Ateneo Martial Law Museum launches digital library

On Monday, 8 April 2024, the Ateneo Martial Law Museum launched its library — a digital archive of documentary, literary, visual records, and teaching resources related to the period of Martial Law in the Philippines. 

The digital library was made possible through collaboration with various institutions and organizations: the Rizal Library, the University of the Philippines-Diliman, the University of Hawaii-Manoa, Vanderbilt University, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the University of Washington, and Dapat Studio. 

Dr Maria Luz C Vilches, Vice President for Higher Education, welcomed guests to the launch. She detailed the beginnings of the Martial Law Museum, stretching back to 2017 with a core team composed of different faculty members and students of the University. “This digital library was initially launched in September 2022 as part of the University’s awareness-raising campaign of the dark side of our history, the declaration of martial law,” she said.

She continued: “The digital collection aims at preserving history by providing material that is available to students, teachers, and the general public so that they may understand and learn from the experiences of the martial law period and no better time than today should we insist on raising awareness, given a rising tide of political authoritarianism around the globe.”

“By creating the digital library and archive, we hope to ensure that all Filipinos will remember the atrocities of the past and never forget the horrors of the Marcos dictatorship so that the youth of today especially will not allow these adversities to happen again.”

This was followed by a hybrid roundtable discussion of the library’s core team, which included Dr Vina Lanzona (Associate Professor, University of Hawai’i at Manoa), Dr Vernon R Totanes (Director, Rizal Library), Mr Miguel Paolo P Rivera (past immediate Coordinator, Ateneo Martial Law Museum and Library, and Instructor, Department of Political Science, Ateneo de Manila University), and Ms Liezl Cabrera (Partner and Managing Director, Dapat Studio).

The discussion was moderated by Mr Jose Lorenzo Martinez, Teaching Associate at the Department of History, University of the Philippines-Diliman.

They talked about the process of creating, mounting, and launching the library, the difficulties and challenges along the way, and their rationale for the choices made in design, archiving, and more. 

Dr Laura Cabochan, lecturer at Ateneo’s Department of Fine Arts, performed Pete Lacaba’s “Aling Pag-ibig Pa” and “Bayan Ko” by José Corazón de Jesús, with accompaniment by Mr Oliver John C Quintana, coordinator of the Ateneo Martial Law Museum and Library and instructor at the Department of Political Science. 
 
Dr Mark John Sanchez of Vanderbilt University and Ms Lila Ramos Shahani of ICOMOS delivered presentations on martial law—“Documenting Martial Law: Rights-based Activism under the Marcos Dictatorship” and “Interviews of Martial Law Survivors” respectively. 

The launch ended with a street theater performance by Ateneo ENTABLADO.

Dr Czarina A Saloma-Akpedonu, Dean of the School of Social Sciences, formally closed the event.

Visit the Martial Law Museum and Library at library.martiallawmuseum.ph.