there, people who made decisions during those times. And they can unearth the archives to get information that have been buried deep by propagandists who want to bury them forever. For instance, in my very own research I get to listen not only to former Pres. Marcos, his legal advisers including the legal luminary Estelito Mendoza, people who have served him and other presidents after him like Juan Ponce Enrile but also those from the opposition during those times like former Sen. Ilarde, significant figures like Nur Misuari, a former Malaysian Prime Minister, rebel leaders Victor Corpuz, self-confessed leftist Rigoberto Tiglao and many others. Youtube is full of videos of past interviews and events and we try to make careful and intelligent observation and analysis of these not to mention our ability to discuss issues via the social media platform. What many people fail to see is that the younger generation's resourcefulness and genuine curiosity are its strongest weapon. Pair these up with the power of Google and all the Internet resources that they can reach in a single tap of their gadgets and you have a generation that truly lives the knowledge era.

Hunger for the truth

The truth is we want and need the whole truth, a complete account of all events focusing on the reasons, including the people responsible for it, behind the Martial Law declaration, an objective account of the atrocities, and those people who have a direct hand on it. The truth that speaks not only of the bad but also of the good that have come out of it, the lessons that we learned and yet to learn. We hunger for enlightenment and the government and historians must provide that enlightenment. We may not be able to count on to the mainstream media for now, but maybe someday.

For now, we can only thank Bongbong Marcos and his candidacy, we are now talking of improving the history curriculum at school and there might be a chance that my children's children will benefit from this enlightenment. And so we wait.