Martial Law Period (1972-1986)

The Congress of the Philippines was abolished when Martial Law was declared on
September 21, 1972. The Martial Law period was governed by the 1973 Constitution
which established a parliamentary form of government. Executive and legislative
powers were merged and the Chief Executive was the Prime Minister who was elected
by majority of all members of the National Assembly (Parliament). The Prime Minister
had the power to advise the President. The President is the symbolic head of
state. This parliamentary government was never implemented due to the transitory
provision of the 1973 Constitution. Military tribunals were also established.
Amendments to the Constitution were made wherein by virtue of amendment No. 3,
the powers of the President and the Prime Minister were merged into the incumbent
President Ferdinand E. Marcos. Amendment No. 6 authorized President Marcos to
continue exercising legislative powers until Martial law is in effect. Amendment No. 7
provided for the barangays as the smallest political subdivision and the sanggunians,
or councils. The 1981 amendment introduced the modified presidential/parliamentary
system of government of the Philippines. The President shall be elected by the people
for a term of six years while the Prime Minister shall be elected by a majority of
the Batasang Pambansa (Parliament) upon the nomination of the President. He was
the head of the Cabinet and had supervision over all the ministries.

Proclamation No. 2045 (1981) lifted Martial Law and abolished military
tribunals. Elections were held on June 16, 1981 and President Marcos was re-elected
into office as President. The constitution was again amended in 1984 and a plebiscite
was held on January 27, 1984 pursuant to Batas Pambansa Blg. 643 (1984). Elections
were held on May 14, 1984 for the 183 elective seats in the 200 member of
the Batasang Pambansa.

An impeachment resolution by 57 members of the opposition was filed against

President Marcos but was dismissed. A special presidential election, popularly known
as Snap Election, was called by President Marcos on November 3, 1985 and was held
on February 7, 1986. The National Movement for Free Elections, or NAMFREL, results
showed that Corazon Aquino led by over a million votes. However, the Batasang
Pambansa declared that Ferdinand E. Marcos and Arturo M. Tolentino won over
Corazon C. Aquino and Salvador H. Laurel as President and Vice-President,
respectively. This event led to the People Power revolution, which ousted President
Marcos on February 25, 1986.

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.

Under martial law the regime was able to reduce violent urban crime, collect
unregistered firearms, and suppress communist insurgency in some areas. At the
same time, a series of important new concessions were given to foreign investors,
including a prohibition on strikes by organized labour, and a land-reform program
was launched. In January 1973 Marcos proclaimed the ratification of a new
constitution based on the parliamentary system, with himself as both president
and prime minister. He did not, however, convene the interim legislature that was
called for in that document.
General disillusionment with martial law and with the consolidation of political and
economic control by Marcos, his family, and close associates grew during the 1970s.
Despite growth in the country’s gross national product, workers’ real income
dropped, few farmers benefited from land reform, and the sugar industry was in
confusion. The precipitous drop in sugar prices in the early 1980s coupled with lower
prices and less demand for coconuts and coconut products—traditionally the most
important export commodity—added to the country’s economic woes; the
government was forced to borrow large sums from the international
banking community. Also troubling to the regime, reports of widespread corruption
began to surface with increasing frequency.
Elections for an interim National Assembly were finally held in 1978. The
opposition—of which the primary group was led by the jailed former senator Benigno
S. Aquino, Jr.—produced such a bold and popular campaign that the official results,
which gave Marcos’s opposition virtually no seats, were widely believed to have been
illegally altered. In 1980 Aquino was allowed to go into exile in the United States,
and the following year, after announcing the suspension of martial law, Marcos won
a virtually uncontested election for a new six-year term.

The Supreme Court Under the 1973 Constitution

The declaration of Martial Law through Proclamation No. 1081 by former President
Ferdinand E, Marcos in 1972 brought about the transition from the 1935 Constitution
to the 1973 Constitution. This transition had implications on the Court’s composition
and functions.

This period brought in many legal issues of transcendental importance and

consequence. Among these were the legality of the ratification of a new Constitution,
the assumption of the totality of government authority by President Marcos, the
power to review the factual basis for a declaration of Martial Law by the Chief
Executive. Writ large also during this period was the relationship between the Court
and the Chief Executive who, under Amendment No. 6 to the 1973 Constitution, had
assumed legislative powers even while an elected legislative body continued to
function.

The 1973 Constitution increased the number of the members of the Supreme Court
from 11 to 15, with a Chief Justice and 14 Associate Justices. The Justices of the
Court were appointed by the President alone, without the consent, approval, or
recommendation of any other body or officials.