Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars

ISSN: 0007-4810 (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcra19

Martial law in the Phillipines: Two years later

Geoffrey Arlin

To cite this article: Geoffrey Arlin (1974) Martial law in the Phillipines: Two years later, Bulletin of
Concerned Asian Scholars, 6:4, 43-45, DOI: 10.1080/14672715.1974.10413007

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.1974.10413007

Published online: 05 Jul 2019.

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Martial Law in the
Phillipines:
Two Years Later
by Geoffrey Arlin
It is difficult these days t o have an o p e n and u n g u a r d e d
conversation in Manila. A l m o s t t w o years after F e r d i n a n d
Marcos declared martial law, the heavy h a n d of a repressive
regime is obvious n o t so m u c h in t h e n u m b e r of soldiers and
police on the streets as in t h e minds of Filipinos. T h e
universities are tightly surveilled, classrooms still have
g o v e r n m e n t m o n i t o r s and absolutely all critics of t h e Marcos
regime are either in jail n o w o r u n d e r h o u s e arrest. Filipinos
are only t o o well aware t h a t Marcos is using informers
everywhere t o c o n t r o l t h e free exchange of ideas.
I was lucky enough this past J u l y t o be able to m e e t and
talk with an old friend. She was o n c e a s t u d e n t activist and a
t o p doctoral candidate at t h e University of the Philippines,
now forced u n d e r g r o u n d b y t h e Marcos repression. Under t h e
hot a f t e r n o o n Manila sun, as we strolled through J o s e Rizal
Park, I p u t t o m y friend t h e following questions. J u s t where is
Mr. Marcos taking his c o u n t r y , w h a t are his real goals, and will
he succeed? — if there is a play to wrestle the reins of power
from him, just where will it c o m e from? Her answers were t o
t h e p o i n t and q u i t e interesting.
" M a r c o s is n o fool, right n o w he is in s u p r e m e c o m m a n d
of the situation and is moving t o consolidate his power even
m o r e . As you k n o w , he has virtually wiped o u t t h e Lopez
family, t h e single m o s t powerful force in t h e c o u n t r y before
martial law. Eugenio Lopez, Jr. has been in jail over a year and
a half n o w and p u t t i n g all r u m o r s aside, I d o n ' t t h i n k he will
ever be released. T h e final crushing b l o w for t h e Lopezes came
just this year w h e n Marcos forced Eugenio L o p e z Sr., t h e " o l d
m a n , " t o sell Meralco — the p o w e r c o m p a n y for t h e greater
Metropolitan Manila area — t o t h e Marcos family for a
r u m o r e d price of $3 million. T h a t isn't m u c h for a c o m p a n y
t h a t was recently valued t o be w o r t h a r o u n d $ 2 0 0 million.
You know, honestly I think t h e price was really 3 million
pesos and t h a t Marcos tricked t h e old m a n , leading him to
believe t h a t if t h e Lopezes sold o u t , or it would be b e t t e r to
say gave it away, t h a t t h e old m a n ' s son Eugenio J r . w o u l d b e
released."
My friend c o n t i n u e d to explain w h a t Marcos intends to
do following his c o n q u e s t of t h e Lopezes. " M a r c o s will n o t
rest until he personally c o n t r o l s a b s o l u t e l y every aspect of t h e
Philippine e c o n o m y . I t h i n k t h a t in the very near future he
will go after t h e sugar brokers, people like Roxas-Chua, he will
a t t e m p t t o break t h e m j u s t like t h e Lopezes. And after he gets
t h e p e o p l e w h o sell t h e sugar then he will take on t h e 'sugar
b a r o n s ' from t h e Visayas. This is a very i m p o r t a n t aspect
concerning t h e future of Mr. Marcos' 'New Society.' In t h e
past t h e sugar industry has been used by t h e Americans as a
guarantee for their special privileges in exploiting t h e
Philippine e c o n o m y and natural resources. T h e U.S.
