Scribd
Upload
5 views

LESSON-7 ppt

President Ferdinand E. Marcos declared Martial Law in the Philippines on September 21, 1972, citing a communist threat and the staged ambush of Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile as justifications. The declaration led to the suppression of democratic institutions, mass arrests of political opponents, and widespread human rights abuses, with thousands imprisoned and tortured. The period is marked by significant economic decline, with the country's debt skyrocketing from $8.2 billion in 1977 to $24.4 billion by 1982.

Uploaded by

Giam Arhvey
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
5 views

LESSON-7 ppt

President Ferdinand E. Marcos declared Martial Law in the Philippines on September 21, 1972, citing a communist threat and the staged ambush of Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile as justifications. The declaration led to the suppression of democratic institutions, mass arrests of political opponents, and widespread human rights abuses, with thousands imprisoned and tortured. The period is marked by significant economic decline, with the country's debt skyrocketing from $8.2 billion in 1977 to $24.4 billion by 1982.

Uploaded by

Giam Arhvey
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 13

MARTIAL

LAW
Students should be able to meet the following
learning outcomes:
intended
∙ Analyze the historical source given
∙ Provide concrete supporting details regarding their claims
Learning ∙ Develop critical andanalytical skills with exposure
Objectives to
historical sources
∙ Justify their stand regarding the important issues
∙ Give the relevance of the lessons to their life
President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed Proclamation No. 1081 on
September 21, 1972, placing the Philippines under Martial Law. On
the evening of September 23, 1972, the late president Ferdinand
Marcos appeared on national television to formally announce that
the Philippines was under Martial Law.
Why was Martial Law
declared?
When Marcos signed Proclamation 1081 on September 21, 1972, he cited the communist threat as
justification. His diary, meanwhile, said the proclamation of Martial Law became a "necessity",
following the supposed ambush of then defense secretary Juan Ponce Enrile.

There were subsequent reports that said the ambush was staged, with the Official Gazette citing
Enrile's admission in 1986 that it was faked to justify the imposition of Martial Law.

There were also indications that the plan to declare Martial Law had long been in the works.
According to the Official Gazette, several people had received prior information about Marcos' plan.
The late dictator had also hinted at it in his address to the Philippine Military Academy Alumni
Association as early as May 17, 1969 – more than 3 years before the actual declaration.
September 21 or September 23?
When Marcos appeared on television at 7:15 p.m. on September 23, 1972 to announce
that he had placed the “entire Philippines under Martial Law” by virtue of Proclamation
No. 1081, he framed his announcement in legalistic terms that were untrue. This helped
camouflage the true nature of his act to this day: it was nothing less than a self-coup.

Marcos announced that he had placed the entire country under Martial Law as of 9
p.m. on September 22, 1972 via a proclamation which, he claimed, he’d signed on
September 21, 1972
Yet accounts differ. David Rosenberg, writing in the Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars
(“The End of the Freest Press in the World,” Vol. 5, 1973) chronicled that about six hours
after the ambush, Marcos signed Proclamation No. 1081, placing the entire country
under Martial Law, placing the signing at around 3 a.m. on September 23.
Raymond Bonner, in his book Waltzing with the Dictator, narrated his interview with Enrile, during
which the former Defense Secretary recalled that he and Acting Executive Secretary Roberto Reyes
witnessed Marcos sign Proclamation No. 1081 in the morning of September 23, 1972. The Bangkok
Post asserted in a series of articles called “The Aquino Papers,” published from February 20 to 22 of
1973, that Proclamation No. 1081 had been signed even earlier, on September 17, 1972, postdated to
September 21. Mijares also mentioned in his book that Marcos said as much in an address to a
conference of historians, in January 1973.
Day one of the Marcos dictatorship
Personalities considered threats to Marcos (Senators Benigno S. Aquino Jr., Jose Diokno, Francisco Rodrigo
and Ramon Mitra Jr., and members of the media such as Joaquin Roces, Teodoro Locsin Sr., Maximo Soliven
and Amando Doronila) had already been rounded up, starting with the arrest of Senator Aquino at
midnight on September 22, and going into the early morning hours of September 23, when 100 of the 400
personalities targeted for arrest were already detained in Camp Crame by 4 a.m.

In the meantime, the military had shut down mass media, flights were canceled, and incoming
overseas calls were prohibited. Press Secretary Francisco Tatad went on air at 3 p.m. of September
23 to read the text of Proclamation No. 1081. The reading of the proclamation was followed by Marcos
going on air at 7:15 p.m. to justify the massive clampdown of democratic institutions in the country.

Marcos would subsequently issue General Order No. 1, s. 1972, transferring all powers to the President
who was to rule by decree.
What happened under Martial
Law?
Through various general orders, Marcos effectively put the entire power of
government under the rule of one man: his own. He was to lead the nation
and direct the operation of the entire government. He ordered the armed
forces to prevent or suppress any act of rebellion. Curfew hours were
enforced, group assemblies were banned, privately-owned media
facilities shuttered.

Those considered threats to Marcos – such as prominent politicians and


members of the media – were rounded up and arrested by members of the
military and the notorious Philippine Constabulary.
Opposition to Martial Law
1. Reformist Opposition
2. Revolutionist Opposition
3. Religious Opposition
What did the Martial Law years look
like?
Among the myths: thatthe Philippines
enjoyed a golden age under the Marcoses.
Variou reports and historical
s this; accounts while it is
infrastructure
debunk spending increased during
truethat
that period, it came at a staggering cost:
plunging the Philippines in billions of
dollars in debt. From $8.2 billion in 1977,
the country's debt ballooned to $24.4
billion in 1982 – or within a period of just 5
years. Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
Photo courtesy of Vinnell Belvoir
Corporation.
About 70,000 people were imprisoned and 34,000 tortured, according to Amnesty
International, while 3,240 were killed from 1972 to 1981. During this dark chapter of
Philippine history, thousands of people were subject to various forms of torture. Prisoners
were electrocuted, beaten up, and strangled. They were burned with a flat iron or cigars.
Water was poured down their throats, then forced out by beating. Women were stripped
naked and raped, various objects forced into their genitals.
References:
https://www.philstar.com/campus/2017/09/21/1741305/young-victims-martial-la
w

https://rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/martial-law-explainer-victims-stories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBS1jnfCCCs&t=2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUfeatNvseI&t=6s

You might also like