My Martial Law Experience
Martial Law was declared by then President Ferdinand
Edralin Marcos, Sr. under Proclamation 1081 on September 21, 1972. I was in my
first year of high school in Makati. However, it was announced by the President
himself on the 23rd of September.
Schools Suspended
I was in school at the time the proclamation was
announced on television and radio. I learned about it only when in the middle
of a class, our teacher asked us to go home immediately and never go anywhere
else as martial was declared. I did not even know what it was. First time I
heard the term “martial Law.”
No TV, No Radio, No Newspaper
As I went home, I soon found out that it was not only the
schools that were suspended. Television broadcasts, radio programs, and newspapers
were also suspended. Except for PTV Channel 4, there was no other source of
news. And the only news then was from the government.
Unaffected
I lived in one of the Barrios in Makati (as it was called
then and later became Barangays) but not in the posh rich side of the city.
Nothing significantly changed at that time actually except for the suspension
of classes and media broadcasts. That was why the declaration of martial Law
was no big deal to me. It was insignificant. I was unaffected.
Schools Resumed
When school finally resumed, it was simply back to normal
for me. The only difference was we were asked to learn Bagong Lipunan songs
like “Mabuhay ang Pilipino” and “Bagong Lipunan”. We were asked to memorize
them by heart and immediately. Every flag ceremony in the morning, we sing
either one of them after the “Pambasang Awit” and the “Panatang Makabayan.” In
class we started learning about the importance and “beauty” of the country
under the “Bagong Lipunan” or “New Society”. And we were told to stop or never
say anything bad about it, nor the Marcoses nor the government at that time.
Disciplined
My father was the Barrio Captain of our place when
Martial Law was declared. He was a die-hard pro-Marcos and so was the family.
So, everything seemed to be “normal” for me that was why I was unaffected by it
all. In fact, I saw that it was even better for my father then as it was easier
for him to manage and discipline the community. When he called the attention of
young boys and men sporting long hair, he would simply ask them to have them
cut. Immediately, the guys would run to the neighborhood barber shop or
promised that by the following day it would be done. And they did. Even the
cleanliness in the neighborhood was easily implemented. Vandalism on neighbor’s
walls and fences also stopped. Everyone followed the law and the authority.
There was discipline.
As my experience was limited only in my neighborhood and
school, discipline was also observed all over. The jaywalking law was evident.
People caught jaywalking were confined in improvised “jail” right in the center
of the street and they stayed there for an hour or two. Those who violated any
community law were immediately apprehended and punished. Being a young man
ignorant of human rights, I was in awe at how Martial Law had made people to
behave and follow the rules.
When there were threats of bombings, our bags were
confiscated in school. All our things were returned to us, but we were asked to
use transparent bags. That was the age of transparent plastic bags and
backpacks plus those transparent plastic envelopes. No protests on our part as
students. We simply obeyed. We never saw our original bags after that.
When there was shortage of rice, we had to line up to be
able to buy RCA rice from government trucks that would come over to the
community. Later though, the distribution was turned over to the Barangay
leader. Therefore, my father, as he was then the Barangay (Barrio) Captain, became
the official distributor of rice in our community. I remember being active in
this endeavor. People will get their tickets to purchase rice. No ticket, no
rice even if you have the money to pay. On our part, we never had a problem with
rice as a family because we are the ones distributing it. There was even a time
when people were obliged to buy 1-for-1 of rice and corn. If you bought 1 kilo
of rice, you were to buy 1 kilo of corn at the same time. Oftentimes, people would
not get their corn but would pay just the same as was obligatory. At home, we
ended up selling maja blanca made from corn. Another plus point for the New
Society from my point of view.
Martial Law brings Positive Change
Overall, my experience of the early years of martial Law
was a welcome thing. A New Society in the Philippines brought a breath of fresh
air (or so it seemed). There were the Beautification Projects, Green
Revolution, YCAP (Youth Civic Action Program), Alay Lakad, and more. All I
heard and read (when government-friendly newspaper resumed publication) was
that the Philippines was progressing. Even the dollar exchange was increasing
rapidly. (Well, I did not know economics then.)
The Other Face of Martial Law
When I entered the Seminary for priestly religious
formation in 1976, everything had changed. I practically took a 180 degree turn
as far as my view of the New Society of Mr. Marcos. The Seminary gave me not an
alternative view of Martial Law but what the New Society had been hiding all
along. I saw the other face of Martial Law.
The protests that I never heard on the news. The arrests
that were never reported. Abuses of human rights that had become a norm.
Killings of suspected rebels without due process. Raids of houses and even
seminaries on suspicion as being a “rebel hideouts”. One time, we were told to
be ready for a possible military raid of our seminary. We had to clean our
rooms of anything like books, newsletters, handouts, etc., that narrated the
atrocities of Martial Law and the Marcoses. We had to either hide or burn our
copies of “Ibon” and “Malaya”. At some point, a couple of my contemporaries
were caught in one of those rally protests and were jailed at Fort Bonifacio
for some months. Another contemporary in the seminary was killed by the
military on suspicion of being an NPA after he attended a community meeting in
a barrio in the south.
It was a very memorable seminary life. Though living
subconsciously in fear as seminary and church people were always suspected of
anti-Marcos and anti-Martial Law. The Seminary had given me a more realistic
view of the Real Face of Martial Law.
Snap Election
I was a NAMFREL volunteer when the Presidential Snap
election for 1986 was called. This time I was enrolled in a Diocesan Seminary
in Makati. Assigned in one of the schools in Guadalupe, we were watching and
assisting people as they exercised their right of suffrage. A few minutes
before the closing of the polls, goons started a commotion by throwing chairs,
howling, frightening everyone. Together with my team, we secured the ballot
boxes and barricaded ourselves inside the classroom. We piled up chairs behind
the door and hid ourselves under tables, inside cabinets, under piles of the
remaining desks. The electric power was cut off. Authorities came only after
several hours and the goons stopped and left when they realized that the NAMFREL
volunteers composed of seminarians, religious and civilians would not leave. It
was very frightening. I thought it was my end. That was a sample of how far the
Marcos regime would go to curtail the people’s will. It was the worst in the
provinces. People died.
Martial Law in the City vs in the provinces
The Martial Law experience of those who lived in the metropolis,
especially Metro-Manila was very different from those in the provinces and
far-flung barrios. That is why most “remnants” of Martial law who lived in
Metro Manila and major cities in the country would sing alleluias to the
Marcoses. That was how clever Marcos managed Martial Law. Everything was good
in the major cities, especially Metro-Manila. It was all a façade. The evils of
martial Law were all over the provinces and remote neighborhoods. But the
controlled media never reported.
Marcos was very clever. He was very evil.
(Note: I do not include footnotes for references of
actual events that happened as I somehow mentioned them here or made references
to. I am sorry that I intentionally did not do that because I was writing this
out of my own recall of personal experiences. Please do your own research om those
matters if you are interested. Thank you.)
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