Political Comeback of Marcos Family Alarming – Victims of Martial law
Published on May 22, 2010
By RONALYN OLEA
Bulatlat.com
On April 27, 1977, urban poor leader Trinidad Herrera-Ripuno was arrested in Katipunan, Quezon City by virtue of an arrest and search and seizure order (ASSO) of then President Ferdinand Marcos. She was made to suffer brutal torture, which was meant to break her determination and spirit.
“They grabbed my blouse and went on electrocuting me…This lasted for 20 minutes,” Ripuno, then president of Zone One Tondo Organization (Zoto), recalled. “They were insisting that I am a leader of the Communist Party in the National Capital Region, I told them I was not. They did not believe me,” Ripuno told Bulatlat in an interview.
Ripuno, now 68, went on describing that day. While being arrested, she repeatedly shouted her name and her organization, hoping that the people who witnessed the arrest would alert her colleagues. She was first brought to an isolated place; she thought then she would be killed. Later that day, she was brought to Camp Crame. “If not for the people who immediately looked for me, I would have been salvaged.” Salvage is a term used for extrajudicial killing during the Marcos dictatorship. She was released after two weeks due to pressure from the international community.
“I would not forget,” Ripuno said of Marcoses’ human rights violations. Embittered by the apparent comeback of the Marcoses to power, Ripuno said, she and the other victims would continue their struggle for justice.
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was elected senator. His mother Imelda would serve as congresswoman of the 2nd district of Ilocos Norte and his sister Maria Imelda “Imee” would soon be the governor of Ilocos Norte.
After more than three decades, Ripuno and the other victims of human rights violations under the Marcos dictatorship have yet to receive indemnification. “The PCGG [Presidential Commission on Good Government] must be abolished; it has accomplished nothing,” Ripuno said.
In September 1992, Ripuno flew to Hawaii and testified before the District Court of Hawaii. There, she recounted the torture she was made to endure during the Marcos dictatorship..... MORE
Source: Bulatlat.com
URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/05/22/political-comeback-of-marcos-family-alarming-%E2%80%93-victims-of-martial-law/
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