Organizer: Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University

Type/Location: In Person / Ithaca, NY

Description:

This talk explores how legal advocates fought to defend civil liberties during the martial law era in the Philippines (1972-1981). During martial law, legal activists tried to challenge the Marcos regime in Philippine courts while trying to avoid legitimating martial law. Other legal advocates sought to garner international support while maintaining the centrality of Filipino people’s voices and experiences. The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), an organization started by former Senator Jose W. Diokno and other lawyers to fight for the civil liberties of everyday Filipinos helped lead such fights. So too did anti-Marcos activists in the National Democratic Front (NDF) of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). This work operated on a local level with documentation efforts and habeas corpus filings as well as an international level, with examples such as the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) trial against the Marcos government in 1980. Despite the challenge of laying claim to the law against an authoritarian state, legal activists continued to advocate against the regime’s excesses and worked to shift local and international opinions against the Marcos state. Their work greatly contributed to transnational efforts to document human rights violence in the Philippines and offers insights into productive collaborations between grassroots and international solidarity activists.

About the Speaker:

Mark John Sanchez teaches Asian American and Philippine history courses at Vanderbilt University. He is currently completing a book on the making of a transnational opposition to the martial law regime of  Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. He is also working on a project on Philippine labor migration, speculation, and gambling.

Registration:

To attend the event in person, please register here.