Proclamation 1081 was signed on 21 September 1972 — a day of infamy — establishing the Marcos dictatorship.

The document officially declaring martial law was met not without dissent.

The government led by President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. justified the proclamation: “to save the republic” (from various plots) and “to reform society” (after the failure of American-style democracy), as explained in a paper by Alex B. Brillantes, “Dictatorship & martial law: Philippine authoritarianism in 1972,” of the University of the Philippines Diliman School of Public Administration.

After over five decades, martial rule has proven futile. While those years saw some economic gains, a culture of corruption was embedded that the following administrations could not shake.

In fact, some will insist the rash only spread and became a cancer. It got so bad that typhoon-prone Philippines is now flood-prone and inundated with rising cases of graft and corruption — the very evils that toppled the Marcos dictatorship in the end.

So what does it say about us, Filipinos, that on Sunday, 21 September, many will stand at two locations across Metro Manila to protest the corruption — and, perhaps, “to save the republic” (from corrupt leaders in a rotten system) and “to reform society (after the failure of the EDSA People Power revolution)?

History repeats when lessons are not learned.

The son of Ferdinand Sr., Bongbong, has found himself lodged between the devil and the deep blue sea — and on the cusp of another history-making moment.

Days ago, he was peppered with criticism for daring to say, “If I (were not) the President, I might be out in the streets with them.”

Some took it as a sign of weakness, others as an effort to show understanding of the public sentiment.

“Of course, they are enraged; of course, they are angry,” he even qualified.

But that alone — like his cousin House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s resignation on Wednesday — is not enough. Just as the Senate leadership’s rigodon is not enough. Just as the moralizing by some leaders whom some believe are the “most guilty” is not enough.

Words are cheap. People can say all the right things and never fix the problem — and that, as this archipelago has learned in hundreds of years of being dictated upon by other interests, is the problem of accountability.

President Bongbong Marcos, 17th president of the republic, is called upon to answer for the corruption that has saddled our nation for far too long. There are those who believe he should resign, but the alternative could be worse. Some think his attempt to show empathy spurs hope, but he must follow it through with authority.

The rally on Sunday will determine how much the people have had it at this point in time. Will the crowds be large enough to frighten those who cannot moderate their greed?

And afterwards, will the Congress investigations yield real results, enough to convict the liars and thieves who had been allowed to make off with P1.9 trillion in funds allotted for flood control projects?