MARTIAL LAW

What is Martial Law?

Martial law involves the temporary substitution of military authority for civilian rule and is usually
invoked in time of war, rebellion, or natural disaster. Included were orders to transfer all powers to the
president, authorizing the military to arrest individuals conspiring to take over the government, the
enforcement of curfew hours, and the banning of group assemblies.
Martial law in the Philippines o Batas Militar sa Pilipinas refers to several intermittent periods in
Philippine history wherein the Philippine head of state (such as the President) places an area under the control
of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and its predecessor bodies.

Who declared Martial Law?

The late Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. was known as a dictator, and he had been
controversial since then until now.
• In 1935, Ferdinand Marcos was arrested on a charge of conspiracy to murder of Assembly Julio
Nalundsan, a political rival of his father.
• He argued his case on appeal to the Supreme Court, luckily winning an acquittal a year later. He bailed
himself out in order to take the examination, where he emerged topnotcher in November of the same
year.
• He became trial lawyer in Manila.
• During World War II, he served as an officer in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
• He became Senator after he served as member of the House of Representatives for three terms, then
later as Minority Floor Leader before gaining the Senate Presidency.
• He is one of the legislators who had established a record for having introduced a number of significant
bills.
• He was elected President of the Philippines in 1965 and was reelected in 1969. Marcos ruled the
Philippines for over 20 years.

Why did Ferdinand Marcos declare martial law?

President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed Proclamation No. 1081 on September 21, 1972, placing the
Philippines under Martial Law. He cited the communist threat as justification.
Marcos declared martial law, claiming that it was the last defense against the rising disorder caused by:
1. Increasingly violent student demonstrations
2. The alleged threats of communist insurgency by the new Communist Party of the Philippines
(CPP) and the ambush of his Minister of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile. Both reasons, fall within the
scope of the imminent threat that necessitates the declaration of Martial Law.
3. The Muslim separatist movement of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
Marcos explained citing the provisions from the Philippine Constitution that Martial Law is a strategic
approach to legally defend the Constitution and protect the welfare of the Filipino people from the dangerous
threats posed by Muslim rebel groups and Christian vigilantes that places national security at risk during the
time. Marcos explained that martial law was not a military takeover but was then the only option to resolve
the country’s dilemma on rebellion that stages national chaos threatening the peace and order of the country.
The emergency rule, according to Marcos’s plan, was to lead the country into what he calls a “New Society”.
Increasingly violent student demonstrations
During the January 27, 1970 protest, policemen drew out activists who were inside a jeepney, many of whom
were women.
That day started a chain of seven deadly rallies of students belonging to 21 radical and conservative groups
who tried to unseat Marcos from January to March 1970. Dubbed as the First Quarter Storm (FQS), the
protests were held several months after the dictator’s election in November 1969, and prompted him to
declare Martial Law in 1972.
Here are the seven deadly protests against Marcos during the First Quarter Storm:
1. Where a cardboard coffin, which symbolized the death of freedom, was thrown at Marcos and his
convoy as he left Congress after his SONA at past five in the afternoon of January 26.
After the effigy of Marcos was burned, students chanted, “Makibaka, huwag matakot,” and threw
stones and papers as truncheon-toting policemen came near, reports say.

2. Some 100,000 protesters took over a fire truck, used by policemen to douse rallyists, and rammed it
through Gate 4 of Malacañang at six in the afternoon of January 30, 1970.

The activists also burned another car in front of Malacañang, prompting the Presidential Security
Guard to augment police force. Gunfire, stones, and tear-gas pursued thousands of demonstrators who
escaped through the streets of Quiapo and Sampaloc.

Student leaders led by Jopson of NUSP and Portia Ilagan of the conservative National Students League
met with Marcos in the palace. They demanded for non-partisan Constitutional Convention.

3. The Movement for a Democratic Philippines (MDP) organized a protest rally of 50,000 at Manila’s Plaza
Miranda on February 12, 1970.

4. Some 5,000 protesters attended the first “People’s Congress” at Plaza Miranda.

5. The MDP held a second “Peoples’ Congress” without a permit at Plaza Miranda on February 26, 1970.
Protesters re-assembled at the Sunken Garden, outside the Walls of Intramuros before policemen and
members of the Philippine Constabulary came.

