NAME: Precious Faith Asuncion COURSE&YEAR: BSED English1

SUBJECT: History 221 DATE:

Activity 1

1972 Marcos declares Martial Law

The declaration of martial law is a rare and momentous decision for a civilian
government to make and for good reason. When martial law is declared, civilian control
of some or all aspects of government operations is ceded to the military .

At 7:17 pm on September 23, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos announced on

television that he had placed the entirety of the Philippines under Martial Law. This
marked the beginning of a 14-year period of one-man rule that would effectively last until
Marcos was exiled from the country on February 25, 1986. Even though the formal
document proclaiming martial law – Proclamation No. 1081, which was dated September
21, 1972 – was formally lifted on January 17, 1981, Marcos retained essentially all of his
powers as dictator until he was ousted.s

When martial law is declared, civil liberties such as the right to free movement, free speech, or
protection from unreasonable searches can be suspended. The justice system that typically
handles issues of criminal and civil law is replaced with a military justice system, such as a
military tribunal. Civilians may be arrested for violating curfews or for offenses that, in normal
times, would not be considered serious enough to warrant detention. Laws relating to habeas
corpus that are designed to prevent unlawful detention may also be suspended, allowing the
military to detain individuals indefinitely without the possibility of recourse. The power to
declare martial law rests with a nation's president or other top civilian leader. The
circumstances in which it may be declared and other limiting factors, such as the amount of
time it may be left in effect, are governed by legislation or a country’s constitution.

For example, a president may be authorized to declare martial law during a time of violent civil
unrest, but only for 60 days. International laws may also limit the scope and duration of
martial law if a country has signed onto a multilateral treaty.

There are pros and cons of Martial Law. After Ferdinand Marcos Declared Martial Law the
following happened on September 23 in one day. Shutdown of Public Utilities: National
Waterworks and Sewerage Company, Philippine Airlines and Philippine National Railways
(PNR). Shutdown Media Outlets: 7 media dailies, 1 spanish daily, 1 english-filipino daily, 4
chinese daily, 66 community newspaper, 7 television stations, and 292 radio stations.
Exempted Media Outlets: Daily Express, Tv channel 9, kanlaon Broadcasting System. Arrested
Senators: Senator Ninoy Aquino jr., Senator Pepe Diokno, Senator Ramon Mitra Jr., Senator
Francisco Rodrigo. Arrested Individuals 8000 including journalist, students, teachers, labor
leaders, and elite families. The warrantless arrests, the indefinite detention without charges,
and the alleged torture, rape and other detestable abuses supposedly committed by military
officials and personnel who went out of bounds. Power corrupted and absolute power
corrupted absolutely.

 
The discipline of both the rich and the poor. The rich, especially the oligarchs who exploited,
oppressed and committed all forms of social injustices against the people, were disciplined
through massive social changes and development, including agrarian reform, labor decrees
including the Labor Code, and the government's exercise of eminent domain and police power
to break the monopolies by landed estates, by the ruling classes who were committing multiple
unfair labor practices against their workers. Marcos decreed many social reforms especially in
the form of labor laws and social legislation. The poor were also disciplined. Curfew was
imposed. The young ones did not roam around at nights like what they are doing today. The
core of the curriculum was work. Pupils and students were trained to work and not to behave
as spoiled brats like many are today. The young and the old were ordered to plant trees, and
the government employees were required to render rural service in order to help the green
revolution. People were asked to clean their surroundings, to be mindful of the community
sanitation. No one was allowed to urinate or defecate anywhere. The people were made to
respect the environment.