By (Ret.) Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr.
March 4, 2022
The Manila Times
TRUTH does not expire. And the truth shall set
us free, so the homily went last Sunday after the nation celebrated the People
Power Revolution. As expected, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP), through a long pastoral letter signed by Bishop David of
Caloocan, talked profusely of martial law and how violence destroyed our
Christian way of life.
The Church wanted us to "respect truth by
respecting history," rather than subjecting it to revisionism with lies
and propaganda. That conviction for truth led to the nonviolent overthrow of
the dictator on Feb. 25, 1986. At least, that was what we were told.
I partially agree with the Church. And in
order to fully agree with them we have to endeavor to complete that part which
was kept from us by the Cory Aquino government, after she ordered then National
Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) chief Rodolfo Canieso to have all
literature and reports incriminating Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. and his role in
the CPP-NPA creation and the secessionist violence, be collected and burned.
We've had 32 years of biased history on
martial law from 1986 to 2016. During the 30th People Power anniversary in
2016, PNoy even directed the AFP to host the martial law "experiential
museum" in its own hallowed grounds. The commander in chief directed the
Armed Forces of the Philippines to shame itself by telling the nation how it
brutalized its people in the service of its master, the dictator.
Wonderful experience. But guess what? That
historical rendition must start in that infamous year, 1972.
How will truth set us free when the truth is
incomplete? The more relevant question is: How did martial law of 1972 come
about?
As the Church reminded us during the homily,
let's go back to official records and historical documents, to events leading
up to the declaration in September 1972. Let's not rely on school manuals
printed by the victors of 1986 because they are obviously tainted to serve the
purpose of the Aquino regime.
My only wish is for these millennials and Gen
Z to be more open-minded and be objectively critical of the circumstances then,
as they happened, which led to martial law and the eventual downfall of the
strongman in 1986.
Confluence of local, international events
I have written in previous columns about the
developments in Asia, as the Soviet-led Marxist-Leninist communists were
successfully tearing down democratic governments in Indonesia, Malaysia, South
Vietnam, Kampuchea, Singapore, Korea, Thailand and Burma from 1954 to 1969, and
even earlier. It was a cause for concern for the US, especially in the
Philippines where its biggest air force and naval fleet were based. It would be
interesting to know what their historical documents are saying about our
political situation and the communist insurgents then.
Document 238 — Airgram from the embassy in the
Philippines to the Department of State, Foreign Relations of the US, 1969-1976,
Vol XX, Southeast Asia, 1969-1972
(https://history.state.gov>historicaldocuments>d238), dated Aug. 20,
1971, clearly indicates that Senator Aquino, the LP secretary-general, is seriously
worried that the Liberal Party is in danger of extinction. President Marcos,
according to him, has changed the rules of the game in the political scene,
that clearly he has no chance of winning in the November 1971 elections.
He tells political counselor Maestrone that he
considers the option of "going to the hills" to fight a revolution
that could happen between September 1971 to 1974 or 1975. In the Comment
portion of the document, it clearly said that Senator Aquino is in active
contact with Kabataan Makabayan (KM) leaders in Manila and outside.
Senator Aquino declared further that
"there will be a shift to urban terrorism rather than terroristic
activities in the provinces" which he felt were not having the desired
impact. Ninoy also disclosed that the number of students who have received two
to three months guerrilla training in the hills and who have returned to the
cities were growing.
"In the future, there will be fewer
direct confrontation with the police and PC, but there will be more sniping,
arson, bombing and other forms of selective terrorism," Senator Ninoy
declared.
If you take note of the date of the reported
meeting of Maestrone with Ninoy, it was a day before the Plaza Miranda bombing
by the CPP-NPA on Aug. 21, 1971, which almost wiped out Ninoy's very own
Liberal Party.
Clearly, this "icon of democracy"
was very much involved in the planning and preparation for all the violence
created by the CPP-NPA months and even years before the declaration of martial
law.
Coincidence?
Doc 238 clearly and correctly stated that
Aquino "has no political ideology beyond his own personal ambitions."
Because his "political [page 510] clique cannot alternate in power with
the Marcoses by democratic means, then it will become necessary to resort to
violent revolution as the means of gaining power."
