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The Martial Law

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The Martial Law

Sem. Aljan Art Sebastian B. Jamog

On September 21, 1972, President Ferdinand E. Marcos issued Proclamation No. 1081, declaring
martial law in the Philippines. The decree was dated September 21, despite other sources
claiming that Marcos signed it on September 17 or September 22.
Marcos created the September 21 cult during the Martial Law era by designating it as National
Thanksgiving Day in accordance with Proclamation No. 1180 s. 1973 in order to mark that day
as the New Society's founding day. The propaganda campaign was so successful that many
Filipinos still believe martial law was declared on September 21, 1972, especially those who did
not witness the events of September 23, 1972. It was not.

The Conclusion of a Protracted Period of Planning

The facts are clear. Numerous people had heard about Marcos's plot to take over the entire
government and establish absolute power a week before Martial Law was actually proclaimed. In
a September 13, 1972, privilege speech, Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr. revealed what was
known as "Oplan Sagittarius," claiming to have received a top-secret military plan from Marcos
himself to subjugate Metro Manila and its surrounding areas to the Philippine Constabulary as a
prelude to Martial Law. A slew of Metro Manila explosions, including the 1971 Plaza Miranda
attack, were going to be used by Marcos as justification for his coup and totalitarian dictatorship
that followed.

In his biography, former Justice Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile remembered how Marcos gave him
the assignment to research the President's authority as Commander-in-Chief under the terms of
the 1935 Constitution on a late day in December 1969. The President also emphasized that "the
study must be done discreetly and confidentially." Marcos gave this order because he
"foresaw an escalation of violence and disorder in the country and [wanted] to know the extent
of his powers as commander-in-chief."

At approximately the same time, Marcos also directed Executive Secretary Alejandro Melchor
and Jose Almonte to research how Martial Law was administered in various regions of the world.
Marcos also inquired about the repercussions of the imposition of martial law. Almonte recalled
that their findings led to the conclusion that "the nation would be destroyed because, aside from
the division it would cause, Martial Law would offer Marcos absolute power which would
corrupt absolutely." The study's findings stated that "while Martial Law may accelerate
development, in the end the Philippines would become a political archipelago, with debilitating,
factionalized politics."

By the end of January 1970, Enrile had given Marcos the one and only copy of the private report
on the scope and legality of Martial Law, with the aid of Efren Plana and Minerva Gonzaga
Reyes. One week later, Marcos called Enrile and gave him instructions to create the paperwork
necessary to impose martial law in the Philippines.

On August 1, 1972, Marcos met with Enrile and a handful of his most trusted military leaders to
discuss potential dates for the proclamation of Martial Law—to fall within the following two
months. All of the dates they evaluated either ended in seven or were divisible by seven, as
Marcos considered seven his lucky number.
The Final Moments of Democracy

The Philippines' democracy was still in place on September 21, 1972. Senator Benigno S.
Aquino Jr. was still allowed to make a privilege speech—what would be his final one—in the
Senate. Primitivo Mijares and others gave an account of how the House of Representatives and
the Senate operated with committee hearings that evening. The leaders of the Senate and House
decided against calling an earlier adjournment on this day. On September 23, they agreed to
adjourn their extraordinary session sine die.

The Concerned Christians for Civil Liberties organized a protest march that day at Plaza
Miranda. The event was attended by more than 30 “civic, religious, labor, student, and activist
organizations. and an audience of 30,000," and was featured in publications, on the radio, and on
television.

In his journal, Marcos wrote that he, together with members of his Cabinet and staff, finalized
the formulation of Proclamation 1081 at 8 PM, on September 21.

Newspapers continued to be published on September 22, 1972, a day after Ninoy Aquino's final
speech, and they carried coverage of the rally that had taken place in Plaza Miranda the day
before. According to Mijares, Marcos became agitated after reading in the Daily Express that if
martial law were to be imposed, Aquino would either have to be arrested quickly or flee to join
the resistance.

The Enrile Ambush as a Pretext for Martial Law

On Friday, September 22, 1972, while Secretary of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile was returning
home to Dasmarias Village in Makati about 9 p.m., his convoy was attacked in Wack-Wack,
providing the justification for martial law. Enrile recalled his convoy was driving out of Camp
Aguinaldo when a car opened fire at his convoy and sped away.

Oscar Lopez provided a conflicting report, claiming that he heard a lot of gunfire and observed
an empty car covered with bullets when he walked outside to see what was going on at Wack
Wack Village's Notre Dame Street. The incident was witnessed by Lopez's driver, who described
how "a car came and stopped beside a Meralco post." As several individuals exited the vehicle, a
second vehicle pulled up next to it and began pelting it with gunshots to give the impression that
it had been ambushed.

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 attacked near Wack-Wack at approximately 8:00 pm tonight. 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. It was a good thing he was riding in his security
car as a precaution... This makes the martial law proclamation necessary.
Primitivo Mijares, a former Marcos journalist who would later write against Marcos and vanish
without a trace in 1973, claimed that the Enrile ambush was staged as the final excuse for
Marcos to declare Martial Law. Mijares also claimed that the ammunition planted by the
Presidential Guard Battalion in Digoyo Point, Isabela—which was later confiscated by the
Philippine Constabulary on July 5, 1972—was used to link the ambush.

Vergel Santos questioned the elements of the Enrile ambush in his biography of Chino Roces:
"Why inside a village and not on a public street, and why in that particular village?" Perhaps for
simpler stage management: Enrile's sister Irma and her husband, Dr. Victor Potenciano, resided
in Fordham, the next street over, and got the narrative straight from him, as officially scripted."

