Assistant recalls the 1971 eruption in Manila as Marcos Jr approached | Political Issues

Manila, Philippines – On August 21, 1971, Gillian Jane Perez was on her way to China on a three-week study to learn about socialism when a bomb exploded during a political rally held by an opposition party in Manila.

The incident, which killed nine people, sparked events that changed not only the events of his life but also the history of the Philippines.

The President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, used the so-called Plaza Miranda bomb as an excuse to oppose dissidents and protesters and ordered the destruction of opposition groups.

It was a taste of what would come under martial law – which was established a year later.

As the leader of the Kabataang Makabayan (KM), or Patriotic Youth, a Filipino liberation movement with a “socialist ideology”, Perez was one of Marcos’ most prominent figures.

Marcos criticized communism and accused Perez and his party of being the leaders. The government also accused KM of a leading Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) threat of national security.

Along with 55 others, Perez was charged with felony criminal mischief for violating Anti-Subversion Law. The arrest warrant was waiting for a 21-year-old girl to return to the Philippines.

“We thought it would be temporary and we could go home,” he told Al Jazeera in an interview with Europe, where he lived 40 years ago. He asked Al Jazeera to use a security pseudonym when he returned to the Philippines.

“At the same time, we found it absurd. How can we, the school authorities so far away, start such a thing? ”

Even before Marcos came to power, the Philippines was extremely cautious with Communist and Socialist ideologies, which began to emerge from the working class in the 1930’s. occupation of Japan, as it did in other parts of Southeast Asia.

After World War II, Communism gradually withdrew, but it continued to push for reform. Then in 1968, the CPP reintroduced itself to the Maoist ideology and was inspired by the social zeal of the people in the ten years since Marcos’ rise.

‘Marcos revival?’

As former political scientist Professor Bobby Tuazon explains, young people and other liberal groups continued to find socialist views attractive.

“It is still a major topic of discussion at the school, among students, researchers and scholars. As long as the motives for the cause of the rebellion are not addressed, socialism will be shaken,” said Tuazon, who also serves as director of the Center for People’s Empowerment in Governance. people located in Manila.

When a potentially powerful man began to resist the temptation, the party became easier for Marcos. The young freedom fighters who were calling for social change became liars when they wanted to justify its power.

Looking back on the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, anti-communist chaos was rampant. Even now, attacks on opponents such as “communism”, so-called “red-tagging”, are still a political weapon.

Current President Rodrigo Duterte has also been accused of plotting to overthrow the government as “communism” and “terrorist” terrorists who are supposed to be “politically neutral”, and the Philippines is now facing the prospect of another incumbent Marcos.

Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the son of this powerful man, has announced his presidency in 2022, 50 years after the announcement of military law.

“The country remains under the dictatorial rule of Duterte who commands his security forces and the police to pursue their freedom fighters. There is no change in Marcos,” Tuazon said, warning that the return of Marcos’ second member would only intensify the hunt for witches.

Marcos Jr. himself is close to the Chinese government and regularly holds meetings with the Beijing delegation in Manila. As a senator, he supported the dialogue between the Philippine government and the communist militants. But he also supported many statements by President Duterte, who now calls the communists “terrorists”.

“There should be no repetition of military security in the hands of another Marcos or a Marcos ally and they will not win,” warned Perez.

Life in China

When Perez arrived in China as a teenager, he was in a state of shock.

Despite supporting the Viet Cong in the fight against the Americans in Vietnam, the home was in the throes of the Cultural Revolution.

Among Perez’s friends were Chito Sta Romana, now the Philippine ambassador to China, and Jaime Flor Cruz, a Beijing reporter for Time and Newsweek. They were able to return to the country after Marcos was ousted by a coup in 1986.

Perez recalls the last conversation with Cruz when they both applied for compensation through the Philippine Human Rights Claims Board on the damages caused by the deportation or deportation.

Their first plan was to travel and study Chinese Socialism for several weeks. After the bombing in the Philippines, they were treated as refugees, given permanent accommodation in Beijing, and their educational journey expanded so that they could interact with the communities of the poor forever.

Perez wrote to his mother often – never told her about his plans to go to China.

