The Philippines During Martial Law

Proclamation of Martial Law: On September 21, 1972, President Ferdinand E.

Marcos placed the Philippines under Martial Law. The declaration issued under
Proclamation 1081 suspended the civil rights and imposed military authority in the
country. Marcos defended the declaration stressing the need for extra powers to
quell the rising wave of violence allegedly caused by communists. The emergency
rule was also intended to eradicate the roots of rebellion and promote a rapid
trend for national development. The autocrat assured the country of the legality of
Martial Law emphasizing the need for control over civil disobedience that displays
lawlessness. Marcos explained citing the provisions from the Philippine
Constitution that Martial Law is a strategic approach to legally defend the
Constitution and protect the welfare of the Filipino people from the dangerous
threats posed by Muslim rebel groups and Christian vigilantes that places national
security at risk during the time. Marcos explained that martial law was not a
military takeover but was then the only option to resolve the country’s dilemma on
rebellion that stages national chaos threatening the peace and order of the
country. The emergency rule, according to Marcos’s plan, was to lead the country
into what he calls a “New Society”.

Marcos used several events to justify martial law. Threat to the country’s security
was intensifying following the re-establishment of the Communist Party of the
Philippines (CPP) in 1968. Supporters of CPP’s military arm, the New People’s
Army, also grew in numbers in Tarlac and other parts of the country. The alleged
attempt to the life of then Minister of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile gave Marcos a
window to declare Martial Law. Marcos announced the emergency rule the day
after the shooting incident. Marcos also declared insurgency in the south caused
by the clash between Muslims and Christians, which Marcos considered as a threat
to national security. The Muslims were defending their ancestral land against the
control of Christians who migrated in the area. The minority group organized the
Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Malaysia and pushed for the autonomy of
Mindanao from the national government.

The move was initially supported by most Filipinos and was viewed by some critics
as a change that solved the massive corruption in the country. Martial law ceased
the clash between the executive and legislative branches of the government and a
bureaucracy characterized by special interest. Marcos started to implement
reforms on social and political values that hindered effective modernization. To
match the accomplishments of its Asian neighbors, Marcos imposed the need for
self-sacrifice for the attainment of national welfare. His reforms targeted his rivals
within the elite depriving them of their power and patronage but did not affect
their supporters (US Library of Congress, Martial Law and the Aftermath).

Thirty-thousand opposition figures including Senator Benigno Aquino, journalists,

student and labor activists were detained at military compounds under the
President’s command (Proclamation 1081 and Martial Law). The army and the
Philippine Constabulary seized weapons and disbanded private armies controlled
by prominent politicians and other influential figures (Proclamation 1081 and
Martial Law). Marcos took control of the legislature and closed the Philippine
Congress (Proclamation 1081 and Martial Law). Numerous media outfits were
either closed down or operated under tight control (Proclamation 1081 and Martial
Law). Marcos also allegedly funnelled millions of the country’s money by placing
some of his trusted supporters in strategic economic positions to channel
resources to him. Experts call this the “crony capitalism.”

The deterioration of the political and economic condition in the Philippines

triggered the decline of support on Marcos’ plans. More and more Filipinos took
arms to dislodge the regime. Urban poor communities in the country’s capital were
organized by the Philippine Ecumenical Council for Community and were soon
conducting protest masses and prayer rallies. These efforts including the exposure
of numerous human rights violations pushed Marcos to hold an election in 1978
and 1981 in an aim to stabilize the country’s chaotic condition. Marcos, in both
events, won the election; however, his extended term as President of the Republic
of the Philippines elicited an extensive opposition against his regime. Social unrest
reached its height after former Senator Benigno Aquino was murdered. The
incident sent thousands of Filipinos to the streets calling for Marcos’ removal from
post. Turning again to his electoral strategy, Marcos held a snap election in 1986
but what he hoped will satisfy the masses only increased their determination to
end his rule that seated Corazon Aquino, widow of Benigno Aquino, as President of
the Philippines ousting Marcos from Malacañang Palace and ending the twenty-
one years of tyrant rule

Habeas Corpus
[Latin, You have the body.] A writ (court order) that commands an individual or a government
official who has restrained another to produce the prisoner at a designated time and place so that
the court can determine the legality of custody and decide whether to order the prisoner's release.

A writ of habeas corpus directs a person, usually a prison warden, to produce the prisoner and
justify the prisoner's detention. If the prisoner argues successfully that the incarceration is in
violation of a constitutional right, the court may order the prisoner's release. Habeas corpus relief
also may be used to obtain custody of a child or to gain the release of a detained person who is
insane, is a drug addict, or has an infectious disease. Usually, however, it is a response to
imprisonment by the criminal justice system.

A writ of habeas corpus is authorized by statute in federal courts and in all state courts. An inmate
in state or federal prison asks for the writ by filing a petition with the court that sentenced him or
her. In most states, and in federal courts, the inmate is given the opportunity to present a short
oral argument in a hearing before the court. He or she also may receive an evidentiary hearing to
establish evidence for the petition.

The habeas corpus concept was first expressed in the Magna Charta, a constitutional document
forced on King John by English landowners at Runnymede on June 15, 1215. Among the liberties
declared in the Magna Charta was that "No free man shall be seized, or imprisoned, or disseised,
or outlawed, or exiled, or injured in any way, nor will we enter on him or send against him except
by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land." This principle evolved to mean that
no person should be deprived of freedom without Due Process of Law.