Let's remember that we are speaking here of
pre-martial law, where none of the abuses and torture by the AFP happened. The
reports illustrate Senator Aquino's actions and his collusion with the CPP-NPA,
who wanted to create chaos and violence and force Marcos to declare martial
law.
Disputable?
Let's see other historical documents.
Document 257. On Sept. 12, 1971, Senator
Aquino revealed that with the rapidly worsening law and order and communist
dissident problems adding to the economic woes, he believes that "Marcos
must take strong actions in the future and that these will include martial
law" and that Ninoy would support Marcos.
However, Ninoy knew that it would backfire on
Marcos. And since "the possibilities of his becoming a head of government
by legitimate means are quickly diminishing...he is keeping open an option to
lead an anti-Marcos revolution in alliance with the communists," the
document says.
Federico Pascual of the Philippine Star can confirm
these martial law innuendos of Marcos. He wrote about this interview with
Senator Aquino ("Postscript."Dec.10, 2015), where Ninoy confirmed to
the columnist that given the chance to be president, the only way he could
close the economic gap was for him to assume dictatorial powers.
And in order "to solve big-time smuggling
sapping the vitality of the economy...smugglers will be summoned to
Malacañang...and if the economic sabotage continued...bodies of these notorious
smugglers would be floating in the Pasig River...and if the scare tactic still
failed...the corpses of more smuggling lords would be spotted among the water
lilies in the Pasig." Remember, these are Senator Aquino's words.
Should this be what President Duterte is
doing? Except that he is not Ninoy, whom the Church loves and promotes so much?
Anyway, more on the excerpts from US
historical documents. In October 1968, Aquino and Sison met and discussed
"how big a problem Marcos was," and Yap, Aquino and Rodolfo Salas
(who would succeed Dante as NPA head) arranged a meeting between Sison and
Dante. The meeting took place in late January 1969 in Dante's hometown of
Talimundoc, Capas. Aquino's money "from the coffers of his wife and Lopez
family" funded the CPP's front organizations, including their huge 1970
rallies romanticized as the "First Quarter Storm."
If you want to know more about Senator Ninoy's
connections with the communists and how they formed a broad united front, you
can read Airgram A-245, Sept. 21, 1972.
Hidden historical materials, information
Still, if you don't like the US official
accounts, you can check some of these political manifestos and ephemera of the
late 1960s and 1970s in two steel cabinets at the UP Library in Diliman.
Fortunately, it survived two Aquino administrations, thanks to the patriotism
and heroism of these unnamed librarians.
The academic dissertation of Dr. Joseph Paul
Scalice entitled "Crisis of Revolutionary Leadership: Martial Law and the
Communist Parties of the Philippines, 1957-1974," is an eye-opener for all
of us. Well researched, it is a treasure trove of information about the
underground.
You can also visit the library of the
University of California in Berkeley, the US Army Command and General Staff
College Library in Ft. Leavenworth, KS, the US Naval Postgraduate School
Library in Monterey, or the Australian Defense College Library in Canberra.
The books and references in these libraries
abroad escaped the "purging" of historical accounts of events prior
to the declaration of martial law. These are the historical materials hidden
from us by the Liberals, in order for them to freely write their warped version
and perspective of our history.
From 1968 until the last weeks before martial
law ended his political career, Senator Aquino was plotting with the CPP to
seize power for himself, long before martial law was declared. Not only did
Ninoy collude with Jose Ma Sison and the CPP-NPA, but he also led the Liberal
stalwarts in founding the secessionist movement in Mindanao.
The violence that ensued from 1969 up to 1972
was all part of a deliberate plan of Senator Aquino in order to create an
opening for his political ambition. It's a shame many of us have been duped by
this "boy wonder" and all the other Yellow traitors that followed
after him.
The People Power was simply an offshoot of the
martial law which any president, Ninoy included, would have resorted to under
the circumstances. Simply, it was an opportunity that the Liberals hijacked
from the real heroes, the putschists, who risked their lives to topple the
regime.
This is the inconvenient truth that the Church
wouldn't want us to see. If we do, that's called revisionism.
Yet truth never expires, even after 36 years
of suppression. That's the reason why yellow is now pink.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/03/04/opinion/columns/veritas-numquam-perit/1835045
