Marcos Martial Law: Never Again by Raissa Robles

As soon as I read in an article that the copies of the books were available already in National Bookstore, I immediately went to the branch in Glorietta, which was just right across Park Terraces.

The book is priced at PhP 395.00. It is a very easy read. I've been reading it as a bedside novel, which is a challenge because the book is huge. 

As a student, I was diligent reading on the history of Martial Law. Although I was born in the early 80s, my family did not feel the effects of Martial Law at the time. My mother, though, had a coffee-table book on People Power which piqued my interest in the topic at an early age. In Ateneo,  I was lucky to have been taught by my teachers of what happened during Martial Law, and the thirst for knowledge on that era in Philippine history never lost its allure for me. I was fascinated by the excesses of the Marcoses - I used to have a copy of Some Are Smarter Than Others, and that book reported in depth the items that Imelda Marcos would purchase from abroad. It listed real estate, jewelry, shoes, clothes, paintings - quite fascinating, I tell you. I really hope that they do another run of that book again. 

In the day and age of information technology, it surprises me that millennials don't seem to have a clue as to what happened during Martial Law. This particular book gives you the story of the victims of human rights violations, the desaparecidos, and their families. 

It would be a good addition to every Filipino's library.