A dark era in Filipino history comes to light in a social experiment.
The Philippine elections opened up a Pandora’s box of controversy.
The Philippine elections is just about wrapped up. And it was some kind of circus.
From corrupt candidates to one scandal after another to a potty-mouthed incoming president, it was only a matter of time before the world caught on to what was happening in the Philippines. Even comedian John Oliver decided to give his two cents on the situation.
Let's just say John did his "thang." Image from "Last Week Tonight"/YouTube.
However, one of the most powerful messages to come out of the elections came from a social experiment that cut to the core of many Filipinos.
It's a video made by the group Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang (CARMMA for short). Basically, a guy named Bong Bong Marcos is very close to becoming vice president. If elected, he’d be one step away from Malacañang, the White House of the Philippines.
Seems about right. Image from CARMMA/Facebook, used with permission.
You see, Bong Bong is the son of Ferdinand Marcos, a former president and dictator famous for implementing martial law from 1972 to 1981. Essentially, martial law is when the military is given complete control of the government, rendering the executive, legislative, and judicial branches powerless. It’s usually imposed temporarily in times of calamity, but this man led the charge for nine whole years.
And while some may say it brought its fair share of good to the country, a group of millennials are about to learn the terrible price others had to pay.
The social experiment begins with an interviewer asking young voters about what happened during martial law.
That’s when the young voters start to rationalize its implementation in various ways, remembering all the lessons they learned in school growing up.
They talked about there being order...
All GIFs via CARMMA/Facebook.
...and how Marcos was really more like a loving parent.
They gushed at the glory of yesteryears.
Finally, the interviewer asked, "Are you in favor of martial law?"
That's when the tables were turned and the interviewers reveal who they really are — actual martial law victims.
Surprise.
After revealing themselves, the victims shared their stories of survival. And oh, are they powerful.
(Trigger warning: Proceed with caution. Their stories are very graphic in nature.)
This man talked about a soldier that was literally drunk with power.
This woman shared what they did to her brother-in-law for three days.
This man reflected on how he was almost tortured to death by electrocution.
Others were violated in ways we wouldn’t even wish on our own worst enemy.
Needless to say, everyone was shocked. But a troubling truth was revealed.
These young people simply did not know all of this had happened.
And that’s only because they were never taught the truth.
Mind you, these are college students. Yet here they are, hearing the true history of their country for the very first time.
This may feel familiar to those of us who have learned aspects of our own nation's troubled history — a history much more complex than the "cowboys and Indians" narrative of our schoolyards. But learning the reality of our past can help us build a better future.
It is unacceptable for schools to only teach a version of the truth.
It’s like the saying goes, "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." And while these circumstances are very extreme, we can not be afraid to trust our youth with the most powerful weapon of all — knowledge.
If you think the Filipino education system should tell students the whole martial law story, you can sign this Change.org petition to help our friends in the Philippines. It’ll only take a minute, but it has the potential to correctly rewrite a country’s history and improve how they shape young minds forever.
Watch the full video below:
A Generation Jones teenager poses in her room.Image via Wikmedia Commons
An office kitchen.via 
An angry man eating spaghetti.via 
An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
- YouTube youtube.com
Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.