On the 51st Anniversary of the Declaration of Martial Law, Former Member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines and Martial Law survivor, Etta Rosales, makes an appeal—especially to the young—to never forget the atrocities of that era in our history. In an interview on ANC's Headstart, she said:

"Ako'y nangangampanya, nag-aapila sa mga kabataan natin, dahil mga kabataan nating ang syang mulat…dahil yung mga tatay ninyo, mga nanay ninyo, hindi sila nagsasalita, either takot or hindi naman nila alam kung ano ang katotohanan, pero kayo, mulat na kayo, wag kayong maniniwala dun sa distortions of truth na nangyayari ngayon dahil sa Marcos atrocities, kelangan ilabas natin ang katotohanan."

There was a huge outcry when the Department of Education insisted on removing the "Marcos" from the Diktaduryang Marcos in Aralin Panlipunan textbooks, with various historical groups decrying the whitewashing and historical distortion.   "DepEd has no business distorting the truth on Martial Law," said Rosales.

Rosales was an activist during Martial law and was arrested in 1976. In a news report from AFP in 2022, she recalls "boiling-hot candle wax was poured on her arms and she was waterboarded as well as strangled with a belt. Her abusers delivered electric shocks to her fingertips and toes."

According to Amnesty International  Philippines Director Aurora Parong, the Dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.'s security forces "killed, tortured, sexually abused, mutilated or arbitrarily detained about 70,000 opponents".