Philippine torture victim relives horror as dictator's son rises to fore in presidential race

Human rights activist Loretta Rosales sits behind a photo, a grainy military mugshot of her taken after she got arrested in 1976, at her house in Manila, Philippines on Feb. 23, 2022. Memories of the “People Power” revolt by millions of Filipinos who helped overthrow Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos 36 years ago are bittersweet for Rosales, who opposed him as an activist and was arrested and tortured by his forces before his downfall. Her battle, however, has gone full circle. The euphoria over that triumph of democracy in Asia has faded through the years and now looks upended with the late dictator’s son and namesake a leading candidate in the May 9 presidential election. - AP

MANILA, Feb 25 (AFP): Ferdinand Marcos Junior's quest for the Philippine presidency has Loretta Rosales recoiling in horror remembering the nightmare she went through standing up to his late father's brutal rule.

Tortured and gang-raped by the elder Marcos' troops under martial law in the 1970s, the former history professor, now 82, told AFP she fears history will repeat itself.