ELECTORAL AND PARTY POLITICS DURING THE MARTIAL

LAW

 In the years following World War II, the

Philippines’ two parties alternated for
1946 control of the government, bringing
some continuity to the country’s party
structure.
 At the age of 30 Ferdinand Marcos
became a member of House and
Representatives, as well as the Senate
position in the year 1959-1965, where he
eventually became Senate president
from 1962- 1965.

 Elections under Martial Rule:

1949 Strengthening the Advantage of the
Incumbent Under Marcos and martial
rule, elections have taken on a new
meaning especially for the incumbent.
Indeed, “the Marcos regime
had mocked the concept of election more
than any government since Quirino’s in
1949. “The popular
vote and electoral process have both
been subverted by Marcos.

 Marcos married to Imelda Romualdez, a

1954 former beauty queen, who later helped
him in his successful campaign for the
presidency.
 Marcos stood for president of the liberal
party, which he later joined. Marcos left
the liberal party and joined the
Nacionalista, where he campaigned for
president against Diosdado Macapagal,
his former party mate, in 1965 after
failing to win the party’s candidacy. He
1965 overcame Macapagal and eventually
became the first president to be elected
to a second term since independence. “A
man without moral compass,” is how
Burton characterizes Marcos. He was an
excellent tactician who, more than any of
his contemporaries, had mastered the
 mathematics of democracy, including
assembling majorities, and trading and
purchasing votes. He was also described
as “a consummate scoundrel.”
 Since the 1935 constitution only allowed
for a term limit of up to seven years,
Marcos was seen as (And in reality, was)
a lame-duck president. However, by
proclaiming martial law, Marcos had not
only extended his tenure but also
preempted the congress and, more
importantly, the constitutional
1972 convention, which at the time was still
working to create a framework for a new
constitution for the nation (via bribes and
intimidation). By the late 1960s, many
people considered the 1935 constitution
to be outdated and insufficient for a
nation that had gained its independence
from colonial rule for a number of years.
 Marcos demanded the organization of
so-called citizen assemblies to hold a
special vote to endorse the 1973
constitution. When there was no
congress, the establishment of such
assemblies provided as alternatives to
1973 conventional decision-making. This
referendum was noteworthy since it only
permitted a cursory acclamation.
President Marcos stunned his opponents
by suspending the regular plebiscite and
thereafter declaring the new charter
ratified through the citizens assemblies
(on January 17,1973).
 Such growing opposition against martial
rule troubled Marcos, forcing him to hold
another referendum on February 27,
1975, less than three years into martial
rule, in order to once again seek
legitimacy for his mandate. this
referendum also reported overwhelming
support for the president to continue
1975 serving as chief executive under martial
rule and the 1973 Constitution. The
intention to hold the third referendum
was more to provide legitimacy in the
eyes of the regime’s international
 financial supporters and lenders. It was
widely believed that, given the decades
of traditional political rule during the pre-
Martial law period, the holding of
elections early in the existence of the
new dispensation would be considered
premature before society could be
restructured and that holding them early
on would bring back the evils of the so-
called old society before these could be
completely exorcised in the new society.
 This referendum was also intended to
reassure an increasingly concerned and
critical international According to
Abuevait was timed to coincide with the
1976 hosting by the government in Manila of
the annual meeting of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World
Bank (WB). “Two financial institutions
that figure prominently in the country’s
socioeconomic future and political
landscape.”
 Marcos was finally compelled to commit
to holding elections for the interim
National Assembly. However, instead of
holding the elections that year, Marcos
made sure that any attempt to replace
him as head of state would be
1977 unsuccessful, another Marcos –
sponsored referendum was held in
December 1977, which allowed him to
serve as president and become prime
minister at the same time of the newly
established interim Nation Assembly.
 Upon being secured of his continued
control over the decision-making powers
of government, Marcos announced that
elections Would be finally held on April 7,
1978, some six years after the declaration
of martial law. Wurfel notes that the
1978 elections gave Marcos a chance to
