MANILA - Activists vowed Wednesday to"never forget" the human rights abuses under the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, as they marked 50 years since he placed the Philippines under martial rule that lasted for nearly nine years.
Marcos' son and namesake is now president of the Philippines, and campaigners have urged him to recognise the violence. But human rights groups say there has never been a true reckoning of the abuses - or those responsible held to account. Martial law victims and activists have described the Marcos regime as"one of the darkest periods" in the country's history. They accuse Mr Marcos Jr and his supporters of distorting the facts about martial law and falsely portraying it as a"golden age" for the Philippines.
"We do recognise the problems that happened, the abuses that occurred like in any war," he said. But he said critics were"wrong" to call his father a"dictator".