POLITICAL CONTEXT
President Ferdinand Marcos declared the Philippines to be under the state of Martial Law on September 23, 1972. This officially marked the beginning of his fourteen (14) years of rule - one that was filled with ambition, oppression, thievery, and injustices.
As Philippines entered into a state of Martial Law through the Presidential Proclamation 1081, it initiated the death of the country's democracy, the Filipino's freedom of speech as the country's media were censored - only to show the "great" parts of the Marcos Administration.
President Marcos and his cronies had Philippines in their hands. Upon the enactment of several of his proclamations such as the Proclamation 1081, Letter of Instruction No. 1, and the GO - Order No. 2A, the Media Censorship and the ever present Military Authority took presence all over the country. Thousands of people were arbitrarily arrested and detained and thousands more were tortured, killed, assaulted and forcibly disappeared from the country. In a research conducted by Amnesty International, it had shows that a common behavior and pattern was seen upon those who were arrested and killed to which they were all considered as enemies of the state. According to an interview conducted by the organization, President Marcos proclaimed that over 50, 000 people had been arrested and detained under Martial Law of which this consisted of Church leaders, activists, journalists, labor leaders, and social justice officers.
SEN. JOSE W. DIOKNO
"And so the law in the land died. I grieve for it but I do not despair over it. I know, with a certainty no argument can turn, no wind can shake, that from its dust will rise a new and better law: more just, more human and more humane. When that will happen, I know not. That it will happen, I know."
Senator Jose Diokno, commonly known as "Ka Pepe" was among those who were wrongfully detained during the Martial Law. He exposed the condition of the country under martial law to the whole world through the BBC documentary, "To Sing Our Own Song.". Ka Pepe was kept incommunicado for a time in a military camp where his family had no knowledge of his whereabouts. When his family was able to visit, they were only allowed to speak through a barrier of chicken wire. (Chua, 2022)
ARCHIMEDES TRAJANO
"And when I opened the sheet...I saw him blue-black....I could not talk... nothing... but I think my heart hardened. I said, my God, why him?"
Archimedes Trajano was a student activist at the time President Marcos proclaimed Martial Law. He attended a talk in the University of the City of Manila where the young Senator Imee Marcos was speaker as she was appointed by her father as National Chairman of the Kabataang Barangay. When Trajano asked on her appointment, Imee Marcos' bodyguards seized him and beaten and tortured him to death. Upon his death, his body was covered with a white cloth and upon his mother's assessment, he was covered with blue and black bruises. (Diguglielmo, 1989)
JOSE LACABA
"I can no longer remember the exact sequence of events, but in the days that followed, during the fortnight when we were incommunicado and our families went desperately from camp to camp looking for us, I experienced various other forms of harassment and torture.."
Jose Lacaba a journalist, poet and film scriptwriter who was jailed from 1974 to 1976 without any charges. Upon his arrest, he was kicked in the stomach and was accused of having a hidden tunnel underneath the house. Similar to Ka Pepe, he was kept incommunicado for months and was tortured during his arrest where passing soldiers would kick him, he was forced to lie down in air, and many more atrocious acts (Concepcion, 2021).
Activists were imprisoned, journalists were tortured, and any form of dissent and activism were shut down by Marcos and his military. While the Marcos Family and their cronies loathed in their luxuries, the Filipino people were left hungry and in poverty. Learn more on what happened in the Philippines through the different documentaries and articles below.