guaranteed t h e rich Filipinos the success of their sugar
industry for t h e promise of c o n t i n u e d parity rights for
American business interests in t h e Philippines and rent-free use
of all U.S. military bases in our c o u n t r y . This had been t h e
b a c k b o n e of t h e exploitative relationship b e t w e e n the U.S.
and m y c o u n t r y for so m a n y years. However, n o w Mr. Marcos
would like t o change t h e semi-feudalistic stage the Philippine
agricultural industry is in and modernize it, or to be m o r e
precise, capitalize t h e agricultural sector of the e c o n o m y . This
of course will m e a n a m u c h greater role played by giant
American agricultural concerns, such as Dole, Del M o n t e and
S t a n d a r d Fruit C o m p a n y . "
I asked her h o w this could come a b o u t . She replied,
" M a r c o s can simply re-establish all land titles, break u p t h e
monopolies of t h e sugar barons and t h e n allow for unrestricted
ownership b y large agricultural c o r p o r a t i o n s such as I
m e n t i o n e d . Marcos, as is his c o m m o n practice with all other
American a n d foreign investors, gets his personal c u t right off
the top.
" A n d I t h i n k t h a t t h e last sector Marcos will attack will
be the large land developers, people like t h e Zobel-Ayalas, the
owners and developers of t h e Makati commercial and
residential area outside Manila. People s h o u l d n ' t be fooled to
believe t h a t these possible moves by Marcos are basic a t t e m p t s
at land reform. T h e y are simply a consolidating of his power
and hold on t h e totality of the Philippine e c o n o m y . "
It is t r u e t h a t Marcos had destroyed t h e Lopez family as
any sort of power base in the Philippines, b u t would he
challenge the other powerful sectors of the e c o n o m y ?
T h e next week of J u l y , in t h e sugar-rich Visayas, t h e
word was o u t , although n o t in the government-controlled
press, t h a t Marcos had t u r n e d t h e business of buying and
selling sugar over t o t h e army. Marcos had wiped o u t the sugar
brokers with a stroke of his pen, and t h e m o s t powerful of all,
Roxas-Chua, was o u t of business. I asked friends in the sugar
business there what all this m e a n t . T o t h e m it is only t o o
obvious, Marcos and a very select g r o u p of generals are racking
up profits from t h e sale of sugar never before believed possible
even by t h e sugar b a r o n s themselves. In the past, if you grew
sugar, 60% of y o u r c r o p was sold at the special U.S. price,
below the world m a r k e t price b u t guaranteed year in and year
43
o u t ; 30% was sold at the d o m e s t i c price and for d o m e s t i c
c o n s u m p t i o n o n l y ; a n d 10% w e n t to t h e g o v e r n m e n t for free,
which in t u r n was sold at t h e world m a r k e t price, and with t h e
high profits t h e g o v e r n m e n t was supposed to r e t u r n t h e m o n e y
t o t h e Filipino people in t h e form of b e t t e r roads, d a m s and
special assistance for t h e sugar industry, etc. Very little of this
10% was ever r e t u r n e d e x c e p t t o t h e p o c k e t s of g o v e r n m e n t
officials. N o w with t h e a r m y being given m o r e p o w e r and Mr.
