Martial Law Special: The Dictator's Gambit

Martial Law Special: The Dictator's Gambit

By Matthew Nalos
September 28, 2022 

Marking a pivotal point in Philippine history, a dreaded horror of the past, and now infamously celebrated as the most disciplined time in Philippine political history was the day when Martial Law was unilaterally declared. A critical juncture in our history happened when a lone dictator held enormous power; liberal ideology fell in a one man rule, state building collapsed, and the consolidation of Philippine identity turned into a panopticon.

Cultivating the image of the dictator has been, since the time of his death, part of the son's plan. The black king rose to power, while the white queen was painfully defeated in the past round of chess. Checkmate, as the black king said, but many whys are doomed to emerge as soon as he emerged victorious; for instance, an all-time low, as the nation's currency gradually sinks at its feet.

As the Philippines is trying to recover against the onslaught of the dreaded invisible disease that annihilates the nation's lifeblood, economic inflation is gradually creeping at the peak of Olympus, transportation is still marching at the heavily congested procession, and social media is systematically plagued with distorted data forcefully monopolizing public opinions and blatantly justifying unreasonable data.

But legions of his followers remain amidst his languid and imprecise leadership. One may posit that rising to power while facing immeasurable juridical dilemmas is a glaring manifestation of a nation easily swept in power manipulations. On the one hand, it is wise to question if the nation is conscious enough of decision-making processes and, if so, why the country has consistently failed to choose the discerning play in leading the country.

The putrid system slowly slaughters copious amounts of ambition towards countrymen; each hope is tormented and alienated in the homeland where privilege capitalized by the system; where foreign intellectual standard savagely dominates the nation's real identity; when dreams of the youth is to leave the homeland; all are part when the dictator gambits the system.

For this was the day we commemorate the soldiers marching orchestrated mainly by one rule; a hail of bullets invading each corner of streets; drops of blood and tears shed on the defeated land; all was part of the dictator's gambit.

The new gambit is about to place the pieces into a new square board, but the opponent must remember the primary goal, observe the move and checkmate the black king!

Matthew Nalos is a 4th Year Asian Studies Student from the University of Santo Tomas - Faculty of Arts and Letters.