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On September 23, 1972, the day Martial Law was announced, Ferdinand Marcos was certain — or, at the very least, he was determined to sound like it.
While Pax Silica is framed as a promising venture between two longtime allies against China, history shows a picture of wanton labor exploitation, aggressive land conversion and expansion, and massive resource extraction.
Any honest student of history will understand that the conflict afflicting Negros did not rise from a vacuum. It stands on a longstanding theater of feudal order, brutal power, and impoverishment.
Filipinos still debate as to who or what truly brought down Ferdinand Marcos Sr., and what exactly we are honoring when we celebrate EDSA.
History has shown us that when sovereignty is compromised in the name of “stability” or “democracy,” it is always the people who pay the price.
The State of the Nation—53 years later—remains a mirror not just of the government’s agenda, but of the contradictions that define Philippine society.
The administration claims it is serious about transparency and economic justice; it must ensure that the Maharlika fund does not become a repeat of the Martial Law-era economic model—one where development was synonymous with exploitation.
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