Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein > Quotes

“It had become common knowledge in those days that the Marcoses used the country's treasury as if it was their own personal bank account.”
― Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein, A Thousand Little Deaths: Growing Up Under Martial Law in the Philippines

“As for Imelda, her vanity and hunger for material things were insatiable. She lived in splendor while the poor masses were left living under bridges and scavenging the Smokey Mountain garbage dump for food and scrap to sell.”
― Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein, A Thousand Little Deaths: Growing Up Under Martial Law in the Philippines

“To me, there was no such thing as 'staying neutral,' especially when blood had already been spilled. The stakes were simply too high. To keep neutral was to stay asleep, to sleepwalk through life, and that was unacceptable.”
― Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein, A Thousand Little Deaths: Growing Up Under Martial Law in the Philippines

“If you and your social class identified with the powerful, with those who had the control of the country's resources, either economic or political, then you were naturally against the other side. If you identified with the disadvantaged, the countless masses, then you saw those in power as the enemy.”
― Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein, A Thousand Little Deaths: Growing Up Under Martial Law in the Philippines

“As a teenager, I still viewed things in black and white. There was to be no shifting between the powerful and the powerless. To change sides was an unthinkable deed. You should never jump a picket line, nor should you regard Marcos as a good leader.”
― Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein, A Thousand Little Deaths: Growing Up Under Martial Law in the Philippines

“There were thousands and thousands of Filipinos during that period whose fate was similar to mine, clueless as to why we were sent to prison and defenseless against what we endured.”
― Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein, A Thousand Little Deaths: Growing Up Under Martial Law in the Philippines

“I believe to this day that Marcos needed to be brought to his knees in the same way he brought the country to it knees with violence and savagery.”
― Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein, A Thousand Little Deaths: Growing Up Under Martial Law in the Philippines

“I also believe that it will be a continuing disservice to all Filipinos if there is no serious attempt to confront the truth and punish those culpable from that inglorious period in history. We are still waiting, though four presidents have taken office after Marcos was thrown out of power. Moreover, some of the extrajudicial killings during Marcos' time continue to occur in some parts of the country to this day.”
― Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein, A Thousand Little Deaths: Growing Up Under Martial Law in the Philippines

“That was what it meant to be living under the tight noose of martial law. Rules had changed. We didn't know what was allowed and what wasn't. It all felt arbitrary. We were uncertain how to move on, how to react, how to live so our lives would not be at risk.”
― Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein, A Thousand Little Deaths: Growing Up Under Martial Law in the Philippines

“Soldiers were ready, able, and only too willing to follow orders to arrest anyone Marcos, his cronies, and aides believed was their enemy. To them, enemies took many forms. Innocent-looking fifteen-year-old convent schoolgirls were no exception.”
― Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein, A Thousand Little Deaths: Growing Up Under Martial Law in the Philippines