September 21 or September 23?

At 7:15 p.m., Marcos appeared on television. On September 23, 1972, to announce that he had
placed the "entire Philippines under Martial Law" by virtue of Proclamation No. 1081, he used
legalistic language that was false. This served to conceal the genuine nature of his deed, which
was nothing less than a self-coup.

Marcos declared Martial Law to be in effect throughout the country as of 9 p.m. on September
22, 1972, through a proclamation he claimed to have written on September 21, 1972.

However, accounts disagree. According to David Rosenberg, writing in the Bulletin of


Concerned Asian Scholars ("The End of the Freest Press in the World," Vol. 5, 1973), Marcos
signed Proclamation No. 1081, putting the entire country under Martial Law, around six hours
after the ambush. on the 23rd of September Raymond Bonner recounted his interview with
Enrile in his book Waltzing with the Dictator, during which the former Defense Secretary
recalled that he and Acting Executive Secretary Roberto Reyes witnessed Marcos sign
Proclamation No. 1081 on September 23, 1972. The Bangkok Post claimed in a series of articles
titled "The Aquino Papers," which ran from February 20 to 22, 1973, that Proclamation No. 1081
was signed even earlier, on September 17, 1972, and was postdated to September 21. Mijares
also mentioned in his book that Marcos said as much in a speech at a historians' conference in
January 1973.

Two things stand out: first, regardless of whether they contradict, all accounts indicate that
Marcos' obsession with numerology (particularly the number seven) required that Proclamation
No. 1081 be signed on a date divisible by seven. As a result, September 21, 1972 became the
official date that Martial Law was declared and the Marcos dictatorship began. This also gave
Marcos the ability to shape history on his own terms.

Day One of the Marcos Dictatorship

The second is that the arbitrary date emphasizes that the actual date for Martial Law was not the
numerologically-auspicious (for Marcos) 21st, but rather, the moment that Martial Law was put
into full effect, which was after the nationwide address of Ferdinand Marcos as far as the nation
was concerned: September 23, 1972. By then, 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.

Meanwhile, the military had shut down the media, suspended flights, and restricted incoming
international calls. At 3 p.m., Press Secretary Francisco Tatad went on the air. to read the text of
Proclamation No. 1081 on September 23. Following the reading of the decree, Marcos went on
the radio at 7:15 p.m. to excuse the country's unprecedented crackdown on democratic
institutions.

“Never again”

Citizens would continue to challenge the constitutionality of Proclamation No. 1081 after the
declaration and imposition of Martial Law. Those arrested petitioned the Supreme Court for a
writ of habeas corpus. However, Marcos, who had first stated that Martial Law would not
supplant the 1935 Constitution, organized its replacement with a new one.

The Supreme Court issued its final decision in Javellana v. Executive Secretary on March 31,
1973, effectively validating the 1973 Constitution. This would be the ultimate judgement on the
constitutionality of martial law: in G.R. No. L-35546 On September 17, 1974, the Supreme
Court dismissed habeas corpus petitions, ruling that Martial Law was a political question beyond
the court's jurisdiction, and that the court had already declared the 1973 Constitution in full force
and effect, replacing the 1935 Constitution.

Proclamation No. 2045 would officially end Martial Law on January 17, 1981. Marcos, on the
other hand, would reserve the authority to issue decrees for himself.

Today, the 1987 Constitution protects our institutions from a return to the Martial Law regime of
Ferdinand Marcos. The Supreme Court has the authority to examine all official acts to determine
whether there has been a grave abuse of discretion. Congress cannot be imprisoned. Even if a
president considers it, martial law has limited duration and effects. Article VII, Section 18 of the
current Constitution states:

Within forty-eight hours from the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege
of the writ of habeas corpus, the President shall submit a report in person or in writing to the
Congress. The Congress, voting jointly, by a vote of at least a majority of all its Members in
regular or special session, may revoke such proclamation or suspension, which revocation shall
not be set aside by the President. Upon the initiative of the President, the Congress may, in the
same manner, extend such proclamation or suspension for a period to be determined by the
Congress, if the invasion or rebellion shall persist and public safety requires it.

The Congress, if not in session, shall, within twenty-four hours following such proclamation or
suspension, convene in accordance with its rules without any need of a call.

The Supreme Court may review, in an appropriate proceeding filed by any citizen, the
sufficiency of the factual basis of the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the
privilege of the writ or the extension thereof, and must promulgate its decision thereon within
thirty days from its filing.

A state of martial law does not suspend the operation of the Constitution, nor supplant the
functioning of the civil courts or legislative assemblies, nor authorize the conferment of
jurisdiction on military courts and agencies over civilians where civil courts are able to function,
nor automatically suspend the privilege of the writ.

Sources:

Almonte, Jose T. and Marites Dañguilan Vitug, Endless Journey: A Memoir.Quezon City:


Cleverheads Publishing, 2015.

Bonner, Raymond, Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy.
New York: Times Books, 1987.

Enrile, Juan Ponce, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir. Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc.,
2012.

Hedman, Eva-Lotta E. and John Thayer Sidel, Philippine Politics and Society in the Twentieth
Century: Colonial Legacies, Post- Colonial Trajectories. London: Routledge, 2005.

Mijares, Primitivo, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I. New York:
Union Square Publications, 1986.

Rodrigo, Raul, Phoenix: The Saga of the Lopez Family Volume 1: 1800 – 1972. Manila: Eugenio
Lopez Foundation, Inc., 2007.

Santos, Vergel O., Chino and His Time.  Pasig: Anvil, 2010.

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