Barbed wire barricades once again were up Monday on Mendiola street, not so far away from Malacañang.
They served as apt reminders of the day the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr, father of the current president, declared Martial Law on Sept. 21, 1972.
Democracy in the Philippines died that day: the Constitution was abolished, media-television, radio stations and newspapers- were shut down, freedom was suspended. Marcos’ word was the law.
It took 14 years and hundreds and thousands of lives lost before Filipinos were able to restore democracy on Feb. 24, 1986.
Today, even as Philippine democracy continues to be dynamic, it encounters bumps and challenges.
The greatest irony is the return to power of the Marcoses in the person of Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
Such is the multi-layered history of Philippine democracy.
Photos by Bullit Marquez for Vera Files