“Unmasking a Dictator:
Amnesty International Mission to the Philippines (1975)”
Tom Jones
Poet, Photographer, Human Rights Activist
The Amnesty International mission consisted of Asia Researcher Wen-hsien Huang, a member of Amnesty International’s International Secretariat, and the American lawyer, Thomas C. Jones, a member of the board of directors of Amnesty International USA.
On 21 September 1972, President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr., barred by the Philippines Constitution from running for a 3rd term, with 14 months left in his 2nd term, had declared martial law, at the same time ordering the immediate arrest and detention of thousands of students, workers, peasants, intellectuals, journalists as well as hundreds of his political rivals. The first person arrested and imprisoned was popular Senator Benigno Aquino, leader of the opposition who had been favored to win the next presidential election, Marcos’ most feared rival. The delegates interviewed him in solitary confinement in maximum security prison in Fort Bonifacio.
The number of political prisoners was unprecedented. In an interview with the mission delegates in Manila on November 25, 1975, President Marcos admitted that altogether some 50,000 people had been arrested and detained in the three years since the imposition of martial law. The “detention centers” were more like concentration camps, wretched, overcrowded, and unsanitary, and the further away from Manila, the worse the conditions.
In sending a mission to The Philippines, AI had not anticipated the extent to which torture had been used against martial law detainees. The delegates were deeply concerned by the harshness of such torture and the evidence of its widespread use. Almost 70% of those interviewed by the mission reported that they had been tortured.
The People’s Power Revolution finally overthrew Marcos in 1986: he and his family were flown in US Army planes to exile in Hawaii. Corazon Aquino, widow of the martyred Senator Benigno (who was murdered returning from medical care in the U.S. on the tarmac of Manila International Airport), succeeded Marcos.
This drama continues with the election in 2022 of the Dictator’s son and namesake, President Fernando E. “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., who has refused to admit his father’s crimes.
Tom Jones is an experienced poet with a demonstrated history as an international university professor in India and as a successful teacher of A.P. Literature and Creative Writing Poetry Workshops to Native American high school seniors, with a student from each of his last three A.P. classes admitted to Harvard University. He is skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Photography, Editing, Public Speaking, and Creative Writing. He is a strong arts and design professional with a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) 1992, focused in Creative Writing (Poetry) from George Mason University—MFA Program—Fairfax, VA.
This event is free and open to the public. A recording will be available on the CSEAS YouTube channel following the event.