Part One
THIS series, extracted from the best-selling books The Marcos Legacy and Greed & Betrayal, authored by this writer and published respectively this year and in 2000 by Amazon, one of the world’s largest book makers, is meant to answer the inveterate “yellows”, leftists and their followers who have relentlessly demonized President Ferdinand E. Marcos and his family over the issues of martial law, human rights and other stark issues.
Before the proclamation of martial law on September 21, 1972, many local and international observers predicted dire events for this country. The persistent prophecy was that the country was on the threshold of doom.
But beneath the turmoil and intrigues of ideologues, radicals, reformers, ambitious politicians, and monopolistic oligarchs, President Marcos developed his own concept of revolution and tackled the crisis of leadership head-on.
“I am utilizing the proclamation of martial law for one purpose alone: to save the Republic and reform society.” Thus declared President Marcos to the nation on the night of Saturday, September 23, 1972. He revealed that he had installed martial law under Proclamation 1081, on September 21 and authorized its implementation by the military at 9 p.m., Friday, September 22.
The basis for his martial-law proclamation is Paragraph 2, Section 10, Article VII, of the 1935 Constitution, which states: “The President shall be the commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the Philippines and, whenever it becomes necessary, he may call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion, insurrection, or rebellion, or imminent danger thereof, when the public safety requires it, he may suspend the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus, or place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law.”
In proclaiming martial law, he emphasized that: “The civilian government would remain supreme as this was not a military takeover. The officials and employees of the national and local governments would continue to discharge their duties as before within the limits of the situation. Thus, in accordance with existing laws at the time of Proclamation 1081, all executive departments, bureaus, offices, agencies and instrumentalities of the government, as well as government-owned or -controlled corporations, governments of provinces, cities, municipalities and barrios would continue to function under the present officers and employees.
“The Judiciary would continue to function under the present organization and will try and decide all criminal and civil cases according to given guidelines.”
Firearms, licensed or not, were strictly forbidden to be carried outside the residence; schools were closed for one week for all levels beginning Monday, September 25, 1972; curfew was imposed from midnight to four o’clock in the morning; and Filipinos departing for abroad were temporarily halted except for official missions cleared by the Department of National Defense.
Rallies and strikes were prohibited; news media were placed under government control; and public utilities, including the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Manila Electric Co.; and transportation facilities like the Philippine National Railways, Philippine Airlines, Filipinas Orient Airways and Air Manila were also put under government control.
“We will eliminate the violent overthrow of the Republic but at the same time reform the social, economic, and political institutions in the country. We must start with the elimination of anarchy and maintenance of peace and order in order not to lose the civil rights and freedom we cherish,” President Marcos said.
“This is not a precipitate decision. We weighed all factors. There is no other solution. I have used the other alternatives, calling troops to quell disorders and suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus but rebellion has not stopped, it has worsened since January 11,” he said.
Emphasizing that the country is falling back on its last line of defense, President Marcos said: “We must now defend the Republic with stronger power granted by the Constitution. To those guilty of insurrection or rebellion, they may pose grave danger but to ordinary citizens whose primary concern is merely to be left alone, this is the guarantee of the freedom that you seek. All I do, we in the government do, is for the Republic. Rest assured that we will continue to do so. I have prayed to God for guidance. Let us continue to pray to Him!”
Earlier, the Supreme Court of the Philippines recognized the existence of rebellion when it upheld the President’s right to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.
Since the Supreme Court promulgated this decision, the situation turned from bad to worse: the productive sectors have grounded to a halt. Many schools closed up. Many businessmen, traders, industrialists, producers and manufacturers, have stopped operations. In the Greater Manila this anxiety reached the point where the citizenry had to stay home.
Terrorism and subversion by leftist and rightist elements had spread from Northern Luzon to the entire country. Mass media, then unbridled in its licentiousness, played up the bombings and other terroristic activities that became frequent in the Greater Manila area.
To be continued
To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@gmail.com.