Martial Law images: A retrospective

If there was a single event that has influenced my work as a documentary photographer to this day, it was the declaration of martial rule by dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos on September 21, 1972.

When Martial Law was declared, I was on a road trip as a pharmaceutical sales representative stranded in Marinduque. With our return flight to Manila canceled, we hired a pump boat with a small engine and traveled for 5 hours, at a big risk because we didn’t have life vest and I didn’t know how to swim.

From Lucena, to be able to go back to Manila, we hitched a ride with a traveling salesman inside his truck next to his unsold merchandise because all public transportation schedules were canceled.

In the US, I became active in the Anti-Martial Law movement and participated in mass actions against the dictatorship, eventually as an aspiring documentary photographer.

I ended up as a front-page story of the San Francisco Chronicle when I was beaten up by the San Francisco Tactical Squad while demonstrating in front of the Philippine Consulate. I ended up spending time in jail.

Here are some of the favorite images I made before and after Martial Law, and some of them became important so that we will not forget:

TEARS FOR VICTORY. At the celebration at the San Francisco Union Square when Marcos and his entourage finally left the Philippines for Hawaii. PHOTO BY RICK ROCAMORA

KAYA KO, KAYA MO, KAYA NATIN. The first farmworkers’ demonstration at Mendiola after the EDSA revolution. PHOTO BY RICK ROCAMORA

FATHER REY CULABA. Victory celebration at San Francisco Union Square after Marcos left for Hawaii. PHOTO BY RICK ROCAMORA

SMASHED PAINTING OF IMELDA AND FERDINAND MARCOS. When Marcos left, the local San Francisco anti-Marcos activists took over the Philippine Consulate and the painting that adorned the walls of the consulate was smashed. PHOTO BY RICK ROCAMORA

NEW PEOPLES ARMY. At the Communist Party of the Philippines founding anniversary in Quezon while they were singing the Internationale. PHOTO BY RICK ROCAMORA

BAYAN CONVENTION. The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Convention at UP Diliman to honor and welcome released political prisoners. PHOTO BY RICK ROCAMORA

A WORK IN PROGRESS. Dark Memories of Torture, Disappearance, Incarceration and Death under Dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos. PHOTO BY RICK ROCAMORA

–Rappler.com