Facebook user Ampoon Mary Rose wrote an open letter to the fans of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and provided links to credible online resources about the Marcos regime.
Rose cited the common belief of Marcos’ supporters – that he was the best President, a great soldier, constructed power plants, bridges, and colleges, provided lots of food, and started the Blue and Green Revolutions.
She also addressed how it is easy for many people to label Marcos detractors as a part of the “Yellow Army” and for wishing ill on them.
However, Rose said that educational resources were easily available online.
“But what I don’t know is with all the resources easily available with just a few clicks, is if you’ve taken the time to check if the enchanting stories coming from your closest relatives were indeed all true,” Rose wrote.
“Or if you’ve ever wondered if what you personally experienced, if you lived at that moment, is what the rest of the country experienced too,” she added.
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She emphasized that Marcos was definitely not a hero.
In fact, he and his family stole P170 billion from the country’s coffers.
And for what?
“to buy Imelda Marcos her tens and thousands of expensive, authentic jewels, designer clothes and shoes,
to afford a daily Philippine Airlines trip to deliver Imee Marcos’ breastfeed milk to her kid in the Philppines every day even if she was anywhere in the world,
to fund Bongbong Marcos’ machinery for his Vice President candidacy,
to support Sandro Marcos’ education in Oxford,
and to make the life of the entire family be as luxurious as possible in any country they wish to live in”
Rose also effectively painted an image of what the martial rule was like in the Philippines.
“people the same age as you or your daughters or brothers were tortured using unspeakable means and brought in bags to wastelands never to be seen again,
and stinking bodies dumped alongside the streets became a normal view,
and names caught in curfews today belonged to dead people tomorrow,
and it was perfectly okay to be shot to death or captured when seen in groups-of-three discussions,
and opinions (like yours or mine) meant a grave danger to life or an end to life itself”
She went on to hit those who don’t seem to understand the pain of the martial law victims, who easily tell the victims and their families to move on.
“And just because you do not know the pain of waiting for a father who never comes back, or seeing a sister in a body bag brutally killed for reasons you do not know, or hearing about a friend who is now unable to speak, walk and/or hear because he/ she got tortured, does not mean you have the right to dictate individuals in these situations to move on. Had your grandparents been the one walking that street looking suspicious according to the judgment of the military, your family would have been a victim too,” Rose said.
Rose also addressed what Marcos supporters were the dictator’s achievements.
“Do you really know that he is a great soldier? His achievements as a “soldier” are heavily contested with circumstantial evidence as propaganda to boost his image.
“Did he really build those bridges and dams? The money from the taxpayers of this country did! And even then, the economy flunked so bad we were called the ‘sick man of Asia’ while the Marcos family got richer.
“What about the Green Revolution and a lot of food? It was good at the beginning but later it was exposed that it was all about accumulating the profit to the notable (and rich) few while the farmers who supplied the food became hungry and penniless.
“Did he do great things for the Education sector? Absolutely no. He
passed on the Education Act of 1982 which stated that private schools can determine their own tuition fee rates as much as they feel like it. Before this, every school must coordinate with the government. After this, there was a 7000% increase in tuition rates.”
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Marcos’ greatest legacy to the Filipinos, though, is the debt that we all have to pay until 2025.
“As a Marcos fan, you have crossed the line when you chose to side with a dictator, murderer, plunderer over a fellow struggling Filipino that could have been you,” Rose said.
She also provided her references, which you can find in her Facebook post.
According to her recent post, she has been at the receiving end of bashing after the satire Facebook page Superficial Gazette shared her post. She even asked Marcos fanatics and DDS (Diehard Duterte Supporters) to talk with her once she’s not busy with school projects and if they are open-minded enough to do so.
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