coopt elements of the opposition elite,
1978 squeeze out more dangerous rivals, and
crush violent opponents while
maintaining Marcos family control.
 The reemergence of party politics the
first elections under martial rule were
 held on April 7, 1978, for members-of the
interim National Assembly. Just before
the elections, the Kilusang Bagong
Lipunan or KBL (New Society Movement)
was established as an umbrella
organization of politicians supporting
Marcos and his “New Society” ideology
and fielded candidates in the region-
based elections. The KBL candidates in
Metropolitan Manila was led by none
other than the First Lady, Imelda Marcos.
 The anti-Marcos opposition Perhaps
learning from their experience in the two
previous elections, the Laurel faction of
the Nacionalistas, along with other
members of the elite pre-Martial Law and
anti-Marcos opposition, established the
United Nationalist Democratic Opposition
(UNIDO). Marcos held nationwide
elections for governors and mayors, the
first to take place since martial law was
1980 declared. Once again, Marcos felt that he
could not afford to lose even nominally
to his opponents. Again, Marcos resorted
to electoral and institutional means to
ensure the victory of the KBL One of the
changes in electoral procedures was to
amend the block voting rule by allowing
the names of candidates from the ruling
party to be inserted in ballots that were
incomplete.
 The first elections for president were
held Obviously, Marcos won
overwhelmingly over Santos, a former
defense secretary, and Bartolome
Cabangbang, leader of the Statehood
1981 USA movement. Marcos won 88 percent
of the votes and was proclaimed
president for a six-year term. In the
context of the semi parliamentary form
of government under the 19/3
Constitution then-Finance Minister Cesar
Virata became prime minister.
 Benigno Aquino Jr. the only Viable legal
opposition and alternative to Marcos.
was assassinated as he was escorted out
1983 of commercial airline flight from the
 United States. This political incident led
to the consolidation and strengthening of
the against Marcos. Even that he was the
prime suspect in the assassination. What
came out of this consolidation effort was
a unique Kind of Opposition Which While
not monolithic. distinguished itself from
the traditional Political parties that had
long dominated the Philippine political
scene.
 The unity of the opposition was put to
the test elections for members of the
now regular National Assembly There
were those opposed to Marcos who
favored the continuation of the boycott
against the regime’s initiatives to
legitimize itself by means of the ballot.
This kind of opposition was spearheaded
under COMPACT, an alliance created in
January 1984 and composed of the then
newly formed Kilusan sa Kapangyarihan
at Karapatan ng Bayan (KAAKBAY) or
Movement for the Sovereignty and Rights
of the People; the Liberal Party; the
Pilipino Democratic Party (PDP); and the
Nationalist Alliance (NA).7 Not only were
the member organizations of COMPACT
of the belief that it was wrong to
participate in the legitimation strategy of
Marcos but they were also under the
1984 impression that such a Dovcott campaign
would speed up the erosion of the power
of the dictatorships.
 The Personification of the Opposition, a
“Facilitator Group” composed of former
University of-the Philippines president
Emmanuel Soriano, Alfredo Bengzon,
Ricardo Lopa,Joaquin Bernas, and Ramon
del Rosario Jr. convened a few prominent
individuals (known as the Convenor
Group”, who were perceived as politically
neutral to put together a list of
candidates that would be the
opposition’s answer to Marcos. By the
end of 1984, the Convenor Group was
able to identify twelve potential standard
bearers (PSBs) who could possibly be
fielded as presidential and vice
 presidential against Marcos.
1985  According to Wurfel, Marcos told a KBL
caucus that he might run again in an early
presidential election. This development
hastened the process of selecting a single
opposition candidate to run against
Marcos if and when the elections were
held. Early on, the Convenor Group had
also seriously entertained the idea of
Corazon Aquino (Benigno Aquino’ widow)
running against Marcos, although she
was still not convinced at the time.
 Were marred by widespread fraud and
violence coming mainly from the
government side. Still, NAMFREL’s quick-
count operation made it difficult for
Marcos to attempt to manipulate the
1986 election results. Despite efforts on the
part of the government to cheat by way
of disenfranchising registered voters and
the deployment of police-and military
personnel to discourage the public from
voting the opposition candidates, Marcos
still redoubled his efforts to manipulate
the counting and tallying of the results.