In the Philippines, people of my generation (Baby Boomers) remember Proclamation No. 1081. Then President Marcos signed it on September 21, 1972. This was the formal proclamation of Martial Law which gave him dictatorship powers until he was ousted in February 1986.
For the history buffs, Proclamation 1081 was lifted on January 17, 1981, but Marcos retained his powers as dictator until People Power in February 1986.
I was Features Editor of The LaSallian (TLS) in 1979. It had been Martial Law for a third of my life. While we were used to people disappearing like South American desparecidos, nevertheless, deep-rooted unrest and protest was fermenting. I remember joining protest rallies until I saw the back of a van filled with Molotov cocktails.
Journalists trod more carefully then. Dante Acuña, TLS Sports Editor 1971, remembers attending a College Editors Guild of the Philippines at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños. “Left-wing student activists dominated the gathering. We were introduced to some of the heavyweights in the student movement, some of whom would be fatal victims of military operations in the near future.”
Adie Peña, TLS EB 1972, said The LaSallian was a left-leaning school paper at that time. Just before Martial Law was declared, he volunteered for a De La Salle College(1) social-action program in Pampanga, which was a New People’s Army (NPA) hotspot at that time. Adie, along with fellow Lasallites, dug ditches in the day and drank beer with canned-goods pulutan at night.
The project was cut short when several army trucks arrived to immediately bring them back to Manila. “We would later learn that one of the students was the son of a high-ranking military man, hence the army trucks and the armed soldiers that rode with us.”
Upon arrival at La Salle campus, they were informed that Martial Law had been declared. Adie was told to go to The LaSallian Publication room to claim his personal belongings. The pub room looked like a war zone. “All the furniture was gone and all the cabinets were dismantled.” The room had been “sanitized,” i.e. all mimeographed manifestos, “red books” and radical papers were removed.
Today, we look back at those tumultuous times. These days are less turbulent, although there are still protests because of the billions of pesos lost to corruption. Extrajudicial killing (EJK) is not a remote memory.
We talk about People Power that brought about an almost bloodless EDSA revolution. Nuns were at the front-line, locked arm-in-arm with Lasallians and other students. They faced tanks and armed military until the President had to leave Malacañang for Hawaii. But was it a true revolution?
The Oxford Dictionary defines “revolution” as “a forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favor of a new system.”
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Corruption is still here, multiplied a hundredfold. Feudalism still exists, mutated into powerful political families that hold almost permanent sway over their bailiwicks.
I still believe in Democracy. I have seen the alternatives and they are not pretty.
The LaSallian of today has not been shy in their coverage of protest rallies and anti-corruption activities. Just this October 2025, they were at Mendiola with students from different universities for the National Day of Action Against Corruption. They have provided continuous coverage of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure’s (ICI) probe into anomalous flood control projects. They covered the protest at the House of Representatives against corruption in the proposed P6 trillion 2026 budget bill.
It is appropriate that The LaSallian office is in Br. Connon Hall. Br. Gabriel Connon was DLSU President in the 1970’s. He was an American who became a Filipino citizen by an act of Congress. The bill was sponsored by co-sponsored Senator Pepe Diokno (a DLSU alumnus and father of Congressman Chel Diokno).
Br. Gabe loved the Philippines. We Baby Boomer LaSallians have been fortunate to have known him.
Having studied in La Salle from Grade School to University, I was taught to be a Christian Gentleman. Therefore, I do not advocate violent protest, but I believe in the People Power movement.
The LaSallian (TLS) student publication has been “bastion of issue-oriented critical thinking” for 65 years now. TLS has covered People Power in 1986 and henceforth, in its many forms. There is a revolution percolating again. This time it is against corruption.
May they keep the fires burning. May they be instrumental in the fight against evil. May the continue to be a guiding light for La Salle students and alumni.
Animo The LaSallian!
(1) De La Salle University was a College until 1975 when it was granted University status by the Department of Education (Philippines).
2025 October
San Pedro, Laguna
EDITOR’S NOTE:
This is an unedited submission from a former section editor of The LaSallian, reflecting on the long history of the publication as the community’s voice. The article also mentioned how the publication’s room was ransacked during the Martial Law era in 1972.
Winston Baltasar served as the Features, now Menagerie, Editor of The LaSallian in 1979.
He was a proud ‘Lasallista’ all the way from grade school to university, now teaching Sports Studies at the De La Salle University Manila and Laguna campuses.
He currently serves as the Faculty Adviser of The LaSallian and Student Publications Adviser for the DLSU Integrated School.
He expresses that the only stain in his green blood is marrying an Atenean whom he loves very much. Nonetheless, he made sure that their children studied in La Salle.
