Yes to Holiday, No to History

Julia Hernandez

Nov 20, 20222 min read

Malacanang declares Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s 105th birth anniversary a holiday.

©Bisnar

As Malacanang declares Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s 105th birth anniversary as a special non-working holiday in Ilocos Norte, we truly have started to lose a grip on our history. A four-day celebration was held, beginning on the 8th of September, with festivities including a thanksgiving mass, a “Marcos Fiesta,” and many more. The Office of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the provincial board of Ilocos Norte, requested that Sept. 12, 2022 be declared a special non-working holiday in lieu of Marcos Sr.’s original birthday of Sept. 11, 2022 which falls on a Sunday, “to enable residents to celebrate the occasion.”

But what is there to celebrate during the birth of a dictator? His coming to the town of Sarrat in 1917 would set into motion the events which would lead to the death of thousands of Filipino lives. To give the idea that this day is to party and not to mourn the losses is a gross injustice to those who fell victim to torture and abuse during his presidency.

Gwendolyn Pimentel-Gana, a former member of the government commission, said that Proclamation 53 is “another step to revise history.” And how could it not? The laughter, joy, and opportunity brought to you by these celebrations is another smear to “whitewashing and covering up the hellish memory that Marcos Sr. and his ilk brought on the nation,” said Martial Law survivor Bonifacio Ilagan.

It is tragic to think that the man responsible for 3,257 deaths, 35,000 documented tortured, 70,000 jailed, and an appalling economic state in which the Philippines has yet to recover from, is now a national icon that is given a special day of celebration, akin to the likes of our national heroes, while we, as a nation, sit and forget the lives lost at his hand as the sands of time continue to pass.