Praying to Fascists: A Tale of Two Bloody Saviors

By Kiara Tan

Genesis 1:1

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

In the beginning, there was only darkness. “Let there be light,” He said. The light did not come. Instead, he formed an earth masquerading the dark underneath the surface. The people came into that world covered in blood that wasn’t their own.

He said He made them in His image. He said they belonged to Him — they were his to starve, to torture, and to kill. The people spent their days in darkness, praying to the Lord to rid them of it, yet the Lord never answered.

His Son came next, promising salvation. The darkness was just as cruel. This time, the silence no longer remained. The earth was filled with disease, shooting orders, and a litany of ‘putang*na’s.

Ferdinand Marcos bathed the land in blood. Rodrigo Duterte drowned the people in red.

In the beginning, the people did not know better.

Numbers 23:19

“God is not man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he

should change his mind”

The people prayed for a savior. They believed that one would rise to lead the nation into a bountiful harvest. This came in the form of charming politicians, and the people believed them to be good.

The first was Marcos, who promised a vision of the “New Society.” In painting this vision, he said, “Of what good is democracy if it is not for the poor.” His crowds followed this dream even as the strongman luxuriated in extravagance and supported a wife with an excessive 2,700 shoe collection. They still believed him. He captured the spirits of the masses, becoming a voice of hope with an ambition to end poverty, hunger, corruption, and violence.

Duterte promised the same. He was all-knowing yet equipped with a dirty mouth spewing vulgar words. His crowds loved how human he appeared to be. The only early difference between him and his followers was the power he had amassed. He aimed to rid the country of its social ills by introducing strict measures. During his presidential campaign in 2016, he promised national sovereignty from foreign supergiants and guaranteed national healing amidst political division.

Time saw to the unwinding of these promises and the fulfillment of something sinister. Soon, the Father and Son fell and revealed themselves to be fallible, no more than the sinners they called the people to be.

2 Peter 2:6

“…He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to

destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an

example to those who would live ungodly.”

The holy image of the Father and the Son then became blood-stained iron fists. All sinners were persecuted, and their corpses filled the streets. Cities were painted red by the Lord’s disciples in uniform.

Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972. Historians believe that the dictatorship saw an unprecedented cruelty. Curfews were enforced, and “acts of rebellion or insurrection” were suppressed. Over 3,200 were killed, 34,000 were tortured, and 70,000 were incarcerated.

Liliosa “Lilli” Hilao was 23 when soldiers from Crame raided her house in 1973. The Constabulary Anti-Narcotics Unit (Canu) took her and her brother to camp. They took off his clothes and tied him while hot spotlights were put on his face. She, on the other hand, was found dead the next day. According to a Canu report, she committed suicide by drinking muriatic acid, but her family believes otherwise. Her corpse showed the signs of torture. Her body was returned, split from the mouth down to the stomach. She became the first reported death during martial law detainment.

Primitivo “Tibo” Mijares, a journalist, worked closely with Marcos; he was the Lord’s shepherd, the chief propagandist, and a confidant for the dictator. In 1975, the tables turned, and Tibo revealed the abuses and secrets of Marcos. A year after, his book, The Conjugal Dictatorship, was published, and Tibo disappeared. His body was never found. A few months later, his son went missing. The 16-year-old’s body was found in Antipolo, skull bashed in, genitals mutilated, and eyes gouged out.

Martial Law formally ended in 1981, but it wasn’t until 1986 that a semblance of democracy was restored, as the Marcoses were exiled and overthrown by an uprising — the People Power Revolution. The succeeding administrations had their fair share of failures, but democracy was completely undone under Duterte’s.

In his infamous war against drugs, highlighted by the brutal crackdown of drug operations in impoverished areas, Duterte reigned in a Martial Law-esque rule. Domestic human rights groups believe there are over 27,000 extrajudicial killings since 2016.

Kian Delos Santos was 17 years old when he caught the world’s attention. In 2017, the twelfth grader was shot to death by police during an Oplan Galugad operation in Caloocan. Police claimed that he fought back, forcing them to fire back at the boy; nanlaban, they said. CCTV footage proved otherwise. Kian was seen on his knees, begging for his life in a dark alley, even pleading that he had exams the next day. Mass attention brought his death justice; other victims weren’t as lucky. No other policemen in Duterte’s war on drugs have been convicted except for the murderers of Kian.

“Shoot them dead.” Duterte ordered, and so his men fired their guns. The violence and oppression only grew as the Covid-19 pandemic ensued. In March of 2020, the government placed the country under lockdown, and used the military and police to enforce strict protocols. Thousands were killed or arrested under small crimes or baseless accusations. ABS-CBN, a media giant, was shut down and silenced, and the Anti-Terror Law was passed.

Duterte and Marcos destroyed the people — the common man, the poor, the press, and the opposition. The scriptures of both were the same in text: Speak, and you will be silenced. Defy us, and you will be killed.

Romans 2:21

“. . .While you preach against stealing, do you steal?”

Even lords hide in sheep’s clothing, if not to feign a righteous and noble facade, then to steal billions in broad daylight.

“We practically own everything,” Imelda Marcos quipped. The Marcoses practically stole $5 billion to $10 billion from the nation. The estimate of national loss was wide because of the extent of corruption during Martial Law, when they wielded absolute power while lavishing in ostentatious lifestyles.

At the height of an economic crisis, they spent $68 million on luxuries. They took over large businesses of political rivals and appointed cronies to monopolize key industries. They were also infamously known for the bankruptcy of the country’s Central Bank after routinely “raiding” public financial institutions. It was long after their rule, in 1993, that they were found guilty of corruption. The former first lady was cleared of all charges by 1998.

Mirroring Marcoses’ corruption, comes allegations of Duterte’s inexplicable wealth. An official (PCIJ) report, in its investigation of the Duterte family’s wealth, found sharp upticks — Duterte’s wealth almost tripled, alongside his son Paolo, whose wealth more than tripled, and his daughter Sara, whose wealth grew more than 6 times.

Moreover, in the midst of an unprecedented economic and health crisis, the country’s health department was reported to have “various deficiencies” amounting to P67.3 billion worth of public funds intended for national efforts to combat Covid-19. Billions were lost as chaos struck the land — as healthcare workers fought for patients and lost themselves, as herd immunity was nowhere to be found, and as poverty rates and positive cases rose day by day.

The Lord said all who deal falsely and are corrupted in spirit must be put to death; Yet, thieves sit in office. A God lost to diamonds and gluttony decides the fate of the poor and hungry. What must a man do if the God they pray to is a God they can no longer believe in?

Numbers 14:8

“If the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us into this land

and give it to us — a land which flows with milk and honey.”

He who promised a new land was he who destroyed it. There was no peace in the Lord’s land, and no justice for the people.

The 21st of September marks the 49th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law. To this day, victims of the Marcos dictatorship are still left scarred by the horrors of history. Blood was spilled, and lives were stolen. The people did not forget.

The year 2021 marks the 5th year of Duterte’s presidential term. The incumbent’s presidency has left Filipinos fighting to hold on to what little democracy is left. Blood is being spilled, and lives are being stolen. The people will not forget.

Revelation 22:21

“ . . . Amen.”

One fascist after another has brought certainty to what we assume to be true — history does rhyme. Yet, it shall not echo once more the hell that took over — another feeble man will not be the country’s salvation.

The 2022 elections are fast approaching. This time around, the nation shall not kneel to false gods who know only of destruction and deceit.

Sources:

Share this:

Related