(Leson 7) 

Fourth Philippine Republic (1981–1986)

PRESIDENT FERDINAND MARCOS

First term

In 1965, Ferdinand Marcos won the presidential election and became the 10th President of the

Philippines. His first term was marked with increased industrialization and the creation of solid
infrastructures nationwide, such as the North Luzon Expressway and the Maharlika Highway. Marcos did
this by appointing a cabinet composed mostly of technocrats and intellectuals, by increasing funding to
the Armed Forces and mobilizing them to help in construction. Marcos also established schools and
learning institutions nationwide, more than the combined total of those established by his predecessors.

In 1968, Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr. warned that Marcos was on the road to establishing "a garrison
state" by "ballooning the armed forces budget", saddling the defense establishment with "overstaying
generals" and "militarizing our civilian government offices". These were prescient comments in the light
of events that would happen in the following decade. Marcos also sent 10,450 Filipino soldiers to
Vietnam during his term, under the PHILCAG (Philippine Civic Action Group). Fidel Ramos, who was
later to become the 12th President of the Philippines in 1992, was a part of this expeditionary force.

Second term

In 1969, Marcos ran for a second term (allowable under the 1935 constitution then in effect, and won
against 11 other candidates. Marcos' second term was marked by economic turmoil brought about by
factors both external and internal, a restless student body who demanded educational reforms, a rising
crime rate, and a growing Communist insurgency, among other things. At one point, student activists took
over the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines and declared it a free commune, which
lasted for a while before the government dissolved it. Violent protesting continued over the next few
years until the declaration of martial law in 1972. The event was popularly known as the First Quarter
Storm.

During the First Quarter Storm in 1970, the line between leftist activists and communists became
increasingly blurred, as a significant number of Kabataang Makabayan ('KM') advanced activists joined
the party of the Communist Party also founded by Jose Maria Sison. KM members protested in front of
Congress, throwing a coffin, a stuffed alligator, and stones at Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos after his State
of the Nation Address. On the presidential palace, activists rammed the gate with a fire truck and once the
gate broke and gave way, the activists charged into the Palace grounds tossing rocks, pillboxes and
Molotov cocktails. In front of the US embassy, protesters vandalized, burned, and damaged the embassy
lobby resulting in a strong protest from the U.S. Ambassador. The KM protests ranged from 50,000 to
100,000 in number per weekly mass action. In the aftermath of the January 1970 riots, at least two
activists were confirmed dead and several were injured by the police. The mayor of Manila at the
time, Antonio Villegas, commended the Manila Police District for their "exemplary behavior and
courage" and protecting the First Couple long after they have left. The death of the activists was seized by
the Lopez controlled Manila Times and Manila Chronicle, blaming Marcos and added fire to the weekly
protests. Students declared a week-long boycott of classes and instead met to organize protest rallies.

Rumors of a coup d'état were also brewing. A report of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said
that shortly after the 1969 Philippine presidential election, a group composed mostly of retired colonels
and generals organized a revolutionary junta to first discredit President Marcos and then kill him. As
described in a document given to the committee by Philippine Government official, key figures in the plot
were Vice President Fernando Lopez and Sergio Osmena Jr., whom Marcos defeated in the 1969
election. Marcos even went to the U.S. embassy to dispel rumors that the U.S. embassy is supporting a
coup d'état which the opposition liberal party was spreading. While the report obtained by the NY Times
speculated saying that story could be used by Marcos to justify Martial Law, as early as December 1969
in a message from the U.S. Ambassador to the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, the U.S. Ambassador
said that most of the talk about revolution and even assassination has been coming from the defeated
opposition, of which Adevoso (of the Liberal Party) is a leading activist. He also said that the information
he has on the assassination plans are 'hard' or well-sourced and he has to make sure that it reached
President Marcos.

In light of the crisis, Marcos wrote an entry in his diary in January 1970: "I have several options. One of
them is to abort the subversive plan now by the sudden arrest of the plotters. But this would not be
accepted by the people. Nor could we get the Huks (Communists), their legal cadres and support. Nor the
MIM (Maoist International Movement) and other subversive [organizations, nor those underground. We
could allow the situation to develop naturally then after massive terrorism, wanton killings and an attempt
at my assassination and a coup d’etat, then declare martial law or suspend the privilege of the writ of
habeas corpus – and arrest all including the legal cadres. Right now I am inclined towards the latter

Plaza Miranda bombing

On August 21, 1971, the Liberal Party held a campaign rally at the Plaza Miranda to proclaim their
Senatorial bets and their candidate for the Mayoralty of Manila. Two grenades were reportedly tossed on
stage, injuring almost everybody present. As a result, Marcos suspended the writ of habeas corpus to
arrest those behind the attack. He rounded up a list of supposed suspects, Escabas, and other undesirables
to eliminate rivals in the Liberal Party.

Marcos accused the communist movement as the perpetrators of the bombing, and responded by
suspending the writ of habeas corpus. Declassified documents from the U.S. Central Intelligence
Agency also implicate Marcos in at least one of the deadly series of bombings in 1971.

Martial law (1972–1981)

On September 23, 1972, then-Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile was ambushed while en route home.
This assassination attempt together with the general citizen disquiet, were used by Marcos as reasons to
issue Presidential Proclamation No. 1081, proclaiming a state of martial law in the Philippines on
September 21. The assassination attempt was widely believed to have been staged; Enrile himself
admitted to the assassination attempt to have been staged but he would later retract his claim. Rigoberto
Tiglao, former press secretary and a former communist incarcerated during the martial law, argued that
the liberal and communist parties provoked martial law imposition. Enrile said that "The most significant
event that made President Marcos decide to declare martial law was the MV Karagatan incident on July
1972. It was the turning point. The MV Karagatan involved the infiltration of high powered rifles,
ammunition, 40-millimeter rocket launchers, rocket projectiles, communications equipment, and other
assorted war materials by the CPP-NPA-NDF on the Pacific side of Isabela in Cagayan Valley." The
weapons were shipped from Communist China which at that time was exporting the communist
revolution and supported the NPA's goal to overthrow the government.

