Rage on

IRIS GONZALES

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Exactly 53 years ago today on Sept. 21, 1972, the lights dimmed, ushering in a dark period in our nation’s history when fear, silence and repression seeped into everyday life.

The writ of habeas corpus was suspended — dissenters were arrested and people disappeared, some never to be found again; human rights were curtailed; curfews were imposed and the media was controlled.

By the time martial law was lifted, thousands were jailed, tortured and killed; many had disappeared.

Our country had plunged into chaos and despair. State coffers were looted, crony capitalism was rampant and corruption had damaged the economy, the lingering effects of which we are still paying for today.

Decades later, here we are again in a bizarre twist of fate. Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the man who declared martial law, is buried in a place for heroes, alongside those who valiantly fought for whatever freedom we have today, the same freedom that Marcos took away from the people.

His only son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., and their family have successfully returned to Malacañang.

Now, barely three years into Marcos 2.0, corruption is as rampant as ever with the grand thievery of taxpayers’ money intended for flood control projects.

This jaw-dropping mess unraveled grotesquely because some contractors could no longer play the game.

Many of them attest that while the game had existed long before, the amount of kickbacks or SOPs skyrocketed since 2022, the start of the Marcos administration. In quiet whispers, they were complaining among themselves. It was a ticking time bomb.

When the rains came and the floods submerged many cities, industry players could no longer stay silent, driven by reduced earnings — lost to kickbacks — and perhaps a tinge of guilt.