DEBATE: Why some citizens declared that Martial Law was a time of peace

The topic we debate today and stand for is the statement that Martial Law was a time of peace
for some citizens of the Philippines. Even though there were harsh punishments, we think that
Martial Law was implemented for the best of our country. To defend our stand, we have 3 main
points: Development of the country against communism and violence, Better infrastructures and
programs situated by Martial Law, and installation of a “New land” We present to you the pros of
Martial Law and evidence.

1st paragraph evidence The first point of evidence we have is the betterment of the Philippines
against communism and rebellions. Since president Marcos implemented the Martial Law, his
original purpose was to “ 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.” Basically,it means he wanted to
implement Martial Law SPECIFICALLY for the purpose of reducing the communist threats
and rebellions against the government. He wanted to initially “pacify”
Rebellions against him and the country. Some examples of these include: The Tripoli
agreement ( An agreement wherein thirteen provinces were given autonomy by virtue of this
agreement)

2nd paragraph of evidence:The second point are the new infrastructures and programs
situated by the government. When Martial Law was implemented, more programs and
infrastructures were made available to the citizens. Some of the projects include: The San
Juanico Bridge, The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, and the Philippine-Japan Friendship
Highway. These were some examples of infrastructures made during Martial Law.
Livelihood programs included the Issue of the Land Reform. This reform gave farmers a
chance to own a for tilling and they could pay later if they did not have financial stability.
Farmers were given 6 hectares of land that they would pay in the next 3 years. The
Masagana 99 was a program which aimed to harvest 99 sacks of rice in every hectare of
land. 2 Livelihood programs were the Green and Blue revolutions. The Green revolution
was to improve farming development and the Blue revolution was for fishing development.
As we can see, Martial Law has brought these projects to the Philippines for the better.

3rd paragraph of evidence:: The last point of why Martial Law was declared a peaceful
point in time is because of the implementation of “The New Society”. As said in the previous
points, there were many projects and good implementations during Martial Law. Those
points all connect to the plan of Marcos: “ A New Society”. This New Society he talked
about was a plan to “replace the old society which was ridden with chaos, lack of discipline,
corruption, and other problems. So, in establishing Martial Law, the Philippines had grown,
developed, and learned new things. Especially in the new projects and infrastructures. Our
stand is that Martial Law was a reigning time of peace filled with prosperous deeds and
growth of our country. Although it may be controversial, we have conducted this debate
based on hard evidence and full-proof. May the debate be won by the best.

Additional:: Thank you for your time and patience. Now, hopefully you may see the positive
and good sides of Martial Law and not just focus on the consequences and torture only. For
even though there were circumstances, it had brought the Philippines into what it is now.
During the Martial Law period, there were rebellions which were violent and NOT AT ALL
peaceful. So, Martial Law placed military forces to regain peace and order. This is one of
the BIGGEST pros in the implementation of Martial Law. As this was placed, violence and
rebellion were less rampant.