Current News 1 - 23 September Friday

Marking of Martial Law Imposition - 21 September to 23 September, 1972.

Why is it important to mark the day martial law was declared and implemented in the Philippines?

Use as reference: Essential Truths, by the Human Rights Violations Victims Memorial Commission or Human Rights MEMCOM,
under the Commission on Human Rights, with Executive Director Chuck Crisanto.

One of the essential truths was the massive evacuation of internal displacement within Mindanao as a result of the continuous
fighting of the military against the Moro and Indigenous People in Mindanao, using the Ilagas to commit atrocities against the Moro
people.

Compare this to the example provided by Robin Cohen in the global internal displacement of refugees. ref: youtube, Robin Cohen
on Internal Displacement of Migration.

Google JC Punongbayan on his discourse of the Economic situation of the Marcos years from the time of martial law up to the end
of his term in 1986. ref: use google refs.

Use Philippine Gazette to seek 3 Jurisprudence rulings showing that Marcos Sr. and Imelda committed plunder ( there was no law
during their commission ), but using as the law RA 1379 - making unlawful any property that is disproportionate to the sum total of
your salary at the time the property was acquired. Correspondingly, study the graft and corrupt practices act as basis for the
conviction on seven counts of Imelda Marcos that is pending in the Supreme Court while she appeals for her bail.

Essential Truths

Essential Truths on the Marcos Declaration of Martial Law

1. He wanted to stay in power beyond two terms by declaring Martial Law and changing the
Constitution.
2. The war waged by CPP-NPA was not an imminent threat to the stability of the Republic.
3. There was no imminent danger of a viable secessionist rebellion in Mindanao.
4. The political environment characterized by social unrest and increased social
mobilization in the time immediately before Martial Law imposition did not necessitate
the declaration of Martial Law.

Essential Truth #1

● "The 1935 Philippine Constitution limits the term of any President to eight (8)
consecutive years. In 1972, Marcos was nearing the end of his second term. He cannot
be reelected to a third term unless theConstitution was changed or his term is extended
by Martial Law. He did both." Source: HRVVMC Module on the Marcos Declaration of
Martial Law

● "Upon his assumption of the presidency on Dec 30, 1965, Mr. Marcos positioned himself
for a long rule beyond the constitutionality allowable two-term tenure which should have
ended on Dec 30, 1973. His master plan called for winning reelection in 1969 "at all
cost," declaration of martial "at least one year" before the expiration of his second and
last term on Dec. 30, 1973, packing the Supreme Court and the defense establishment
with his hand-picked followers, capture of the local governments, and contriving crises
 after crises to justify a Marcos-led military putsch.” Source: Primitivo Mijares, The
Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (1976)

● “Before I left for Hong Kong (New Year of 1972), I visited President Marcos in
Malacanang, I delivered to him a large brown envelope. The brown envelope contained
sixteen documents: (1) the draft of a proclamation to declare martial law; (2) the draft of
seven general orders; (3) the drafts of several letters of instruction"; (4) the draft of my
appointment as deputy commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
President Marcos asked me to keep them after I prepared them in l
● ate 1970. I kept them in my steel safe at home ... Except for President Marcos, no one
knew that the documents existed ..” Source: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A
Memoir (2012)

Essential Truth #2

● The people's war that CPP-NPA launched during the time that Marcos declared Martial
Law was not an imminent threat to the stability of the Republic.

Essential Truth #3
● There was no imminent danger of a viable secessionist rebellion in Mindanao inspite of
the sectarian violence of armed Christian and Muslim groups in the early 1970s. Source:
HRVVMC Module on the Marcos Declaration of Martial Law

● " The imposition of martial law was, in fact, the proximate cause, not the consequence of
an armed Muslim insurgency against the Philippine state ..." Source: Thomas McKenna,
Muslim Rebels and Rulers: Everyday Politics and Armed Separatism in the Southern
Philippines (1998)

Essential Truth #4
● "Although there was social unrest and increased social mobilization in the time
immediately before Martial Law imposition, there is little evidence that there was
widespread anarchy and chaos necessitating the declaration of Martial Law in
September 1972."

*Robin Cohen on the global internal displacement of refugees

JC Punongbayan on his discourse of the Economic situation of the Marcos years from
the time of martial law up to the end of his term in 1986
● https://www.rappler.com/voices/imho/124682-marcos-economy-golden-age-philippines/
● https://twitter.com/jcpunongbayan/status/1099870651677138944?
s=46&t=azAUOPj8faZsd1CrAqCNVQ
●
3 Jurisprudence rulings showing that Marcos Sr. and Imelda committed plunder

● https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/1/62728
● https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/1/48708
● http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/research/Philippines/Sandiganbayan.html

Graft and Corrupt Practices Act

● https://www.gppb.gov.ph/laws/laws/RA_3019.pdf

https://library.martiallawmuseum.ph/?
fbclid=IwAR35nLYpto5Js_G3vTr1Kxzsw9DWP83RwPcnAlUhVDgoi1TuKLQPgciRB_w