Cas, May ann F.

2013-10969

1. Justification of Martial law as given by the government ( Official Reason)

President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed Proclamation No. 1081 on September 21, 1972,
placing the Philippines under Martial Law the reason behind this is the country during that time
facing communist insurgency and threat. Quoting an increasing Communist insurgency which is
a series of bombings, and the controversial assassination attempt on then-Defense Minister
Juan Ponce Enrile during that time, President Marcos ratified the Proclamation which enabled
him to rule by military power. Martial law gain 90.77% of voters during the Philippine Martial
Law Referendum 1973.

Increasing threat of communism cited by Marcos to justify the declaration of martial law.
One more thing is that based on the Marcos diary entry for September 22 1972, the alleged
ambush of Juan Ponce Enrile made the martial law proclamation necessity.

2. Historical condition that rise to the declaration of martial law ( Real Reason )

According to www.philippine-history.org On September 21, 1972, Marcos issued

Proclamation 1081, declaring martial law over the entire country, 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 favorable 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.

3. Effects of Martial Law

Economy

De Dios, Emmanuel (1984) say that the Philippine economy between 1973 and 1986
suffered from a downturn due to a mixture of domestic and international problems after
experiencing years of positive growth. These were the years that saw the country under
Ferdinand Marcos and martial law. The GDP of the Philippines rose during the martial law,
rising from P55 million to P193 million in about 8 years. This growth was spurred by massive
lending from commercial banks, accounting for about 62% percent of external debt. As a
developing country, the Philippines during the martial law were one of the heaviest borrowers.
Much of the money was spent on pump-priming to improve infrastructure and promote tourism.
However, despite the aggressive borrowing and spending policies, the Philippines lagged
behind its Southeast Asia counterparts in GDP growth rate per capita. When it comes to the
employment rate it rose to 5.2 % from 5.9 % from 1978 -1983. The labor force of the Philippine
grew at an average of 4.47 %1970-1983.
 Human Rights

According to Alfred Mccoy 1999 this are the list of some facts that will show how the
human rights under the martial law:

The Marcos regime's tally of 3,257 extra-judicial killings is far lower than Argentina's
8,000 missing.
But it still exceeds the 2,115 extra-judicial deaths under General Pinochet in Chile, and
the 266 dead during the Brazilian junta.
Under Marcos, moreover, military murder was the apex of a pyramid of terror3,257
killed, 35,000 tortured, and 70,000 incarcerated.
In striking contrast to Argentina, only 737 Filipinos "disappeared" between 1975 and
1985.
But nearly four times that number, some 2,520, or 77 percent of all victims, were
"salvaged"that is, tortured, mutilated, and dumped on a roadside for public display.

Foreign Relations

President Marcos, grasping the significance of the new realities in international politics,
initiated the shift in Philippine foreign policy when, on May 23, 1975, he delivered a foreign
policy speech enumerating six guidelines "to help the country survive the current security crisis
in Asia" arising from the American debacle in Vietnam. Philippines established a diplomatic
agreement to the following socialist countries: East Germany Hungary Czechoslovakia Bulgaria
Romania China Vietnam Jordan Democratic Republic of Kampuchea (Cambodia) Soviet Union.

In December 1973, the Philippines ratified the long-pending Treaty of Amity, Commerce and
Navigation with Japan. The establishment of diplomatic relations with the socialist countries of
Asia and Europe led not only to progressive trade relations between them and the Philippines
but also to cultural exchange programs. The stand of the Philippines during the negotiation with
the United States in December 1976 that the latter should pay rent for the right to use the
bases, principally Clark Air Base and Subic (Olangapo) Naval Base.
(http://www.slideshare.net/IvanBendiola/marcos-regime-in-the-philippines-martial-law).

4. The real reason behind the declaration of martial law

The declaration of martial law has several version of reason. Some humors say that this
is the plan b of Marcos to still govern the republic of the Philippines. There are also humors that
declaring of martial law will benefit Marcos interest to sustain his power by the use of military
forces of the Philippines.

Some says that it is because of Ninoy Aquino who was the new political superstar of
that time. But Ninoy was supposed rightly or wrongly as a communist, or at least sympathetic to
the communist movement that was leading the social conflict threatening to overcome the
country. The constitutional option for Marcos had run out. The explosive bribing scandal that
exposed his attempts to influence the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1972 to
allow him to run again killed that alternative. Brigadier General Victor N. Corpus (AFP, Ret.)
who was an officer in the Philippine Army and instructor at the Philippine Military Academy who
notoriously defected to the NPA in 1970 says on his interview in documentary of GMA news, he
reveal one of the reason behind the declaration of Martial Law. Basically it was the realization
that the armed forces of the Philippines were mere pawn in the scheme of the government to
protect and preserve the vested interest of a few against the interest of the mass majority.
(https://ricelander.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/why-marcos-declared-martial-law/)

But some people believe that declaring martial law is to save the people and the country
against the violence act of the NPA and other terrorist inside the country. Increasing threat of
communism cited by Marcos to justify the declaration of martial law. One more thing is that
based on the Marcos diary entry for September 22 1972, the alleged ambush of Juan Ponce
Enrile made the martial law proclamation necessity.

5. Historian opinion about martial law

According to the article of Joel C. Paredes in Interaksyon.com, Former Sen. Francisco

Kit Tatad still insists that President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law on September 21,
1972 because of the alarming communist threat in the country. Its not that Marcos was
planning (martial law). Its the fact that the objective situation would require a solution and what
was the solution available if you were studying the Constitution,

While Elfen S. Cruz on his article in Philippine Star Feb 28 2016 he says that Those
who engage in the attempt to revise the truth about those 14 dark years are avoiding the use of
terms that describe the Marcos regime martial law, dictatorship, crony capitalism. Their real
purpose is an attempt to revise the truth through clever deception and lies.

Felipe B. Miranda (Philippine Star 2002) he says that when Marcos declared martial law
in 1972, he was able to threaten quite a few people but many more simply gave him the benefit
of the doubt. He also said that Martial Law was a national exercise of bloodletting, because men
and women shed their bloods in their struggle to oppose the dictatorship. He also called Marcos
regime as a vampirous administration.

Manuel F. Almario (Inquirer.Net 2012) according to his article Martial law did not give a
better life to our people. According to H. W. Brands, professor of history at Texas A. & M.
University, in his book, Bound to Empire, the dictatorship made Filipinos poorer, with 60
percent of the population in 1986 living in absolute poverty. In addition, The New Society
dictatorship did not reform society, as Marcos promised, but worsened its ugliest features. The
dictatorship strengthened the economic and social oligarchy, extended the gap between rich
and poor, and developed corruption, cronyism and foreign dependency.
References

Dios, Emmanuel (1984). An analysis of the Philippine economic crisis. Diliman, Q.C.:
University of the Philippines Press.

Alfred McCoy: DARK LEGACY: HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER THE MARCOS REGIME

http://pascn.pids.gov.ph/files/Discussions%20Papers/1999/pascndp9916.pdf

http://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/149

"EX-COMMUNISTS PARTY BEHIND MANILA BOMBING". The Washington Post.

August 4, 1989.

http://www.slideshare.net/IvanBendiola/marcos-regime-in-the-philippines-martial-law

https://ricelander.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/why-marcos-declared-martial-law/

MARTIAL LAW REMEMBERED | Where did Marcos go wrong and when did we start
forgetting?By: Joel C. Paredes, InterAksyon.com

http://www.philstar.com/opinion/178717/martial-law-thoughts

http://opinion.inquirer.net/37112/lessons-from-martial-law#ixzz4LfDoe7Bs