SNAP ELECTION. Workers from Davao City and Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur rode on a truck owned by the Aboitiz who supported then President Corazon Aquino. The rallyists gathered in Magsaysay Park, Davao City in support of the candidacy of Aquino and vice presidentiable Doy Laurel in 1986. (FILE PHOTO/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Among the crowd of human rights advocates who founded a new group to oppose what they described as a brewing tyranny of President Rodrigo Duterte was 67-year-old Ogie.*
Her hair is all white and she wore thick glasses. She could pass off as a doting grandmother, but Ogie* allots most of her time in joining activities of political activists in the city.
Ogie* is among the thousands of victims of human rights abuses during the days of the Martial Law in the 1970s. A native of Misamis Oriental, her involvement in the underground movement during the time of Martial Law led her to Davao City.
She is the eldest of eight. Her brother, who was an active member of a labor union in Cagayan de Oro City, was killed on January 27, 1986.
She wanted to become a doctor, but their families cannot afford to pay for her education. She tried hard to finish high school and ended up working as a nursing aide in a hospital in Cagayan de Oro City. She was 22 years old when Martial Law was declared.
Pass it, quick
In an interview with Davao Today on Monday, September 18, she shared how activists then communicated without telephones and internet. They called it “pasa, bilis” which translates to “pass it, quick”.
“We pass written notes in small pieces of paper and pass it to friends until it reaches the addressee,” Ogie said. The small notes would be folded into a small piece to make it easy for passing.
They used code names. At times, she opted using names of boys for added security.
There was no phone and Facebook, but through their system of communication, activists gathered in large groups easily. Ogie said the abuses committed by the government under the late dictator President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. also pushed people from various sectors to oppose the government.
Torture
When she was arrested on July 25, 1978 outside the Davao Doctors Hospital here, Ogie recounted they were brought to a “safe house” located near the old Davao City airport in Barangay Sasa.
She and her colleague got off from a jeep and plainclothes men, they suspect as members of Philippine Constabulary, were already waiting for them.
In the afternoon, two more activists were brought to the safe house. One of them was Davao writer Lualhati Abreu.
They were all beaten up. PC members would kick them with their combat boots.
“They wanted us to admit that we are members of the Communist Party of the Philippines,” she said.
Ogie said they also feared the military would rape them. Luckily, a PC official was a family friend of her colleagues.
“Nobody admitted to be members of the CPP because we knew that the torture will only get worse as they want to get more information from you,” she said.
Ogie recounted that she tried to flush a piece of paper with a note that was passed to her by a comrade when she was using the toilet.
“I tore it into little pieces and tried to flush it, but the flush didn’t work,” she said.
The military saw the piece of paper and Ogie was asked to pick all the pieces from the toilet bowl that reeked of human feces.
She was not able to eat for a week and survived only by drinking water.
Still an activist
Despite her age, Ogie remains to be an activist. She joined the launching of the Movement Against Tyranny in Davao region on September 18. The alliance seeks to unite various sectors against the increasing “fascism and militarist rule of the Duterte government.”
She said she will also be joining the rally in time for the 45th year commemoration of Martial Law declaration on Thursday, September 21.
She admitted of supporting President Rodrigo Duterte last year, but she said she is now disappointed.
Among the things she saw was Duterte’s leaning towards a strongman rule similar to Marcos.
“You cannot really trust elections,” she said.
She said until poverty is addressed, the lives of Filipinos will remain the same whoever sits as a leader. (davaotoday.com)
*Not her real name
