by Francis Kristoffer L. Pasion
Senior History Researcher
President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. declares Martial Law, 23 September 1972
MALACANANG MUSEUM AND LIBRARY
In commemoration of the 51st anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines, we look back at this milestone with the full weight of our nation’s reckoning of the journey towards emancipation, freedom, and independence. The piercing and systematic rigors of historical investigation guide our hand. Thus, when it comes to contested histories, it is our duty to clarify what has been blurred, and to bring out to the public what has been proven by primary sources.
One of the most common misconceptions on Martial Law was the date of its declaration. While all the executive issuances on Martial Law–the Proclamation No. 1081, General Orders, and Letters of Instruction–were indeed postdated to 21 September 1972, these took effect on 22 September 1972, and announced on a live telecast on 23 September 1972.
Early Plans for Martial Law
Martial Law was already conceptualized as early as 17 May 1969, when he revealed the idea in public for the first time, in a speech he delivered to the closing dinner of the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association:
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.
For 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.
The same thing is true with the declaration of martial law…. It is a useful mental exercise to meet a problem before it happens…
Marcos would once again utter it, this time to the students, to quell the violent protests of the First Quarter Storm, on 19 February 1970.
Evidence suggests, however, that Marcos Sr. had serious plans for Martial Law as early 1 Dec 1969, when, as per Juan Ponce Enrile, who was Justice Secretary at the time, he was summoned to do a study of the legal feasibility of Martial Law. He was instructed to research on its legal basis in accordance with the 1935 Constitution, but he was warned to do it “discreetly and confidentially.” On 1 January 1970, Enrile’s legal team submits the only copy of their confidential study to Marcos. Although Enrile’s account must be tested for its reliability, Enrile confirms through his memoir published in 2012 that the drafts of the Martial Law executive issuances existed as early as 30 December 1971, as he had these submitted to the president’s table in a brown envelope before he went on official travel.
Martial Law to be implemented on September 21
It was on 13 September 1972, the day when Sen. Ninoy Aquino revealed to the Senate Floor the Oplan Saggitarius plot to put Manila under military control, when, according to Marcos Sr’s diary, Marcos met with Justice Secretary Enrile, Gen. Tom Diaz, colonels, and Danding Cojuangco, and “agreed to set the 21st of this month as the deadline.” The September 21 date was affirmed on 18 September 1972, when plans for Martial Law was finalized among Marcos and the generals.
But why September 21? Primitivo Mijares, formerly part of the president’s inner circle, and was soon to be a victim of forced disappearance, explained it clearly:
“The timing of the imposition of martial law was heavily dependent on Congress being in session and Senator Aquino being available for the planned arrest. Marcos’ sense of history told him that, even after the declaration of martial law, Congress must be allowed to hold at least one session before it is gavelled to adjournment, in order that history can record the fact that Marcos did not close the lawmaking branch of government by his proclamation of martial law. His thinking then had something to do with his plans for the Constitutional Convention.”
Congress was set to adjourn on 21 September 1972. But at the last minute, the Senate and House leaders agreed to hold a special session the next day, and schedule their adjournment on September 23. The timetable for Martial Law was forced to adjust.
Indeed bicameral meetings would last until midnight on September 23. Some senators (including Sen. Ninoy Aquino) and congressmen were at the suite on the 7th floor of the then Manila Hilton, working on the Tariff and Customs Code. This was the reason why when arrests began, it began at midnight of 23 September, and the first to be arrested was Aquino, who was at the bicameral meeting at the time.
Sen. Jose W. Diokno speaks at Plaza Miranda, 21 September 1972
JOSE W. DIOKNO FOUNDATION
On 21 to 22 of September 1972, a huge rally gathered at the Plaza Miranda, Quiapo, Manila, led by the Movement for Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties, together with Sen. Jose W. Diokno and the National Press Club, to call for government accountability amidst rumors of Martial Law. Around that time, the crowd assembled numbered from 30,000 to 50,000 filling the environs of Quiapo and nearby streets.
Facts: Martial Law implemented on the 22nd, arrests and lockdown on the 23rd
Unreleased issue of the Philippines Free Press, 23 September 1972
MALACANANG MUSEUM AND LIBRARY
The alleged ambush on Secretary Enrile happened around 8:00 pm at the Notre Dame Street in Wack-Wack Subdivision, San Juan, on 22 September 1972, which was cited as reason for Martial Law. The news of this came out the next day.
Soon after, the military was deployed at around 9:00 pm. Arrests began past midnight, with Sen. Ninoy Aquino as number one in the list. With telephone communications severed, all flights international and domestic ceased, all media outlets and newspapers shut down, and arrests implemented from midnight until early morning, panic and rumors ensued.
It was only then, at 7:15 pm of 23 September 1972 that President Ferdinand Marcos went live on national television announcing Martial Law.
21st or 23rd?
Months after the declaration of Martial Law, it was President Marcos Sr. himself who told the historians assembled at the Philippine Historical Association conference on 28 November 1972, that: “If by proclamation is meant my appearing on television and saying that martial law is enforced, it was on September 23.” He explained that he signed the issuances on the 17th and postdated them to the 21st.
It was journalist Conrado de Quiros who pointed out the significance of September 21st for Marcos, that as a believer of numerology, Marcos deemed number 21 auspicious since it is divisible by seven. Indeed, to this end, September 21 was declared a special public holiday, called the “National Thanksgiving Day” by virtue of Proclamation No. 1185, s. 1973, “in commemoration of the anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law,” and the “great strides” and “unprecedented progress” the people were supposed to have made. As such, the date of September 21st has been cemented in the national consciousness, and remains a manifestation of effective propaganda.
Conclusion
Today, more half a century after the events that unfolded, the nation remains at odds with the commemoration of this event and the impact it had for the next fourteen years under the regime, until Marcos Sr. was deposed. It is the hope of the writer that amidst the contestations and distortions of fact and historical scholarship, this article will provide a means of clarity, starting with the actual date of the event being commemorated. The act of declaration, with a host of primary sources, point to the date, 23 September, as the beginning of Martial Law.
Bibliography
___, Ang Mamatay nang Dahil Sa ‘Yo: Heroes and Martyrs of the Filipino People in the Struggle against Dictatorship 1972-1986 (Volume 1). Manila: National Historical Commission of the Philippines, 2015.
Bonner, Raymond, Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy. New York: Times Books, 1987.
De Quiros, Conrado. Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy. Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People’s Power, Inc., 1997.
Enrile, Juan Ponce. Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir. Quezon City: ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012.
Marcos, Ferdinand E. Marcos Diary Entries, retrieved from the Philippine Diary Project on 20 September 2022.
Mijares, Primitivo. The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. San Francisco: Union Square Publication, 1986.
Quezon III, Manuel L., “September 23, not 21,” 18 September 2018, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Santos, Vergel O., Chino and His Time. Pasig: Anvil, 2010.