Marcos, who thereafter ruled by decree, curtailed press freedom and other civil liberties,
abolished Congress, controlled media establishments, and ordered the arrest of opposition leaders and
militant activists, including his staunchest critics Senators Benigno Aquino Jr. and Jose W. Diokno,
virtually turning the Philippines into a totalitarian dictatorship with Marcos as its Supreme Leader.
Initially, the declaration of martial law was well received, given the social turmoil of the period. Crime
rates decreased significantly after a curfew was implemented. Political opponents were allowed to go into
exile. As martial law went on for the next nine years, the excesses committed by the military increased. In
total, there were 3,257 extrajudicial killings, 35,000 individual tortures, and 70,000 were incarcerated. It
is also reported that 737 Filipinos disappeared between 1975 and 1985.

Though it was claimed that Martial law was no military take-over of the government, the immediate
reaction of some sectors of the nation was of astonishment and dismay, for even though it was claimed
that the gravity of the disorder, lawlessness, social injustice, youth and student activism, and other
disturbing movements had reached a point of peril, they felt that martial law over the whole country was
not yet warranted. Worse, political motivations were ascribed to be behind the proclamation, since the
then constitutionally non-extendable term of President Marcos was about to expire. This suspicion
became more credible when opposition leaders and outspoken anti-government media people were
immediately placed under indefinite detention in military camps and other unusual restrictions were
imposed on travel, communication, freedom of speech and the press, etc. In a word, the martial law
regime was anathema to no small portion of the populace.

It was in the light of the above circumstances and as a means of solving the dilemma aforementioned that
the concept embodied in Amendment No. 6 was born in the Constitution of 1973. In brief, the central idea
that emerged was that martial law might be earlier lifted, but to safeguard the Philippines and its people
against any abrupt dangerous situation which would warrant the some exercise of totalitarian powers, the
latter must be constitutionally allowed, thereby eliminating the need to proclaim martial law and its
concomitants, principally the assertion by the military of prerogatives that made them appear superior to
the civilian authorities below the President. In other words, the problem was what may be needed for
national survival or the restoration of normalcy in the face of a crisis or an emergency should be
reconciled with the popular mentality and attitude of the people against martial law.

The reassuring words for the skeptic came on the occasion of the University of the Philippines law alumni
reunion on December 12, 1980 when the President declared: "We must erase once and for all from the
public mind any doubts as to our resolve to bring martial law to an end and to minister to an orderly
transition to parliamentary government." The apparent forthright irrevocable commitment was cast at the
45th anniversary celebration of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on December 22, 1980 when the
President proclaimed: "A few days ago, following extensive consultations with a broad representation of
various sectors of the nation and in keeping with the pledge made a year ago during the seventh
anniversary of the New Society, I came to the firm decision that martial law should be lifted before the
end of January, 1981, and that only in a few areas where grave problems of public order and national
security continue to exist will martial law continue to remain in force.

After the lifting of martial law, power remained concentrated with Marcos. One scholar noted how
Marcos retained "all martial law decrees, orders, and law-making powers," including powers that allowed
him to jail political opponents.

Human rights abuses

The martial law era under Marcos was marked by plunder, repression, torture, and atrocity. As many as
3,257 were murdered, 35,000 tortured, and 70,000 illegally detained according to estimates by
historian Alfred McCoy. One journalist described the Ferdinand Marcos administration as "a grisly one-
stop shop for human rights abuses, a system that swiftly turned citizens into victims by dispensing with
inconvenient requirements such as constitutional protections, basic rights, due process, and evidence."

The Fourth Republic (1981–1986)

The opposition boycotted the June 16, 1981 presidential election, which pitted Marcos and his Kilusang
Bagong Lipunan party against retired Gen. Alejo Santos of the Nacionalista Party. Marcos won by a
margin of over 16 million votes, which constitutionally allowed him to have another six-year term.
Finance Minister Cesar Virata was elected as Prime Minister by the Batasang Pambansa.

In 1983, opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. was assassinated at Manila International

Airport upon his return to the Philippines after a long period of exile in the United States. This coalesced
popular dissatisfaction with Marcos and began a series of events, including pressure from the United
States, that culminated in a snap presidential election on February 7, 1986. The opposition united under
Aquino's widow, Corazon Aquino, and Salvador Laurel, head of the United Nationalists Democratic
Organizations (UNIDO). The election was marred by widespread reports of violence and tampering with
results by both sides.

The official election canvasser, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), declared Marcos the winner,
despite a walk-out staged by disenfranchised computer technicians on February 9. According to the
COMELEC's final tally, Marcos won with 10,807,197 votes to Aquino's 9,291,761 votes. By contrast, the
partial 70% tally of NAMFREL, an accredited poll watcher, said Aquino won with 7,835,070 votes to
Marcos's 7,053,068.

End of the Marcos regime

The fraudulent result was not accepted by Aquino and her supporters. International observers,
including a U.S. delegation led by Senator Richard Lugar, denounced the official results. General Fidel
Ramos and Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile then withdrew their support for the government,
defecting and barricading themselves within Camp Crame. This resulted in that peaceful 1986 EDSA
Revolution that forced Marcos into exile in Hawaii while Corazon Aquino became the 11th President of
the Philippines on February 25, 1986. Under Aquino, the Philippines would adopt a new constitution,
ending the Fourth Republic and ushering in the beginning of the Fifth Republic.