Makabayan and National Union of People’s Lawyer’s (NUPL) chair Neri Colmenares was one of the youngest political detainees during Martial Law. He protested the closure of student papers and student councils during Martial Law, which brought him to the realization that it was really about crushing dissent and silencing citizens.

He was just 18 years old when he was arrested and he was imprisoned for 4 years where he experienced torture without a clear case filed against him.

He shared that this is what pushed him to become a human rights lawyer and when he became Bayan Muna’s reprsentative in Congress, he authored and pushed for the approval of the Anti Torture Act (RA 9745) and Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act (RA 10468) that indemnified the victims of the Marcos dictatorship.

WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=1Bc3BtTI0w8&feature=emb_logo

Sources:

https://abogado.com.ph/colmenares-on-martial-law-i-was-in-jail-during-my-teenage-years/ https://twitter.com/colmenaresph/status/1470352737309425664?lang=en https://twitter.com/colmenaresph/status/1451059730722422785

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