In September 2022, the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission (HRVMMC) will be launching their flagship project: The Freedom Memorial Museum.
The museum, titled “Fall of Brutal”, was designed by freelance architects Mark Anthony Pait, Mark Angelo Bonita and Wendell Crispo. The design won top prize at the Freedom Memorial Museum Design Competition, which was organized by the HRVMMC and the United Architects of the Philippines.
The museum’s architectural design was inspired by the image of a clenched fist, and brutalism, which was the architectural style of most structures erected during the Marcos regime. Its facade will bear patterns of the ikat, patadyong, Moro and T’boli textiles, which symbolize the “beauty of democracy unfolding.”
“We want to translate the story of the martial law era into the architectural design, to give meaning and experience during martial law. It’s not our architecture, it’s the architecture of the Filipino people and our history,” Pait said.
“Fall of Brutal” will serve as an information portal to the Martial Law era, containing memorabilia, artifacts, educational materials, and audiovisual content. Murals of the victims of human rights violations will be mounted in the lobby, and the restored Aviation Security Command (Avsecom) military van which brought Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.’s body to the hospital will serve as the museum’s centerpiece.
The Freedom Memorial Museum will be erected at the University of the Philippines Diliman campus, beside the College of Fine Arts Gallery. According to Commission on Human Rights chairman Chito Gascon, the museum will be opened on Sept. 21, 2022, on the 50th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law.