Marcos t u r n i n g over t h e b u y i n g and selling of sugar t o t h e
A r m y , t h e g o v e r n m e n t ' s t a k e has been u p p e d from 10% t o
20%. A p r o m i n e n t businessman told m e , "All of this is going
i n t o t h e h a n d s of a select g r o u p of generals w h o are getting
very rich incredibly fast. T h e d o m e s t i c supply of sugar, n o t t h e
U.S. q u o t a , has been r e d u c e d . T h e Philippines, a c o u n t r y t h a t
is t h e major foreign supplier of sugar t o t h e United States,
does n o t have e n o u g h sugar for its o w n c o n s u m p t i o n . " He
a d d e d , " T h e U.S. has always told t h e Filipino farmer he can't
c o m p e t e o n t h e w o r l d m a r k e t , we were told our t e c h n o l o g y
isn't sophisticated e n o u g h . T h e U.S. has promised t o b u y a
certain q u o t a every year, b u t for t h e farmer a t a greatly
reduced price. However, I have never m e t a Filipino sugar
farmer w h o d o e s n ' t w a n t o u t of this hands-tied policy — t h e y
w a n t t o and can c o m p e t e o n their o w n in t h e world m a r k e t . "
T h e n e x t week came t h e real b o m b s h e l l for t h e sugar
industry. T h e a r m y i n f o r m e d t h e m e m b e r s of all sugar
cooperatives — any person w h o o w n s a sugar farm, from very
small to very large, is a m e m b e r of a cooperative, t h e
cooperative assists t h e farmer in buying fertilizer and getting
crop loans — t h a t t h e y were required to a t t e n d a two-day
seminar, c o n d u c t e d by t h e a r m y — subject n o t stated. T h e
a r m y also i n f o r m e d all cooperatives t h a t if even one m e m b e r
of t h e cooperative failed t o s h o w u p , t h e cooperative would be
subject t o lose its license. T h e seminars lasted 8 h o u r s each day
and once t h e d o o r s were closed n o one was allowed t o leave.
L u n c h and dinner were served inside. T h e seminars were
c o n d u c t e d in English: m o s t of t h e smaller farmers could n o t
u n d e r s t a n d w h a t was being said. T h e farmers were informed
t h a t an e x a m i n a t i o n would be given at t h e end of the two-day
session and if all m e m b e r s did n o t pass with a certain — b u t
unmentioned — percentage of " c o r r e c t " answers their
respective cooperatives could possibly lose their license.
A n d w h a t did t h e a r m y colonels have t o say t o t h e sugar
farmers? It was q u i t e simple. All land titles in t h e Philippines
would n o w be considered null and void. T h e Philippine
g o v e r n m e n t would fly over t h e 7,000 Philippine islands and
r e m a p t h e entire c o u n t t y and re-establish all land titles, t o , in
t h e w o r d s of t h e a r m y colonels, "clear u p t h e a m b i g u o u s land
b o u n d a r i e s , s o m e of which date back t o Spanish t i m e s . " T h e
message was perfectly clear. Many of t h e smaller farmers
w o u l d find t h a t their farm n o longer existed after new lines
were drawn and t h e larger l a n d o w n e r s would have t o pay t h e
price, whatever it m a y be. As o n e small farmer told m e ,
" A r m y colonels t h r e a t e n e d us — for such a ridiculous reason as
p o o r a t t e n d a n c e or l o w test scores at t h e seminar — t h e y could
m a k e it impossible for any farmer t o c o n t i n u e his planting by
closing t h e c o o p e r a t i v e . "
Was this Marcos' " N e w S o c i e t y " land reform in action —
redistribution of t h e land from t h e few sugar b a r o n s t o t h e
t e n a n t s and w o r k e r s . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , No. In fact, Marcos is
showing n o c o n c e r n for t h e 1,280,000 t e n a n t farmers and
m a n y m o r e millions of sacadas — migrant farm laborers — w h o
w o r k t h e land b u t w h o are n o t able t o share in t h e profits
44
m a d e from t h e success of the Philippine agricultural industry.
It appears t h a t m u c h of w h a t m y u n d e r g r o u n d friend
told m e a few weeks back in Rizal p a r k is already coming t r u e .
In the case of t h e Philippine sugar industry Mr. Marcos is
a t t e m p t i n g first t o re-establish land rights in order to eliminate
as m u c h as possible any semi-feudal aspects, and t h e n to allow
for unrestricted land ownership by large c o r p o r a t i o n s . In t h e
future, t h e sugar b a r o n s and large l a n d o w n e r s w h o n o w
d o m i n a t e t h e agricultural sector of t h e Philippine e c o n o m y
may have a new role t o play — one less powerful b u t still quite
lucrative. T h e y m a y b e c o m e t h e s t o c k h o l d e r s , managers, b o a r d
directors and executives of the large agri-corporations.
