Project Gunita seeks to preserve PH's martial law history

MANILA — While President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is in New York talking about the Philippines' future in relation to the world, various groups here are fighting to keep the Filipinos' memories of the past life.

On Wednesday,, the country marks the 50th anniversary of the martial law declaration by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Under military rule, thousands of people were killed, tortured and imprisoned.

Amid relentless attempts to whitewash the dark period of Philippines' history, a group like Project Gunita seeks to spread facts about the martial rule, digitizing books, as well as old newspapers and magazine reports and posting them on social media.

• What happened immediately after Martial Law was declared in 1972?
• Misinformation shrouds Philippine martial law era horrors

"We call ourselves Project Gunita because we try to remember the truth that very powerful people have been trying to distort and to muddle," lawyer Josiah David Quising, co-founder of Project Gunita, told ANC's "Rundown".

"Andun 'yung initial fear namin sa Project Gunita that these documents will be erased or will be hunted down by authorities since these documents are primary evidence of what really transpired during the martial law era," he added.

For the group, moving on is not possible until justice is served for victims of human rights violations during the military rule.

• Move on or remember? Senators clash over martial law's 50th anniversary
• Various activities to mark 50th anniversary of Martial Law declaration

— Rundown, ANC, September 21, 2022