Remember other anti-Marcos heroes

By Alice Gualberto
Philippine Daily Inquirer Letter to the Editor

The Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation Inc. and I, in particular, would like to make known the significance of the deaths of thousands of victims during the dark days of martial law in our country. Yes, it was Cory Aquino who rallied the opposition that eventually led to the ouster of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos; but Filipinos, especially the so-called martial law babies, Kris Aquino included, should never forget the other great men and women who dedicated their lives, suffered, and/or died to restore Philippine democracy. These heroes should also be acknowledged by those who want to honor our beloved Cory.

We also want their lives and names written and included in the history of our country. Unlike Cory, who died a glorious, happy death, these victims suffered tremendously and were tortured mercilessly, Many were separated from their families and a number of them remain desaparecidos up to this day. Even pregnant women were not spared.

Like my sister Liliosa, the first victim inside Camp Crame who was gang-raped by her captors. After barely two days of captivity, she was killed. Her mouth was used as an ash tray as evidenced by the wounds that were left by lighted cigarette butts snuffed out against her lips. Her body was dismembered—the brain and intestines removed and placed in a pail and soaked in muriatic acid; and the way she was crudely “autopsied” from the neck down to her vagina was so nauseating and horrible to look at, only a person with cannibalistic instincts would have had the heart to gaze at her remains. Maybe if the family did not act immediately to claim her body, her flesh might have been eaten by members of the now defunct Constabulary Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU).

Highly intellectual, beauty and brains, consistent scholar for five years, Liliosa was a pioneer of Mass Communications at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. Her life was nipped in the bud two weeks before her graduation. Her murder added fuel to the anger against Marcos.

The Hilao family never lived the same again after that. Our parents, emerging from Liliosa’s murder with hatred and helplessness, succumbed to ailments caused by Liliosa’s untimely death and died one after the other. Their only son, our only brother, an engineer by profession, vowed not to live in the Philippines anymore. He himself was a victim of torture. He now lives in the United States.

The people whose names are on the Walls of Remembrance of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City, like Liliosa, should be recognized alongside Cory as heroes during the martial law era. They deserve no less. They, too, sacrificed or laid down their lives for freedom and democracy. I personally appeal to Rep. Liwayway Vinzons-Chato to also bestow them the honor she is proposing to give Cory. The credit cannot solely be Cory’s.

Posted at the Philippine Daily Inquirer