Sagalon AAP 0005

Art Appreciation - AAP 0005

NAME: SAGALON, Claren D.

COURE CODE/SECTION: AAP 0005

STUDENT NO: 202012871

SUBJECT: Art Appreciation

ACTIVITY 2:
REMEMBERING MARTIAL LAW

THE FALLACIES OF THE MARCOS REGIME: “Sabi ng lolo ko,”

The inception of the Martial Law on Marcos’s regime was fueled by a profusion of
facets. With the impending discomposure and lack of gratification with the political
disposition and the incumbency’s governance with the economic aspect of the Philippines,
around the former president, Ferdinand E. Marcos’s second term in the presidency, all
discontentment was conveyed through student and militant protests. There had been
indications of the imminent proclamation among all the circumstances that have been
occurring those days.

It is in retrospective as we look on the events that took place before the

declaration of the Martial Law. One is Oplan Merdeka, an alleged classified operation which
caused the death of 60 Moro trainees from the Jabidah Massacre, an event which, along with
accounts of alleged Moro killings, inflamed the rapidly rising movement of the separation
among Muslism groups. Another is the 1969 Marcos’s re-election; it was ubiquitous that
interests of accused fraud in election and corruption, and his usage of foreign reserves to fund
his re-election campaign, which greatly contributed to the country’s foreign debt, which
showed that his believers were losing their trust in him little by little as the protests grew, the
unrested civil period known as the First Quarter Storm. As more than 50,000 demonstrators
protested outside the former legislative building after Marcos’s SONA (State of the Nation
Address) inaugurating his second term, it was believed that it was the unsuccessful talk
between the former president Marcos with the recognized student leaders, one of them is
Edgar “Edjop” Jopson, which said to have stipulated that Marcos is to sign a document which
stated the he is to not seek of 3rd term in presidency, which the enraged former president did

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not sign. The protest dispersal, which is known today as the Battle of Mendiola, succeeding
the failed interchange, resulted to the death of 4 protesters. Following these deaths, similar
protests would break out denouncing US imperialism, which was seen to be Marcos’s ally in
his inclination of a extensive rule. Next is the Plaza Miranda bombing and Marcos’s
suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus which allows arrest though not
having warrants to seize suspected enemies of the state without trouble. These events were
notably the signs before the forthcoming dictatorship. Events that Marcos used to justify his
declaration of Martial Law. It was not the calm before the storm, but rather the sounds of
thunder before the downpour.

It was the night of the 23rd of September, year 1972, when Ferdinand Marcos
announced the proclamation of Martial Law. The Filipino people were ignorant of the
tribulation that they would be subjected to for the next 14 years, which is saying more lightly,
given that 40 years later, we are still paying for the enormous debt and poverty-stricken
economy and society he had put the Philippines in. Proclamation no. 1081, enacted by
Ferdinand E. Marcos, signed on September 21, 1972 and publicly declared on the 23rd,
described a state of lawlessness under the presidential powers from the 1935 Philippine
Constitution. This authorization also gave him control of the AFP (Armed Forces of the
Philippines) to uphold peace and order, as well as power in perpetrating decisions wether an
individual is to be continuously detained for whichever crime. The events Marcos cited to
give grounds for his declaration was the Communist insurgency and the ambush of Juan
Ponce Enrile, his minister of defense at that time. Vowing prosperity and peace to the
Philippines, Marcos promised those who supports him existent for them to see the fulfillment
of his prospects, and suffering for those who would offend his edict.

With hundreds of thousands of contrasting beliefs about the Marcos’s Martial

Law, it is immensely tragic that the new generations of Filipinos are oblivious of the truth. A
Filipino who lived in the Martial Law era could claim that it was peaceful and basically the
“Golden age of the Philippines”, but was it really like that? Or was it that media and freedom
was so fleeting, that even other people were who peacefully lived those days were not able to
know that in some, if not most, parts of their beloved nation, hundreds were getting killed,
torture, and getting their lives perished in ways, one would not be able to imagine. Historical
Revisionism is rampant in this technological era. Amidst the thousands of accounts from
historians, intellectuals, survivors, and academics, all credible sources to uphold and provide
the truth about what really took place in that 14-year dictatorship, a great number of people,
even those who lived those days are still washed off the truth.

