VARIOUS groups will hold on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, a cultural event that aims to uphold the historic lessons of the Martial Law declared by late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. 50 years ago.The event dubbed “SING-kwenta: Mga kanta at kwento ng Martial Law” will be held at the University Avenue of the University of the Philippines Diliman at 4 p.m.Organizers working under #ML50 #NeverAgain said veterans of Martial Law will grace the event, which is also expected to be attended by the younger generation to affirm the commitment to fight historical denialism.The program also aims to celebrate the courageous struggle of the Filipino people for genuine freedom and democracy.In a statement, Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes said that Marcos’ reign of terror is a “dark chapter in our nation’s history that should never be forgotten.”’“To remember is to seek justice and accountability for the thousands of victims of dictatorship. To remember is to ensure that such abuses will never be repeated. To remember is to aspire and to fight for genuine freedom and democracy,” he said.Reyes said President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is wrong to think that their return to Malacañang will extinguish the crimes of his father.“Far from it. The crimes of the past will continue to hound his regime as the Filipino people continue to seek accountability. There can be no collective ‘moving on’ without justice,” he said.Groups earlier slammed Marcos Jr. for “whitewashing” the crimes of his father during an interview with actress-host and his staunch supporter Toni Gonzaga and for using official platforms to glorify the late President.They said Marcos Jr. is more on image-building than on solving the problems of the country.“While the Marcoses have unleashed a tsunami of disinformation and historical distortion, ours is a great wall of remembrance that is unwavering and steadfast,” said Reyes.Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Colonel Jean Fajardo said around 5,000 policemen were deployed around the Metro and other areas in the country for the maintenance of peace and order especially in the conduct of events related to the Martial Law Anniversary.She said protest actions related to the event were monitored in Manila, and in the provinces of Bicol and Cebu.Fajardo said the local government of Quezon City has granted a permit to conduct protest action to rallyist who are expected to march from the QC circle all the way to the UP Diliman Campus.“As always ang guidance ng ating Chief PNP si General Rodolfo AzurinJr. particularly dito sa ating monitoring sa magco-conduct ng rally is to exercise maximum tolerance,” she said.Fajardo reminded those who will join the event to police their ranks especially on the maintenance of health protocols amid the Covid-19 pandemic.Fajardo, however, maintained that the PNP puts to the highest premium the respect to human rights amid concerns that what happened during the martial law may also happen in the future considering that another Marcos holds the highest position of the land. (SunStar Philippines)