" x is (is not) free from y to do (not do, become, not become) z ."
-- Gerald MacCallum's triadic analysis of liberty

Proclamation 2045 effectively ended 1081, with the rhetoric of the New Republic rephrasing that of the New Society. Post-martial law narratives include dichotomized representations of Marcos, the antihero/villain, visionary/oppressor, leader/puppet.

Yu-Ping Chan writes in The Harvard International Review,". Ferdinand Marcos . [is a] prominent [example of a corrupt dictator] produced by a lack of transparency within the system. Without accountability to the people, there is no way of ensuring that undemocratic governments deliver the goods." [1]

Former Rep. Imee Marcos, on the other hand, notes that " the best roads and bridges were built during martial law . even the movies then were very good .," [2] adding, in a separate interview, how, "Revolution from the center means that we must change internally ... the revolution cannot be propagated from the outside by any government or by any movement. In the end, each one of us . must change. That is what he [Ferdinand Marcos] meant by the Revolution from the Center . there should be an internal revolution, a reformation of our spirit, of our values, of what we hold important as a people ..." [3]

Our Martial Law Retrospective puts together works by Doris N. Baffrey, Luis Cabalquinto, Ian Casocot, Allen Gaborro, Karl Gaspar, Freddy Hernandez, Ed Maranan, Lori Medina, Denis Murphy, Ben Pimentel, Patria Rivera, EJ San Juan, Isagani Serrano, Eileen Tabios, Lily Ann Villaraza, and Mark Viola. In so doing, we hope to contextualize our own place in the post-martial law scheme of things.

To wit: if we were victims, (how) have we gained/earned our political and economic freedoms? If heroes, what have we catalyzed, changed, defended in 35 years? And what has been our public stance, post-Erap-post RA 9372?

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[1] Yu-Ping Chan, "Democracy or Bust?," Harvard International Review in Disease 23, 3 (Fall 2001), http://hir.harvard.edu/articles/928/ (accessed August 27, 2007 ).

[2] Imee Marcos, I-Witness Documentaries , GMA 7 (2002) .

[3] Sid Balatan, "The lady who would be President," Asian Journal (January 20, 2004), http://www.asianjournal.com/cgi-bin/view_info.cgi?code=00003047&category=EX (accessed September 6, 2007).

Aileen Ibardaloza
21 September 2007

EDITOR
Remé-Antonia Grefalda

ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Aileen Ibardaloza

ART DIRECTOR AND WEB DESIGNER
Geejay Arriola

MANAGING EDITOR
Victoria Paz Cruz

2007 RESIDENT POET
Patria Rivera

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR FOR THE ARTS
Eileen Tabios

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Lynn Cadorniga

copyright 2007