By Dominic Zi Ann D. Ng | News Writer
Vol. XCIII No. 7
Sept. 27, 2019
Members of Prison Fellowship International Pilipinas (PFIP) and Farmers Development Center (FARDEC) convened a forum about the Martial Law stories of Silliman University (SU) last Sept. 23 at the SU Multi-Purpose Hall.
The forum highlighted the events that happened during the Martial Law period and featured a testimony from one of the speakers. The forum speakers were Reverend Joel Tabada from PFIP and Jovelyn Jocson from FARDEC.
According to Lucille Jean Raterata, one of the organizers of the event, “Beyond The Storm: The Martial Law Stories of Silliman University was a forum to provide an avenue of learning about the effects of the Martial Law through the perspective of the Filipinos in Negros Oriental.” She also added the purpose of the event was to share those stories to the younger generations that they may recollect what they have learned about the Marcos era from their classes and fact-check with the actual events that happened.”
Rev. Tabada, a former Sillimanian pastor, narrated his experiences during the Martial Law. He recalled that on Sept. 23, 1972, the church was overflowing with people crying and he was bewildered to see this kind of crowd for the first time in his three years as a pastor. He shared that was detained along with six Silliman students and was even threatened by a drunken guard. He was released before Christmas time and had interviewed more than 70 prisoners. After his release, he was still allowed to do pastoral functions; however, he was not allowed to resume church liaison.
Jocson tackled about the experiences of the farmers back in the Martial Law period and some of the significant people killed.