The police raided the Philippine College of Commerce, beat up teachers and students, and looted
offices, the school authorities complained.

6. Students and urban youth groups joined jeepney drivers who held a citywide strike on March 3, 1970.
Organized by the MDP as “Peoples’ March,” protesters went to Plaza Moriones in Tondo, Plaza Lawton,
and in front of the US embassy.

7. The MDP organized a protest march to several urban poor communities for one day to tackle the issue
of poverty on March 17, 1970. They tried and sentenced those who were responsible for the country’s
poverty in a “People´s Tribunal” at Plaza Moriones.
The ambush of his Minister of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile
The pretext for Martial Law was provided later in the evening of Friday, September 22, 1972, the
convoy of Secretary of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile was ambushed in Wack-Wack as he was on his way home to
Dasmariñas Village in Makati before 9 p.m. Enrile recalled his convoy was driving out of Camp Aguinaldo when
a car opened fire at his convoy and sped away.
This ambush, as Enrile later revealed in 1986, was staged by Marcos to justify Martial Law.
Marcos, in his diary entry for September 22, 1972 (time-stamped 9:55 p.m.) wrote, “Sec. Juan Ponce
Enrile was ambushed near Wack-Wack at about 8:00 pm tonight. It was a good thing he was riding in his
security car as a protective measure… This makes the martial law proclamation a necessity.” His diary entry for
September 25, 1972 mentions conditions after two days of Martial Law, also indicating martial law in reality is
dated to September 23, 1972.
The Muslim separatist movement of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) is an Islamic separatist organization based in the southern
Philippines. It seeks an independent Islamic state or autonomous region for the Filipino Muslim minority,
known as the Moro people, who live primarily in the Philippines’ Mindanao region. Beginning in the 1970s, the
MNLF was the Moro separatist movement’s leading organization for about two decades.
Citing violence between Muslims and Christians as well as the existence of an illegal separatist
movement, President Marcos declared martial law in September 1972. After this declaration, the scattered
Moro revolts against state forces escalated to war. Because martial law dissolved well-established Moro
political groups and confiscated all firearms not used by state forces, the newly formed and more radical
MNLF was quickly able to dominate the Moro separatist movement.

What happened during the Martial Law?

The move was initially supported by most Filipinos and was viewed by some critics as a change that
solved the massive corruption in the country. Martial law ceased the clash between the executive and
legislative branches of the government and a bureaucracy characterized by special interest. Marcos started to
implement reforms on social and political values that hindered effective modernization. To match the
accomplishments of its Asian neighbors, Marcos imposed the need for self-sacrifice for the attainment of
national welfare. His reforms targeted his rivals within the elite depriving them of their power and patronage
but did not affect their supporters.
Thirty-thousand opposition figures including Senator Benigno Aquino, journalists, student and labor
activists were detained at military compounds under the President’s command. The army and the Philippine
Constabulary seized weapons and disbanded private armies controlled by prominent politicians and other
influential figures. Marcos took control of the legislature and closed the Philippine Congress. Numerous media
outfits were either closed down or operated under tight control. Marcos also allegedly funneled millions of the
country’s money by placing some of his trusted supporters in strategic economic positions to channel
resources to him. Experts call this the “crony capitalism.”

