Dark days of martial law forced us to seek the light: Pangilinan

"Martial law is a dark chapter in our history. Many were arrested without charges, tortured, dispossessed of their properties, killed. It wasn't the progressive and orderly 'new society' bannered in the newspapers, radio, and television.

The true face of martial law became clear to me when an opposition leader was killed. I started to examine our people's condition and ask why there was so much poverty while Marcos the dictator, his family, and his cronies lived in opulence.

That period shaped me to the need to struggle in solidarity with others toward a victory not simply to oust the dictator, but to extricate the tentacles of dictatorship which appear to have resurrected now.

I and my fellow activists were pushed to fight for our fellow men and women, for ourselves, and for the future. We were pushed by those dark times when the law was about one man, to serve as inspiration. We were pushed by the need to be brave and to serve.

As before, that is the challenge of today: Examine and question. Serve as an inspiration. Be brave and serve the people."