ManilaTimes/AP-Feb 25
Memories of the “People Power” revolt by millions of Filipinos who helped overthrow Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos 36 years ago are bittersweet for Loretta Rosales, who opposed him as an activist and was arrested and tortured by his forces before his downfall. Her battle has gone full circle. The euphoria over that triumph of democracy in Asia has faded through the years and now looks upended with the late dictator’s son and namesake a leading candidate in the May 9 presidential election. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s rise loomed large as the Southeast Asian nation marked the anniversary Friday of the army-backed uprising that toppled Marcos and became a harbinger of change in authoritarian regimes worldwide. “It puzzles and dismays me,” said Rosales, who remains a pro-democracy activist at age 82 and is now raising alarms over Marcos Jr. “This is history repeating itself,” Rosales said in an interview. “This is round two.” The elder Marcos died in 1989 while in exile in Hawaii without admitting any wrongdoing, including accusations that he, his family and cronies amassed an estimated $5 billion to $10 billion while he was in power. Nearly four decades after democracy was restored, the Philippines remains mired in poverty, corruption, inequality, long-running communist and Muslim insurgencies and political divisions. Read more at: https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/02/25/news/50-years-apart-philippine-activist-fights-dictator-then-son/1834261
