Allan Juddil G.

Bulawan July 4, 2019

GAS 12

Reflection: The Safe House

By: Sandra Nicole Roldan

Many people had expressed their experiences or opinions about Martial Law during Ferdinand
Marcos’ time. It was said that those who were actually alive during that time said that Ferdinand
Marcos was a great president, while those who weren’t said that he wasn’t—probably based on
what they learned in our Philippine written history.

But the story of Roldan brought me to a new perspective. A story that happened at the time of
Ferdinand Marcos, of Martial Law, in the perspective of a little child. The little girl lived in a four-
store building, with four units to a floor and walls high and wide. Their house was identical to any
other houses in that area—within the gates of the complex. I assume that place was a subdivision
or some kind, made from a housing project designed for genteel middle class living by the First
Lady, as her pride and joy.

A time during the martial law. The feeling in my gut told me that these guys must be
revolutionaries, going against the government. Against President Ferdinand Marcos. Why did
they need to be in that house to be treated when they can go to the hospital? Where did they get
those wounds in the first place? It was no doubt. One time when the little girl wanted to watch the
late afternoon cartoons, there were a lot of her relatives in front of the TV. On the screen was the
president and they all suddenly “erupt in a volley of curses”. They hated Ferdinand Marcos, and
they’re gathered in that house to revolt against him. The little girl was only five that time—it was
1982—still too young to witness something like that.

It was years later when she realized that those relatives weren’t actually her relatives. I’ve
calculated she was already 20 years old when she did, when she saw a familiar face from fifteen
years ago. Fifteen years ago was 1982. Fifteen years after is 1997. By then she realized that not
even her house was safe enough, that anyone cannot be trusted. That must be the meaning of
her dreams.