Method that made the Filipino People Suffer during Martial Law
1. Electric shock - Electric wires are attached to the victim’s fingers, arms, head and in some cases,
genitalia.
2. San Juanico Bridge - The victim lies between two beds and if his/her body falls, he/she will be beaten.
3. Truth serum - An injection administered in hospitals and used for interrogation, making a victim "talk
drunkenly."
4. Russian roulette - Loading a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spinning the cylinder, and then
forcing the victim to pull the trigger while pointing the gun at his/her own head.
5. Beating - Victim is beaten by a group of soldiers.
6. Pistol-whipping - The victim is beaten with a rifle butt.
7. Water cure - Water is forced through the victim’s mouth and then forced out by beating.
8. Strangulation - Constriction of the victim's neck done by hand, electric wire, or steel bar.
9. Cigar and flat iron burns - Victims of torture are inflicted with burns using cigarettes, and even a flat
iron.
10. Pepper torture - A "concentrated pepper substance" is put on the victim’s lips or rubbed on his/her
genitalia.
11. Animal treatment - The victim is shackled, caged, treated, and fed like an animal.
 12. Sexual Abuse - Prevalent inside detention centers. Women were stripped naked, made to sit on ice
blocks, stand in cold rooms, and raped and sexually assaulted using objects such as eggplants smeared
with chili peppers.
Some People Who Suffered Inhumane Acts from The Martial Law Period
PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL TORTURE:
1. Senator Ramon Mitra
 Was placed under solitary confinement for about a hundred days
 He would be awakened at about 1:00 AM and be brought outside his cell to hear the sounds of
gunfire, and then he was returned to his cell and told to relax.
2. Senators Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino and José “Pepe” Diokno
 On 12 March 1973, nearly the fifth month of their detention, the two were blindfolded and
flown to Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija.
 Aquino was placed in a box.
 He only had his underwear and t- shirt.
 Refused to eat because of the thought that they were poisoning him.
 There was nothing in the room.
 There, he knew what loneliness meant.
PHYSICAL TORTURE:
1. Roland Simbulan
 He was hand – cuffed and was hanged on the wall.
 Felt that he was a punching bag because his back and stomach was punched while he was
hanging.
 He was almost unconscious after he was hit again really hard.
2. Peter Villaseñor
 Was brought to a camp in Bataan where he was tortured for nine nights and nine days.
 While he was hung naked from the ceiling, soldiers would flick his genitals and walis tambo was
inserted into his urinary tract.
 Thumbtacks were also inserted into his fingertips.
 Bayonets were placed in his elbows and his mouth.
 Naked, he was made to sit on three blocks of ice.
 Electric shock was applied to his toe and his genitalia.
 A stone was knocked repeatedly on his knees.
 While his head and stomach were beaten, water drops were forced into his nose.
3. Satur Ocampo
 Manacled and blindfolded, soldiers poured cola drinks on him while being electrocuted, so as to
cause more pain.
 His ears, nose, esophagus and head were slapped.
 His nipples and genitalia were burned.
 He was forced to eat manure and was threatened to be castrated or be killed.

SEXUAL TORTURE:
1. Etta Rosales
 She was stripped naked when she suffered the Russian roulette, electric shocks, strangulation,
and candle burns.
 His torturers only stopped when she pretended to be dying.
2. Hilda Narciso
 She was placed in a small room where she was raped.
 She was fed soup of worms and rotten fish.
  She would be awoken right after falling asleep in order to be tortured once more.
3. Judy Taguiwalo
 She was stripped naked as she was subjected to water torture.
 The next day, she fought a soldier attempting to mash her and make her sit on a block of ice.
4. Fe Mangahas
 She described that night in Camp Aguinaldo where people were walking around like “zombies”.
 She confirmed the existence of a building called the “white house” where screams of women
molested were regularly heard.
5. Isabelita Guillermo
 Was arrested with her husband Reynaldo.
 She unwillingly watched her husband’s torture.
 Pregnant, she was threatened with rape and abortion.
 She was still under military custody when her child was born.
6. Erlinda Taruc-Co
 She was told that they would be fine in detention with her 5-year-old son but the next morning,
they were separated from each other.
 While blindfolded and handcuffed to a metal bed, she was beaten and was molested.
 She suffered this for twenty-five days.
7. Lualhati Roque
 She was “sexually abused and tortured” by constabulary elements.
 Despite her rheumatic heart ailment, she wasn’t permitted to rest or given medical attention.
8. Maria Elena-Ang
 She was electrocuted, water cured, deprived of sleep, pistol-whipped and was subjected to
“sexual indignities”.
 She was threatened that her relatives would also be harmed.
Human Rights Violation During Martial Law
How many victims of martial law?
Based on the documentation of Amnesty International, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, and
similar human rights monitoring entities, historians believe that the Marcos dictatorship was marked by 3,257
known extrajudicial killings, 35,000 documented tortures, 77 'disappeared', and 70,000 incarcerations.

 Murders During Martial Law

 Massacres During Martial Law
o Sag-Od Massacre
o Escalante Massacre
o Massacres Targeted to Moro People
o Jabidah Massacre
o Manili Massacre
o Burning of Jolo
o Palimbang Massacre