Following COMELEC’s partial and unofficial count of the 2022 elections, some firms made efforts for Filipinos not to forget the Martial Law years. A publication house gave discounts on books about one of the darkest eras in the country, while Ateneo de Manila University recommended a list of titles. Meanwhile, director Kip Oebanda shared a copy of his film Liway for free.
On May 11, Liway‘s official Facebook page posted a Google Drive link to the film. The status read, ‘This is yours now. Feel free to create copies, torrents, splice it, stream it, use it for your own purposes.’
Liway is based on Oebanda’s real-life experience with his mother. The story is set during Ferdinand Marcos’ Martia Law period, where it follows a boy named Dakip. He lives in a prison camp with his mother, an anti-Marcos dissident known as Commander Liway. She tells her son stories to protect him from the realities of a political prisoner’s life.
The 2018 film stars Glaiza de Castro as the titular character, Dominic Roco as Dakip’s father Commander Toto, and Kenken Nuyad played the child version of the filmmaker a.k.a. Dakip.
Marcos Sr. implemented martial law on September 21, 1972, when the country started to fall into deep debt and many human rights violations took place. Inquirer reported that 70,000 people were arrested, 34,000 people were tortured, and 3,240 were killed by the military and the police.
While it has only been almost 50 years since the atrocities happened, the late dictator’s son is poised to become the 17th President of the Philippines.
