As thousands of people held a rally at Luneta Park on November 25 to protest the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, it was generally a peaceful rally despite the rains. People were able to voice out what they felt about the burial through the signs that they held up, the effigy of the late dictator, and the performances of the artists who were in attendance.
But before Marcos and his family were forced out of power on February 1986 by the EDSA People Power Revolution, what did the rallies look like?
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You can take a peek at the rallies during those times, thanks to the photos shared by veteran freelance photojournalist Lito Ocampo. He decided to upload his old photos on Facebook to educate the young Filipinos and everyone else who insist how good Martial Law was, how disciplined people were during that time.
“Kasi nakita ko nga sa social media, yung napansin ko na hindi alam ng iba yung kasaysayan. So through photos maipakita ko yung nangyari noon,” Ocampo told Inquirer.
Ocampo is the younger brother of ex-Bayan Muna representative Satur Ocampo, who was a political detainee during martial law and a human rights worker.
The photojournalist himself was detained from 1974 to 1979, after which he became a photographer, with his works published by Malaya and We Forum.
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Among his most famous photos were those taken during a violent dispersal of a Welcome Rotunda rally held on September 27, 1984, which he considered as the worst rally he ever attended, as protesters had to deal with the police’s tear gas and guns.
One of the subjects he was able to capture was former Senator Lorenzo Tañada, the “grand old man of Philippine politics,” his face crumpled in pain due to the tear gas.
Ocampo said of the rally, “Some rallyists were injured, arrested. Student leader Fidel Nemenzo suffered gunshot wounds. It was one of the worst rall(ies) I attended.”
In another post, Ocampo also showed two more photos of the same violent dispersal. According to him, these two photos showed Senator Tañada, Senator Wigberto Tañada, Senator Rene Saguisag, Ed Garcia, Ben Cervantes, and more.
Sources: (newsinfo.inquirer,net, facebook.com)
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