By Mr. Gideon Cascolan and Dr. Maria Gia G. Gamolo
Quintin Yuyitung was illegally detained, deported, and imprisoned for daring to report on Marcos’ re-election fraud and the First Quarter Storm. Bonifacio H. Gillego traveled to the USA to escape manhunts by Marcos military men and eventually helped expose Marcos’ lies about his military service and medals. Julieta Cupino-Armea was tortured and killed by Tadtads after covering the retreat of fellow martial law resistance fighters and paramedics. Their martial law stories and these FEU-affiliated martial law heroes have been enshrined in the Wall of the Brave on the ground floor of the Nicanor Reyes Hall Building. The unveiling of this permanent exhibit was held on June 10, 2021, and streamed live via Zoom and Facebook. The project was a collaborative effort between FEU Library Services, Corporate Affairs, and the Bantayog ng Mga Bayani foundation.
The keynote speech was delivered by human rights advocate Atty. Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno who recounted his childhood memory of soldiers “inviting” his father to a military camp during the Marcos dictatorship. His father was detained as a political prisoner for two years. Diokno mentioned lingering effects of the Marcos regime, focusing not on the commonly-discussed large national debt but the tainting and poisoning of the legal profession and the judiciary branch’s independence. He remarked that fixing this problem within the judiciary is necessary for improving the Philippine condition, because an effective legal system would help solve many systemic problems. In a broader sense, he drew parallels between the brazen violations during the martial law regime and today’s subtler issues. “Even issues of corruption, accountability, and human rights continue to plague us today,” he said.
The Wall of the Brave features explicitly short biographies of the following people who graced the halls of FEU: Antonio Ariado, Juliet Y. Armea, Monico “Nick” Atienza, Maria Lorena M. Barros, Crispin “Ka Bel” Beltran, Bonifacio H. Gillego, Alfredo V. Jasul, Sister Mary Bernard Jimenez, Horacio “Boy” Morales, Jr., Romulo “Romy” Peralta, Jovito R. Salonga, Alfonso T. Yuchengco and Quintin G. Yuyitung. Just as they were brave during the dark days of martial law, the FEU community and all Filipinos, in general, are being challenged at present as the more subtle and less apparent attacks on Filipino freedom, autonomy, and democracy.
FEU President Dr. Michael M. Alba emphasized that the Wall of the Brave should serve as a reminder to the FEU community to continually fight for the democratic rights and welfare of Filipinos and to never again assent to the tyranny of a dictatorial regime.