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Martial Law: Key Events and Figures

Martial law was declared in the Philippines in 1972 by President Ferdinand Marcos. The 1935 constitution allowed for martial law to be declared in cases of invasion, insurrection, or rebellion. Marcos claimed rising student demonstrations and threats from communist and Muslim separatist groups necessitated martial law. Upon its declaration, many of Marcos's political opponents were immediately arrested, including Senator Aquino. During martial law, human rights abuses occurred such as Liliosa Hilao being beaten and gang raped by soldiers for demanding a search warrant. Primitivo Mijares wrote a book critical of Marcos and the martial law regime, and he and his son later disappeared with his son found murdered.

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Shannise Dayne Chua
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97 views2 pages

Martial Law: Key Events and Figures

Martial law was declared in the Philippines in 1972 by President Ferdinand Marcos. The 1935 constitution allowed for martial law to be declared in cases of invasion, insurrection, or rebellion. Marcos claimed rising student demonstrations and threats from communist and Muslim separatist groups necessitated martial law. Upon its declaration, many of Marcos's political opponents were immediately arrested, including Senator Aquino. During martial law, human rights abuses occurred such as Liliosa Hilao being beaten and gang raped by soldiers for demanding a search warrant. Primitivo Mijares wrote a book critical of Marcos and the martial law regime, and he and his son later disappeared with his son found murdered.

Uploaded by

Shannise Dayne Chua
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Chua, Shannise Dayne

BSA III
PHILHIST

1. What is martial law?


In September 1972 Marcos declared martial law, claiming that 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).

2. What does the 1935 Philippine constitution say about declaring martial law?

The 1935 Constitution ’s provisions on martial law only read that: “In case of invasion,
insurrection, or rebellion, or imminent danger thereof, when the public safety requires it, he may
suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, or place the Philippines or any part thereof
under martial law.”

3. Read the Declaration of Martial by the Official Gazette and answer the ff questions:

a. What was the top-secret military plan about that Sen. Aquino received?

The Senator said he had received a top-secret military plan given by Marcos himself to
place Metro Manila and outlying areas under the control of the Philippine Constabulary
as a prelude to Martial Law. Marcos was going to use a series of bombings in Metro
Manila, including the 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing, as a justification for his takeover and
subsequent authoritarian rule.

b. Why did FM (Ferdinand Marcos) ask Sec. Enrile to study the power of the
commander-in-chief under the 1935 Constitution?
Because FM foresaw an escalation of violence and disorder in the country and wanted to
know the extent of his powers as commander-in-chief.

c. What were the items that FM wrote in his diary on May 8, 1972?

FM had instructed the military to update its plans, including the list of personalities to be
arrested, and had met with Enrile to finalize the legal paperwork required.

d. What was the connection of the Enrile ambush to the declaration of martial law?

It became one of the reasons for FM to announce the declaration of Martial Law.

e. What events happened on DAY 1 of martial law?

By then, personalities considered threats to Marcos (Senators Benigno S. Aquino Jr., Jose
Diokno, Francisco Rodrigo and Ramon Mitra Jr., and members of the media such as
Joaquin Roces, Teodoro Locsin Sr., Maximo Soliven and Amando Doronila) had already
been rounded up, starting with the arrest of Senator Aquino at midnight on September 22,
and going into the early morning hours of September 23, when 100 of the 400
personalities targeted for arrest were already detained in Camp Crame by 4 a.m.
Chua, Shannise Dayne
BSA III
PHILHIST
4. Who is Liliosa Hilao? Describe what she went through in the hands of the military
during martial law?
As associate editor of her school paper, Hilao wrote essays about the death of democracy
in the Philippines under Martial Law. She began to wear black as an outward sign of
mourning. Liliosa Hilao had a strong sense of justice, and she was not afraid to express it
any way she could.

In April 1973, drunken soldiers from the Constabulary Anti-Narcotics Unit barged into her
home searching for her brother. When she demanded a search warrant, she was beaten up
and taken away. Her brother-in-law, a man in the army, visited her and saw the marks of
torture and gang rape.

5. Who is Primitivo Mijares? What happened to him & his son after writing the book
“Conjugal Dictatorship”?
Primitivo Mijares, former Chairman, Media Advisory Council (abolished November
1974) and well-known Philippine columnist and Marcos’s apologist has, in fact,
abandoned the New Society. Mijares, a long-time reporter who finished law, served as the
chief propagandist of the dictator Marcos before he defected in 1975. He testified before
the US Congress about the atrocities of the Marcos regime, and later wrote the
controversial book that led not only to his disappearance, but also to the death of his son.
Sixteen-year-old Luis Manuel “Boyet” Mijares, would be found murdered and mutilated
in 1977, just a year after the publication of the book.

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