By Raïssa Robles –

(I gave this brief speech when I was a discussant in Friday’s University of the Philippines forum, “Never Again, Never Forget: Martial Law, the Academe, and the Public”. Being neither a UP professor nor a state employee who is banned from expressing political opinion, I felt I was free to point out an unfolding political phenomenon that seemed to closely mimic what the Dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, did in 1972. I am referring to presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte. My deep thanks to the UP College of Social Sciences and Philosophy and the Department of History for inviting me to be part of their historic two-day Forum.)