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Today, the common notions that we will hear from people who are Pro-Marcos are
their projection of the dictator’s great deeds to the Philippine economy of those time.
According to Prof. Campomanes of UP Manila, Marcos’s first term showed the president’s
vision. The economic standing of the Philippines got better, for there was an economic boom,
however, it was not sustained through the duration that Marcos was in authority. The history
professor also said that there had been signs that there was an imminent economic break
down. At the end of Marcos’s time, even before the EDSA people power revolution, he stated
that our economy was already going downhill, especially after Ninoy Aquino’s death in 1993.

“The Philippine peso was almost equivalent to a dollar”

This statement could almost always be heard when someone was defending the vain
and gruesome time of the Marcos regime. To debunk this misconception of Marcos’s
greatness in upholding the Philippine peso currency to the US dollar, however, Prof.
Campomanes disprove this fallacy by remembering the exchange rate in 1965 when Marcos
was first elected as the president, the exchange rate of the Philippine peso was 3.9 PHP pesos
was to 1 US dollar by then, however, he reasoned out that because Marcos wanted to win the
next succeeding term as the president, he spent 50 million dollars, which caused the exchange
rate to plummet to 6 PHP pesos to 1 US dollar, debunking the stated sophism. The massive
spending that Marcos did caused the Philippines to loan from the World Bank as inflation
started to rise.

“If EDSA revolution was so good, why are we still in this mess (poverty-stricken nation)”

According to Dr. Leloy Claudio, a question we must ponder on was “Why is the
Philippines poor after the EDSA people power revolution?”. He stated that it was because we
are still paying for the massive debt Marcos left, that is why Dr. Leloy stated that we must not
constrain the economic effects of the Marcos regime to Marcos’s dictator years. Arounf
Marcos’s period in 1972, the unemployment rate was 6.30%, however, by 1985, it grew to
27.65%. According to Dr. Leloy, in all of Philippine history, it was only in 1983, still in the
Marcos regime, both unemployment rate and the price of necessities in the market both rise.

“Buti pa sa panahon ni Marcos, maayos and buhay (economically)”

The price of commodities has risen as of the current year compared to past years,
including Marcos’s, because of the rise in the population in the Philippines, according to

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Professor Xiao Chua of DLSU (De Lasalle University), from 48 Million to the current
number of 108.1 Million, so the rise of prices of commodities was inevitable. Also, Dr. Leloy
added that it was a sign of economic rise that the price of commodities rises, as a nation
develops.

“Buti pa si Marcos, maraming napatayong imprastraktura”

As Arch. Gerald Lico stated, the architectures built by Marcos was an illusion. Most,
if not all, infrastructure was state-sponsored, however, from foreign debts. He added that the
regime was clever to use infrastructures as propagandas to perpetuate the parable of power.
Prof. Campomanes stated that infrastructures are not indicative of Marcos’s success as the
funds from building them was from loans and who benefitted them, as for most of Imelda
Marcos’s infrastructure projects, only their cronies and relatives benefitted from these,
because there were no transparency and no public bidding.

Modernism and new society was Marcos’s peg for his infrastructures, projecting
progress, however, Arch. Lico claimed that it was unprecedented, only showing dominant
cultures in Imelda’s projects. Another tragedy from the Marcos regime was the Film Palace or
the Manila Film Center incident , where Imelda Marcos allegedly rushed the building of the
infrastructure to show face from Hollywood Glitterati such as George Hamilton and Brooke
Shields, and the scaffolding of the building collapsed. The number of deaths are still
unknown and the bodies were not retrieved and still buried.

With dictators, infrastructures are often created to uphold omnipresence of the

builders, according to Arch. Lico. It was a way to monument the presence and name of those
who built them. Architect Lico also added that most Marcos infrastructures are elitist, he
exampled the CCP complex ramp in which people would need to arrive in cars to be able to
use the front entrance, and that most infrastructures are used big events in Marcos’s time such
as the Ms. Universe.

