On August 1, 1972, Marcos met with Enrile and a few of his most trusted military commanders to discuss tentative dates for the declaration of Martial Law-to fall within the next two months. On May 8, 1972, Marcos confided in his diary that he 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. In his January 1971 diary entries, Marcos discussed how he met with business leaders, intellectuals from the University of the Philippines, and the military to lay the groundwork that extreme measures would be needed in the future. A week later, Marcos summoned Enrile and instructed him to prepare the documents to implement Martial Law in the Philippines. The result of their study stated that, “while Martial Law may accelerate development, in the end the Philippines would become a political archipelago, with debilitating, factionalized politics.” Almonte recalled that their findings led to the conclusion that “the nation would be destroyed because, apart from the divisiveness it would cause, Martial Law would offer Marcos absolute power which would corrupt absolutely.” īy the end of January 1970, Enrile, with the help of Efren Plana and Minerva Gonzaga Reyes, submitted the only copy of the confidential report on the legal nature and extent of Martial Law to Marcos. Marcos also wanted to know the consequences of declaring Martial Law. Marcos made this instruction as he “ an escalation of violence and disorder in the country and to know the extent of his powers as commander-in-chief.” The President also stressed that “the study must be done discreetly and confidentially.” Īt about the same time, Marcos also instructed Executive Secretary Alejandro Melchor and Jose Almonte to study how Martial Law was implemented in different parts of the world. In his memoir, then Justice Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile recalled that on a late afternoon in December 1969, Marcos instructed him to study the powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief under the provisions of the 1935 Constitution. The same thing is true with the declaration of martial law It is a useful mental exercise to meet a problem before it happens. One of my favorite mental exercises, which others may find useful, is to foresee possible problems one may have to face in the future and to determine what solutions can possibly be made to meet these problems.įor instance, if I were suddenly asked, to pose a given situation, to decide in five minutes when and where to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, I have decided that there should be at least five questions that I would ask, and depending on the answers to these five questions, I would know when and where to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. This was indeed the culmination of a long period of preparation: As early as May 17, 1969, Marcos hinted the declaration of Martial Law, when he addressed the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association: Embassy in Manila knew as early as Septemabout Marcos’ plan. In his own diary, Marcos wrote on Septemthat he informed the military that he would proceed with proclaiming 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. Aquino Jr., during a Septemprivilege speech, exposed what was known as “Oplan Sagittarius.” 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. A week before the actual declaration of Martial Law, a number of people had already received information that Marcos had drawn up a plan to completely take over the government and gain absolute rule. The culmination of a long period of preparation The propaganda effort was so successful that up to the present, many Filipinos-particularly those who did not live through the events of September 23, 1972-labor under the misapprehension that martial law was proclaimed on September 21, 1972. 1973 to memorialize the date as the foundation day of his New Society. Throughout the Martial Law period, Marcos built up the cult of September 21, proclaiming it as National Thanksgiving Day by virtue of Proclamation No. Some sources say that Marcos signed the proclamation on September 17 or on September 22-but, in either case, the document itself was dated September 21. 1081 on September 21, 1972, placing the Philippines under Martial Law. The Daily Express was the only newspaper allowed to circulate upon the declaration of Martial Law The anniversary of the declaration of martial law is on September 23 (not September 21) “FM Declares Martial Law”-the headline of the Septemissue of the Sunday Express, which was the Sunday edition of Philippines Daily Express.

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