ALBAY, Philippines – Away from what most people imagine activists to be – loud voices, sun-stretched builds, and always in mobilizations, Liliosa Hilao, a Bikolana activist from Bulan, Sorsogon during the 1970s, was a frail and amiable associate editor of Hasik, the official university publication of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM).
Because of her asthma, Lilli, as her friends called her, was prevented from joining rallies but bravely wrote many of the most fearless articles during the first year of Martial Law.
Fifty-two years after Martial Law was declared by the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, Lilli’s story remains one of the most resounding calls to demand accountability for human rights violations and tyranny.
According to Bansay, a Bikolnon biography series published by Ateneo de Naga University Press in 2017, Hilao was the first recorded political prisoner to die in detention during Martial Law. However, Lilli’s fight for freedom did not end in April 1973. Her bravery continues to inspire modern-day campus journalists to resist state-sponsored atrocities by championing the pen and defending causes centered on the welfare of the masses.
‘Democracy is dead’
Lilli was best known for her essay, Democracy is Dead in the Philippines. As a way of mourning, she wore black after strongman Ferdinand Marcos announced Martial Law in 1972. Six months later, Lilli herself was dead due to the alleged torture by drunken soldiers of the Philippine Constabulary’s Narcotics Unit (CANU), who also raped and interrogated her, showed a 1998 report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Set to graduate as the only communication arts cum laude at PLM, Lilli was never able to personally receive her degree because of what CANU men allegedly did to her two weeks before her supposed graduation. Lilli’s death was not an isolated case among the thousands of other extrajudicial killings during Martial Law.
According to the Human Rights Violations Memorial Claims Board (HRVMCB), there were 2,325 others killed, 1,922 tortured, 3,325 detained, and 3,318 exiled based on the reported cases of HRVs, aside from many other victims that were not accounted for.
Meanwhile, human rights group Karapatan, where Lilli’s sister Amaryllis “Marie” Hilao-Enriquez served as chairperson emeritus, logged 89 cases of extrajudicial killings during the first year and a half of President “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s administration, along with 1,609,496 cases of threats, harassment, and intimidation, predominantly red-tagging and terrorist-tagging, seemingly mirroring the crimes of the his father’s dictatorship.
Ghosts of Martial Law
For many campus journalists, Hilao’s life and fate prove that Martial Law was never a golden age for the Philippines. They said that what Hilao experienced remains true in the contemporary age.
Martin Zachary Asistio, the regional president of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) in the National Capital Region (NCR), said the story of Hilao is an example of how the state is willing to resort to extreme violence just to ensure it can control the administration’s critics.
“The story of Liliosa Hilao is an example of the violence that the state is willing to do just to keep its corrupt hold on the people. Unfortunately, her story remains a common one to this day,” Asistio said.
Catherine Discoron, the managing editor for external affairs of Himati, the official student publication of the University of the Philippines-Mindanao, said many campus journalists from Mindanao echo the story of Hilao. She said state forces have tried to intimidate campus journalists from their publications.
“The police attempted to intimidate us during a peaceful protest… no amount of mental training could prepare you for that,” Discoron continued. “That’s why Lilli’s story is so inspiring. Her courage and determination were unmatched.”
According to the latest campus press freedom report of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), there were 206 reported incidents of campus press freedom violations from 2023 to 2024 alone, including 58 counts of censorship, 24 cases of harassment, and 17 cases of red-tagging.
John Ray Luciano, the deputy secretary general of CEGP, said these cases show that attacks on campus journalists and activists remain prevalent today, connecting to the struggles during Lilli’s time.
Luciano also added, “Like Liliosa Hilao, campus journalists can be instruments of awakening, especially amid the rising spate of attacks against our rights and liberties that further affirm our active role in directing social change.”
The CEGP said Lilli’s struggles should be viewed as an inspiration to go beyond campus reporting and become social agents that defend democracy.
“May Lilli’s life and struggle inspire us to go beyond our comfort zones and face the challenges ahead of us to champion press freedom and defend the rights of the masses,” Luciano reiterated.
Hilao was an active member of the CEGP when she was alive. – Rappler.com
Reinnard Balonzo is a senior journalism student at Bicol University-College of Arts and Letters. An Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow of Rappler for 2024, he is also chairperson of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines-Bicol.