As the building of infrastructures increased in the Marcos regime, it was in no form

advantageous to the nation, as most of the funds used for them was from loans, adding to the
nation’s foreign debts.

“Buti pa si noong Marcos, may disiplina ang mga tao”

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As mentioned, Marcos cited his motives for Martial Law as the lawlessness, however,
Atty. Saguisag, former senator around Marcos’s era, stated that it was possible to have
progress without dictatorship. The dictator’s motive was to lessen the communists, however,
Dr. Leyco reasoned that in 1972, the population f the NPA was less than 2,000, but in 1985, it
blew to 20,000, proving that even Marcos’s alleged goal for Martial Law, he also failed in.
Also, according to the highly respected general Manuel Yan, general around Marcos’s time,
he believed that it was not true that Martial Law was needed to stop the leftist. The
government and the Philippine military was enough to stop the communist threat; normal
operations on the government was all they needed to stop it. This only proves the claims of
many historians that Marcos only wanted to extend and stay in power, Professor Xiao Chua
stated.
“Buti pa sa panahon ni Marcos, tahimik naman ang buhay, hindi totoong may mga namatay”

According to numerous data, more than 70,000 people were unjustly imprisoned, 34,000
were tortured, and at least 3,240 were victims of extrajudicial killings under Ferdinand
Marcos’s Martial Law. A lot of individuals were subjected to torture schemes, like being
electrocuted, burned, beaten up, sexually assaulted, and a lot more extent. Various objects
would be often forcefully inserted to women’s genitals, people would be burned with flat iron
and cigars; they would be shot and Russian roulette was an infamous game among those
times. There are currently numerous accounts of survivors of the torture and assault form the
Martial Law era; Stories of torture, one cannot ever disrespect and invalidate.

To claim that Martial Law was the greatest event that had happened to the Philippines
is the greatest insult one could say to those who sacrificed their lived standing up for out
freedom. Historical Revisionism must end. The truth must be known, and legacies of those
who died must be respected. It is the time to let students learn the truth. We must be taught
which are facts, and which are not. Social media like TikTok, and Youtube are not credible
sources. Statements of Historians, Academics, and Intellectuals are. Just because your
Grandfather, Grandmother, or anyone who lived in the period of Marcos’s dictatorship did
not experienced the gruesome tragedies others did, did not mean that such devastations did
not happen. Remembering the adversities of the Martial Law is for those who suffered, not to
those who claims it did not happen just because they did not experience it. As an analogy, it is
like saying that pickpocketing in Divisoria does not exist just because it did not happen to
you. We are fortunate enough that we now have the extent of freedom people from the
Marcos era did not have. No media was allowed to freely state what they want, people were
robbed of voices to shout their shouts, and scream their screams. No words were respected
aside from the his words, as it is the law. We were supposedly protected by the same law that

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gave Marcos the power that he used to put the Philippines under great tragedy, a reminder
that power would always get abused, if it is in the wrong hands.

Never again, and never forget. Let it not be repeated by the future leaders of the
Philippines. We must not be fooled again, so before casting our votes in the Halalan 2020,
think wisely, and envision if that person is someone you think will make the future
generation’s life greater.



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REFERENCES:

Administrator. (2015, October 15). The jabidah massacre of 1968. Bantayog ng mga Bayani.
Retrieved September 27, 2021, from http://www.bantayog.org/the-jabidah-massacre-
of-1968/.

Martial law museum: Warning signs. Martial Law Museum | Warning Signs. (n.d.). Retrieved
September 27, 2021, from https://martiallawmuseum.ph/interactive/warningsigns/.

Martial Law Myths Busted | History. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUfeatNvseI. (n.d.).

Retrieved September 27, 2021.

Worksofheart. (n.d.). Declaration of martial law. Martial Law Museum. Retrieved September
27, 2021, from https://martiallawmuseum.ph/magaral/declaration-of-martial-law/.