One can already see t h e role of large agricultural
c o r p o r a t i o n s being played in t h e Philippines' s o u t h e r n m o s t
island, M i n d a n a o , once considered t h e Philippine frontier. T h e
e x p l o i t a t i o n in Mindanao is well u n d e r way b y such American
c o r p o r a t i o n s as Dole, Del M o n t e and United Fruit. Marcos'
Secretary of Defense, J u a n Ponce Enrile, a m a n w h o s e career,
wealth and power have been rising along with his close friend
F e r d i n a n d Marcos, is the major s t o c k h o l d e r in and t h e
c o r p o r a t e lawyer for t h e Del M o n t e operation in Mindanao.
Enrile o b t a i n e d his position soon after Del M o n t e was given
g o v e r n m e n t approval t o b u y large agricultural plots in
M i n d a n a o . Del M o n t e c o r p o r a t i o n n o w o w n s 1 6 , 0 0 0 hectares
(1 hectare equals a p p r o x . 2.49 acres) of choice pineapple land.
Dole is also n o w in t h e process of shifting its o p e r a t i o n s from
Hawaii — w h e r e labor costs drastically reduce profits — t o
C o t a b a t o where it possesses 1 0 , 0 0 0 hectares. S t a n d a r d Fruit
C o m p a n y , t h e n o t o r i o u s " b a n a n a r e p u b l i c " c o m p a n y , owns
huge p l a n t a t i o n s in t h e Mindanao province of Davao. Nearby,
sprawling r u b b e r p l a n t a t i o n s , over 1 0 , 0 0 0 h e c t a r e s each, are
o w n e d b y Filipino landlords b u t managed by G o o d y e a r and
F i r e s t o n e ; t h e t w o tire-makers were a m o n g t h e 2 0 t o p
c o r p o r a t e t a x payers of t h e c o u n t r y last year.
In addition to Enrile a n o t h e r fast-rising figure in t h e
Philippines is Army Major-General Fabian Ver. His " N e w
Society f o r t u n e s " have been rapidly increasing along with his
friend, President F e r d i n a n d Marcos. Head of all Philippine
intelligence and security units — b o t h military and civilian —
Ver was p r o m o t e d t o Major-General in December. In 1 9 7 0 he
was only a l i e u t e n a n t colonel. President Marcos recently signed
a secret, unpublished decree turning over parts of M o u n t A p o
National Park in Mindanao to logging interests. Ver, although
n o t a logger, was given one of the four highly valuable
concessions. Ver is considered by m a n y as t h e m a n closest t o
Marcos in t h e p o w e r s t r u c t u r e and t h e o n e m o s t likely t o
replace Marcos should he falter.
It should be m e n t i o n e d here t h a t t h e intense fighting
n o w taking place in Mindanao is n o t t h e religious war Marcos
would like t h e world t o believe. It is a land war and individuals
such as Marcos, Ver and Enrile have t r e m e n d o u s personal
investments at stake along with their foreign business partners.
M i n d a n a o , with its vast mineral resources, rich agricultural
lands and t h e adjacent recently discovered oil-rich Sulu Sea,
has been for generations a battlefield for landgrabbers,
speculators and alien businessmen.
