At Home sa Abroad: Tales of Martial Law, People Power from migrant Filipinos

MANILA, Philippines – On Saturday, February 25, the Philippines commemorated 37 years since millions of Filipinos gathered on EDSA in a peaceful uprising that ousted dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos. The Marcos family fled, and it was a new era of democracy for the Philippines.

The EDSA People Power Revolution was the culmination of widespread protests against the Marcos regime. In the capital and in most provinces of the country, people defied the dictatorship. There was also an anti-Marcos movement among overseas Filipinos.

Amnesty International estimated that around 70,000 people were imprisoned, 34,000 were tortured, and 3,240 were killed from 1972 to 1981 under the dictator’s rule. (READ: Martial Law, the dark chapter in Philippine history)

Yet in less than four decades, the Marcos family seized Malacañang anew. This year’s EDSA People Power Revolution anniversary is the first since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumed power in the 2022 elections.

Although Marcos won in the overseas election as well, there remain Filipinos abroad who live the slogan, “never forget.”

In the EDSA People Power anniversary episode of At Home sa Abroad: Stories of Overseas Filipinos, Rappler multimedia reporter Michelle Abad speaks to two migrant Filipinos who lived through the Marcos regime and continue to engage with their respective Filipino communities on the political situation at home.

Melba Marginson, now Melbourne-based, experienced the EDSA revolution in 1986. She is now the lead convenor of the Australians for Philippine Human Rights Network. Another guest is Toronto-based Ed Muyot, a Martial Law survivor, and a member of the Malaya Movement Canada.

Watch the video on Rappler at 7 pm, on Monday, February 27.

At Home sa Abroad: Stories of Overseas Filipinos is Rappler’s one-stop video podcast for all things Filipino diaspora. – Rappler.com

Watch other At Home sa Abroad episodes:

• What OFWs expect from new Department of Migrant Workers
• How this leadership program helped Fil-Ams connect with their roots
• How is the local economic crisis affecting OFWs?
• Inside a migration reporter’s notebook
• The Filipino diaspora through a migrant’s eyes
• Is exporting Filipino workers a good thing?
• How this Gen Z couple is making their LDR work