“I apologized for leaving without telling her, but I wanted her to know that this was part of my faith,” she recalls. She also wrote that she felt she had lost her only child.

Despite the sudden change, Perez was delighted with his discovery.

“We were young, educated and inspiring. We went to China because we want to see for ourselves what socialism is, ”he said.

“At the time, Mao’s Chinese foreign policy stood for the support of the human struggle around the world.

The group traveled through China, hiking in the Jinggang mountains that were hailed as “the beginning of China’s transformation” and spent time in Yan-an, known as the end of Mao’s Long March.

By 1973, Perez and his associates were found in a factory in the village of Dayudao in rural Shandong.

“He spent many days working in a factory. I was hitting irons, ”he recalled.

For another year, he and a “colleague” sat in groups – a group of several villages sharing a financial plan – to oversee agricultural activities.

Each member of the town found a so-called “workplace” in exchange for money. The details were verified by nearby party cards. Perez recalls, however, that great importance was placed on the ideas that promoted socialist ideology.

“I thought about how exciting it would be to see these same programs being introduced in the Philippines as a result of the war for change,” he said, recalling his hope to rejoin the group in the Philippines.

Mour Mao

But with the Philippines under war laws and a warrant of arrest, there was no chance of repatriation.

In 1974, Perez decided to study medicine at Bei Yi Xue Yuan or Peking Medical College.

In 1974, Perez decided to study medicine at Bei Yi Xue Yuan or Peking Medical College, and later became a doctor working in Hunan. [Photo courtesy of Gillian Jane Perez]

Perez was in his dormitory in September 1976 when loudspeakers at the school broke the news after sunset that Mao Zedong had died. Funeral songs followed the broadcast where students sat and waited outside their dormitories, and crying quietly, she recalled.

The next day in Beijing, everyone was dressed in black. No one knew, but Mao’s death also marked the end of the Cultural Revolution.

Perez admits there were “extras” and says he learned about the cards that were dragged into the streets to publicly criticize them for their mistakes. He recalls that the false news of the government used the Cultural Revolution to convince the people that its prevalence was widespread in socialism.

“I did not know then, but the problem had already begun in the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the government,” Perez said. Soon, Deng Xiaoping grew up.

The new leadership demanded “Socialism with Chinese values.” Perez said the remarks obscured Deng’s desire to emulate western capitalism.

Anti-Marcos is sponsoring a rally in Manila just weeks before the ousting of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in February 1986. [AFP: Romeo Gacad/AFP]

By early 1977, “the authorities were already telling us that we had to find a way out because foreign policy was changing,” he said.

Perez was now an assistant doctor in Hunan, and he misses home. He dreamed of becoming a doctor in rural Philippines. But with Marcos still in charge, it was impossible to return home.

He says: “Long years of slavery undermined my physical, mental, and spiritual health. “I was evicted from my home country. I felt lost. I was different from everything I knew and separated from the people around me, ”he said.

During the post-Mao crisis, he reportedly felt unwelcome in China.

In 1981 he managed to fill out a deportation form in Europe and was able to travel to the Philippines for a while to visit his mother five years later after Marcos was forced out of office at the 1986 “people power” show.

He compared the current situation of the millions of Filipinos who go to work overseas and firmly believe that one day he will be able to return to his family and live forever.

“Their country is in the heart of it, just as millions of Filipinos who emigrated, are forced to leave their homes because of circumstances. Like them, the day will come when it is normal to go home. ”

Actress and freedom fighter Bonifacio Ilagan, however, said Marcos’ reinstatement would jeopardize any chances of returning to Perez.

Ilagan was a graduate student with the KM team along with Perez during their youth. Now, he is one of the leaders of a coalition called Campaign Against Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law or CARMMA.

He told Al Jazeera, “If Marcose returns, it will be difficult for Gillian. It is very possible that the old cases in Marcos’ age will be revived, which puts him at risk. Who knows what he can do? He can make things even worse.

“Marcose has tried to get the uninitiated to their side of historical issues such as the Plaza Miranda bombing.”

Referring to Perez’s alleged involvement in the 1971 bombing, Ilagan said, “It is a far cry from criticism of the 1971 dirty political activists. He was deeply involved in state politics.”

Today, Perez still yearns to return home.