I remember when Martial Law was declared

It’s now 38 years since Martial Law was declared. Today, because we just can’t seem to vote the right people to lead our country because of the curse of Pres. Manuel L. Quezon who said, “I would rather see this country run like hell by Filipinos, than run like heaven by Americans” we are still a 3rd world country, while most of our ASEAN neighbors have already gotten away from this vicious cycle of mismanagement. If you were born when Martial Law was declared, you are already 38 years old and most probably you are anticipating your mid-life crisis.

Because it has been this long since Martial Law was declared all over the country, some people think that one way to solve our problems is for a benevolent dictator to emerge. But few remember that old adage, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely!” Most people were referring to Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew. But then the Singapore story is totally different from the Philippine story. We have a very free press (although, on the first day of Martial Law, Pres. Marcos arrested not only the members of the opposition party, but many media personalities, like my mentor, the late Sir Max Soliven) while the press in Singapore is controlled.

A lot of things have changed in 38 years. What hasn’t changed are the political names that have been in power since time immemorial. I’m sure that most of us wouldn’t mind if after decades of being “controlled” by a few political families, our nation would break away from being a 3rd world country. As it is, most Filipinos have remained poor, while I have yet to see a politician who isn’t in the millionaires’ list. But how can we change this?

The 1935 Constitution is still considered the best constitution of this country. Alas, this Constitution was thrown out of the window 38 years ago, because it is more than obvious to us that Pres. Marcos couldn’t stay in power under that Constitution. It was 1971 and Pres. Marcos only had one more year in power, so he had to concoct something.

Back then, the 1971 Constitutional Convention (con-con) was already underway, but because Martial Law was already in effect, Pres. Marcos literally “hijacked” the 1971 concon. The infamous “Payola” from the Office of the President was exposed by the delegate from Leyte, former Ambassador Eduardo Quintero, who revealed to the press that certain delegates were given money in various envelopes. It was the proof that Pres. Marcos wanted to stay in power legally through the concon by adopting a Parliamentary form of government, a departure from our present system.

Back then, 80 percent of Filipinos were opposed to grant Marcos a 3rd term, something that was being cooked up in the 1971 concon. Then came the Aug. 21 bombing of Plaza Miranda, when most of the opposition from the Liberal Party (LP) were nearly wiped out. Few people also remember that on Sept. 22, 1972, then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile was purportedly ambushed in Dasmariñas, which was supposed to have triggered the declaration of Martial Law. Later in 1986 during the EDSA Revolt, both Enrile and then Defense Sec. Fidel V. Ramos admitted that his ambush was stage-managed in order to call for Martial Law.

In the end, Marcos got his wish and fooled the Filipino people into believing that Martial Law was needed in the whole country, even if the troubles were only of political nature. The biggest loser was Press Freedom. Newspapers, TV and radio outlets were shut down and eventually turned over to be owned and operated by Marcos cronies.

I was in the United States with my brothers on our way to Washington D.C. when we heard the breaking news over FM radio that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos had declared Martial Law in the Philippines. We tried calling home, but the telephone operators told us that the Philippine lines were all closed. It took us around a week before we could call home. My father, who wasn’t happy about the Marcoses, told me that Martial Law was good for the country, as criminality had gone down. Indeed, petty crime went down because anyone suspected of any wrongdoing could be hauled to jail and kept there based on the whims of the powers-that-be.

When I returned from the US by December 1972, I tried to look for my guns, which my uncle surrendered for me. It was in the hands of a Capt. Roger Yusico who had his command at the newly shutdown Jai-A-Lai in Ermita. I just wanted to see my guns, but Capt. Yusico would not allow me even to look at it. Also “housed” at the Jai-A-Lai were the prostitutes of Cebu who were all rounded up and kept there for their own personal use. When Martial Law was declared, there was an 11pm to 5am curfew and whatever good Martial Law had for our country was short-lived.