T h e c o n n e c t i o n in Mindanao b e t w e e n t h e fighting and
t h e foreign investment potential is only t o o obvious. In t h e
m o s t savage battle of t h e r e c e n t Mindanao fighting, t h e
p o p u l a t i o n of the city of J o l o was reduced from 1 5 0 , 0 0 0 to
2 0 , 0 0 0 . T h e Philippine Air F o r c e reportedly used napalm t o
level t h e city and drive o u t the occupying Moslem forces and
Moslem citizenry. Following this b a t t l e t h e president of
S t a n d a r d Fruit C o m p a n y and four directors from Castle and
C o o k e m e t personally with Marcos t o discuss t h e situation in
t h e J o l o region. Also sitting in at t h a t m e e t i n g was Ponce
Enrile. As t h e secretary of defense of t h e Philippines, Enrile
obviously was playing a very i m p o r t a n t dual role. Following
t h e d e s t r u c t i o n of J o l o t h e Philippine press q u o t e d Enrile as
saying, "We should have t a u g h t these p e o p l e a lesson a long
t i m e ago. T h e y m u s t be forced t o give u p their foolish idea of
d i s m e m b e r i n g a p o r t i o n of our c o u n t r y . "
T h e s t o r y of large foreign firms forcing t h e native farmer
off his land is told over a n d over again. Last N o v e m b e r an
American priest, E d w a r d Gerlock, was arrested in M i n d a n a o
for helping small farmers resist t h e landgrabbing b y U.S.
c o m p a n i e s . He told r e p o r t e r s at his d e p o r t a t i o n hearing, " T h e y
b u l l d o z e d people right off t h e land. N o w t h e y ' r e using aerial
sprays, h a r m i n g farm animals a n d giving p e o p l e terrible
rashes."
A classic e x a m p l e of government-instigated land-
grabbing, reminiscent of t h e h e y d a y of t h e U.S. Bureau of
Indian Affairs, was t h e relocating of t h e Tasaday m o u n t a i n
tribe people from their h o m e l a n d s by t h e Philippine
g o v e r n m e n t a l agency, P A N A M I N (Philippine National Minori­
ties). PAN AMI N is h e a d e d b y Manuel Elizalde, w h o s e family
o w n s o n e of t h e largest logging concerns in M i n d a n a o .
Elizalde, t h r o u g h t h e guise of P A N A M I N and t h e assistance of
t h e National Geographic magazine, was able t o get t h e
Tasadays m o v e d o u t and isolated so their ancestral lands could
be o p e n e d b y t h e g o v e r n m e n t for logging. O t h e r minorities
like t h e Tasadays are n o w used b y Elizalde as dancers t o
e n t e r t a i n foreign business guests and dignitaries a t parties in
Manila.
It has been r e p o r t e d to me b y p r o m i n e n t sugar planters
t h a t M a r c o s ' land holdings in sugar-rich Negros, along with his
associates such as Ver, R o b e r t o Benedicto—Philippine
A m b a s s d o r to Japan—and Alfredo M o n t e l i b a n o , G o v e r n o r of
Negros, have risen in t h e past few years from almost n o t h i n g
t o n o w well over 6 , 0 0 0 acres of t h e choicest cane fields on t h e
island. This easily m a k e s Marcos' g r o u p t h e largest land holders
in Negros.
During o u r walk t h r o u g h Rizal Park, I asked m y friend,
t h e former U.P. s t u d e n t , j u s t w h e r e is t h e n e x t p o w e r play
c o m i n g from in t h e Philippines, will it c o m e from a general
like Ver or possibly Enrile, or m a y b e t h e i m m e n s e l y powerful
First Lady, Imelda Marcos? Her reply was, " T h e r e are m a n y
strong forces in t h e p o w e r s t r u c t u r e of t h e Philippines t o d a y .
Mrs. Marcos a n d her family definitely represent a t h r e a t even
t o her h u s b a n d . I d o n ' t believe t h e A r m y and s o m e of t h e
fast-rising y o u n g officers are a real t h r e a t j u s t at this t i m e .
