MARTIAL LAW

In September 1972 Marcos declared martial law, claiming that it was the last defense
against the rising disorder caused by increasingly violent student demonstrations, the
alleged threats of communist insurgency by the new Communist Party of the Philippines
(CPP), and the Muslim separatist movement of the Moro National Liberation
Front (MNLF). One of his first actions was to arrest opposition politicians in Congress
and the Constitutional Convention. Initial public reaction to martial law was mostly
favourable except in Muslim areas of the south, where a separatist rebellion, led by the
MNLF, broke out in 1973. Despite halfhearted attempts to negotiate a cease-fire, the
rebellion continued to claim thousands of military and civilian casualties. Communist
insurgency expanded with the creation of the National Democratic Front (NDF), an
organization embracing the CPP and other communist groups.