Martial law was lifted by President Marcos on January 17, 1981, through Proclamation 2045. He continued to rule the country until 1986 when he went to exile after the People Power Revolution.

However, Marcos retained virtually all of the executive powers he held as dictator, through a combination of the 1972 constitution and the various decrees he had put in place before Martial Law, which all remained in effect.

Marcos issued Proclamation No. 1081, declaring and imposing martial law in the entire country. This was six hours after the alleged assassination attempt against Enrile . It also involved citing more than 15 bombing incidences, chaos and lawlessness

Martial law in the Philippines refers to the various historical instances in which the Philippine head of state placed all or part of the country under military control most prominently during the administration of Ferdinand Marcos, but also during the Philippines' colonial period, during the second world war, and more recently on the island of Mindanao during the administrations of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Rodrigo Duterte.The alternative term "Martial Law Era" as applied to the Philippines is typically used to describe the Marcos martial law period specifically, Marcos cited a sizeable Communist force that had obtained weapons from China that sought to overthrow the government and violate the peaceful lives of ordinary Filipinos. Marcos even compared the current state of the nation to a war, one which he intended to put a stop to.

In response, Marcos declared that he would place the Philippines under a state of Martial Law, as according to the president’s powers described in the 1935 Philippine Constitution. Such powers included command over the Armed Forces of the Philippines to maintain law and order, as well as exclusive decision-making powers for whether or not a person would remain detained for any crime.

Furthermore, Marcos promised that he would use the special powers he was given in Martial Law to lead reforms that would lead the Philippines to prosperity and peace. Those who did not oppose his vision would live to see it come to fruition; on the other hand, those who dared to offend his rule would suffer just as any rebel would.

In September 1972 Marcos declared martial law, claiming that it was the last defense against the rising disorder caused by increasingly violent student demonstrations, the alleged threats of communist insurgency by the new Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and the Muslim separatist movement of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). One of his first actions was to arrest opposition politicians in Congress and the Constitutional Convention. Initial public reaction to martial law was mostly favourable except in Muslim areas of the south, where a separatist rebellion, led by the MNLF, broke out in 1973. Despite halfhearted attempts to negotiate a cease-fire, the rebellion continued to claim thousands of military and civilian casualties. Communist insurgency expanded with the creation of the National Democratic Front (NDF), an organization embracing the CPP and other communist groups.

Under martial law the regime was able to reduce violent urban crime, collect unregistered firearms, and suppress communist insurgency in some areas. At the same time, a series of important new concessions were given to foreign investors, including a prohibition on strikes by organized labour, and a land-reform program was launched. In January 1973 Marcos proclaimed the ratification of a new constitution based on the parliamentary system, with himself as both president and prime minister. He did not, however, convene the interim legislature that was called for in that document.

General disillusionment with martial law and with the consolidation of political and economic control by Marcos, his family, and close associates grew during the 1970s. Despite growth in the country’s gross national product, workers’ real income dropped, few farmers benefited from land reform, and the sugar industry was in confusion. The precipitous drop in sugar prices in the early 1980s coupled with lower prices and less demand for coconuts and coconut products—traditionally the most important export commodity—added to the country’s economic woes; the government was forced to borrow large sums from the international banking community. Also troubling to the regime, reports of widespread corruption began to surface with increasing frequency.