However, I d o believe, if a change in t h e p r e s e n t political
situation is c o m i n g , it will n o t be directly forced on Marcos b y
t h e A r m y , Mrs. Marcos or t h e New People's A r m y for t h a t
m a t t e r , b u t b y , a n d n o t surprisingly, t h e United States. It has
been reliably r u m o r e d recently t h a t t h e U.S. military is
actually secretly training their o w n c o u n t e r i n s u r g e n t forces in
M i n d a n a o . I see these forces as a way the U.S. could force
Marcos either to reconciliate t o their policies if he were t o
w a n d e r off in o t h e r directions or actually force Marcos right
o u t of office. I k n o w t h e U.S. g o v e r n m e n t isn't satisfied with
Marcos' one-man rule. It m a k e s for a d u b i o u s future — w h o
will be r u n n i n g t h e s h o w after Marcos is gone? With t h e
fighting in M i n d a n a o , t h e increased insurgent activity b y t h e
New People's A r m y , t r e m e n d o u s inflation and food shortages,
t h e United States g o v e r n m e n t w a n t s t o have m o r e of a say in
t h e future of its huge i n v e s t m e n t s in t h e Philippines, p r o b a b l y
close t o $2.5 billion, t h a n just t h e g o o d word of Mr. Marcos.
Chile only proves t h e ruthlessness of t h e U.S. G o v e r n m e n t and
I am q u i t e sure Marcos is aware t h a t he m a y be in c o n t r o l now,
b u t his largest business p a r t n e r s , the United States
G o v e r n m e n t , can easily and will pull t h e rug o u t from u n d e r
his feet if he appears t o falter."
Marcos, m o r e t h a n a n y o t h e r Philippine leader, has been
able t o consolidate his p o w e r in a small and tight g r o u p of
loyal Ilocano relatives, friends and generals. His " N e w
S o c i e t y " reforms m e a n a m o r e sophisticated level of foreign
capitalistic e x p l o i t a t i o n for t h e Philippines c o m i n g from b o t h
t h e United States a n d J a p a n . Mr. Marcos' " N e w S o c i e t y "
provides little relief for t h e rapidly growing rate of inflation
a n d t h e bulging ranks of t h e u n e m p l o y e d , few real efforts
t o w a r d land reform, b u t , as always, t r e m e n d o u s profits for
b o t h t h e foreign investors and t h e Filipinos at the t o p . In the
Philippines it appears q u i t e obvious t h a t unless state p o w e r is
wrested from t h e h a n d s of those w h o c o n t i n u e t o exploit the
Filipino p e o p l e , t h e " N e w S o c i e t y " will never provide
a n y t h i n g really new.
A Bibliography on Women in China
For the past year and a half a group of people in
a n t h r o p o l o g y , sociology, history and geography at
UCLA have w o r k e d c o n t i n u o u s l y on a comprehensive
bibliography concerning Women in China. The
bibliography n o w includes a p p r o x i m a t e l y 6,000 titles,
both primary and secondary materials, classified by time
period, geographic location and subject, and stored on
c o m p u t e r tapes for easy retrieval.
In our a t t e m p t t o d r a w together all the
English-language published sources we have included
materials on w o m e n in t h e People's Republic of China,
Taiwan, Hong Kong, and general works a b o u t Chinese
w o m e n w i t h o u t a particular geographical reference. No
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compilation of sources became m o r e and more
comprehensive as we a p p r o a c h e d t h e present.
T h e m i m e o g r a p h e d bibliography may be obtained
in t w o forms: (1) an alphabetical listing by a u t h o r or
title for English-language works, and by file n u m b e r for
the translated articles. (2) a listing by topic or subject:
biography, general works, literature and art, labor and
p r o d u c t i o n , e d u c a t i o n , health and welfare, marriage and
the family, politics and government, and other. An e n t r y
may appear m o r e t h a n once.
***If you wish t o obtain a copy in either form, please
send name and address along with $ 2 . 0 0 (if you can
afford it) t o help us defray p r o d u c t i o n and mailing costs.
Address all c o r r e s p o n d e n c e t o Lucie Cheng Hirata,
Asian American Studies Center, University of California,
Los Angeles, L.A., CA. 9 0 0 2 4
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