On September 23, 2015, we remember the 43rd anniversary of the Declaration of Martial Law on September 23. The Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) has put together a timeline leading up to Martial Law, up to the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship, taken from the point of view of the people who lived through the events that have unfolded. The timeline relies on two types of sources: (1) first-hand accounts, diaries, and memoirs; and (2) biographies, news articles, peer-reviewed journals and academic books.
This timeline also draws from President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ diaries, as featured in the Philippine Diary Project. For contemporary accounts, we relied on the articles of the Philippines Free Press, and on books (enumerated in the bibliography).
In 2012, to remember the 40th anniversary, the PCDSPO live-tweeted the events that led to martial law, in sequence and timed to match the pivotal events four decades past. That session of live tweeting—and the research that went into it—has expanded into an effort to publish an online timeline that will include more detailed accounts. This has since evolved into the collection of multimedia you can access below.
We invite everyone to discuss and interpret Martial Law, based on the meticulous scrutiny of recent scholarship.
| Start Date | End Date | Headline | s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/9/1965 0:00:00 | 1965 Presidential Elections | Senate President Ferdinand E. Marcos defeats re-electionist President Diosdado Macapagal with a comfortable 700,000 vote margin. In the Senate, five Nacionalistas, two Liberals, and Senator Lorenzo Tañada of the Nationalist-Citizens Party (NCP) win. Overall, the Senate is split between 11 Nacionalistas and 10 Liberals with the two Progressives and one NCP member in caucus with the opposition. The House is won by the Liberals but will soon thereafter be under the Nacionalistas. Click here to view a map of the Philippines showing the provincial breakdown of votes. | ||
| 1/17/1966 0:00:00 | 6/17/1969 0:00:00 | 6th Congress of the Philippines | ||
| 1/24/1966 0:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' First State of the Nation Address | We must, for too long have we procrastinated as a people, be never daring to forsake, in the phrase of Rizal, “a humble present for a brilliant future.” But our people cannot wait and they ask us to act and I hear them say, there is no margin for pettiness. There are no reserves for partisan strifes. Our people look to Congress and to the Executive for effective, dedicated leadership for the attainment of greater freedom for all. I therefore call upon you and the rest of the nation join with me in a massive and unrelenting effort to translate these – and expectations into action and accomplishment. For our survival, and beyond it, our progress is in our hands. We cannot look to anybody else. We can expect no help from any other sector. We must look to ourselves alone. Our nation can be great only according to the scale of our own labors, our self-abnegation. Click here to read President Marcos' First State of the Nation Address | ||
| 1/23/1967 0:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Second State of the Nation Address | The year just past shows that our people have this capacity for making the harder choice – which in the end is synonymous with the capacity for greatness. As for me, I choose to put my faith and trust in our people’s genius to overcome. At the roots of this genius is the gift of courage. Victory seeks not the crave-hearted but the man of burning purpose and indomitable will; as with men, so with nations; as with war, so with the task of peace. Today, the great epic of national development is working itself out in terms of a thousand acts of courage and faith day after day among our countrymen, and the whole society is the theater of action. Everyone sustains this great effort with his own acts of initiative and courage, which convert latent resources into opportunities for development. The whole nation thus, is involved; and every one is involved according to the measure of his commitment to the future of his country. Click here to read President Marcos' Second State of the Nation Address. | ||
| 5/21/1967 0:00:00 | Massacre of Lapiang Malaya rallyists | The Lapiang Malaya, composed mostly of Southern Luzon farmers, marches from Taft Avenue to Malacañan Palace to overthrow President Marcos. 33 men die during the confrontation with the police, while the rest are charged with sedition and imprisoned. | ||
| 11/14/1967 0:00:00 | 1967 Midterm Elections | President Marcos’s Nacionalista Party wins the Senate by landslide with six of its bets winning as opposed to only one Liberal, Senator Benigno "Ninoy" S. Aquino, and one independent. This shifts the balance of power in the upper chamber to the administration party. After the elections, the Nacionalistas have 15 seats in the Senate, as opposed to only seven Liberals, one member of the NCP, and an independent who caucused with the NP. | ||
| 11/14/1967 0:00:00 | Senators elected in 1967 | From left to right: Emmanuel Pelaez, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., Jose Roy, Magnolia Antonio, Salvador “Doy” H. Laurel, Leonardo Perez, Helena Benitez, and Lorenzo Teves. Senator Aquino is the only member of the Liberal Party to secure a seat in the Senate. | ||
| 11/14/1967 0:00:00 | 1967 Constitutional Plebiscite | |||
| 1/22/1968 0:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Third State of the Nation Address | History may not record what we say. But it will record what we do. Let us now discard the pernicious habits of the past. I hope and pray that the high-minded and noble responsibility of lawmaking will prevail over partisanship and personal ambition. To change their lives men must first change themselves. The challenge of nation-building is first of all a call to character-building. It is the business of a free people to develop habits proper to freedom to be purposeful, active, energetic and strong. We must at the very least, continue the pace that has been set in the past two years, the pace and tempo that mark a nation of achievers. Thus may our people achieve their own development and write their own story of nation-building. Click here to read President Marcos' Third State of the Nation Address. | ||
| 12/26/1968 0:00:00 | Founding of the Communist Party of the Philippines | On the 75th anniversary of Mao Zedong's birth, Jose Maria Sison, one of the founders of the Kabataang Makabayan, and several others from the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas establish the Communist Party of the Philippines, with a total of 75 members. | ||
| 1/27/1969 0:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Fourth State of the Nation Address | [...] our goal is nothing less than the complete transformation of our social, economic, and political milieu, the reorientation of our people’s idea of themselves and of their capability, and the complete change of the assumptions that govern our relations with other nations. To carry them out, it was necessary to make bold decisions. We did not hesitate to make these decisions because we know that they go to the heart of the matter and that they will change permanently the character of our national life. Our aim is clear: to set the nation on a firm and unchangeable course towards progress and independence. This is the New Filipinism. This is the turning point. Click here to read President Marcos' Fourth State of the Nation Address. | ||
| 2/10/1969 0:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino criticizes Imelda Marcos and the Cultural Center of the Philippines in front of the Senate | |||
| 3/29/1969 0:00:00 | Founding of the New People's Army | The New People’s Army (NPA), the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), is established, signifying the CPP's intention to gain power through armed struggle. Kumander Dante is its first commander. | ||
| 5/17/1969 0:00:00 | President Ferdinand E. Marcos addresses the PMA | President Marcos addresses the PMA Alumni during the closing dinner program of the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association. During his speech, President Marcos says: 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. Click here to read the whole speech. | ||
| 9/11/1969 0:00:00 | Demonstration at Agrifina Circle | The Federated Movement for Social Justice and Reform leads a huge crowd composed of students, teachers, farmers, workers and religious individuals in a demonstration in front of the Bureau of Lands at Agrifina Circle. Source: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City: ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 267 | ||
| 9/23/1969 0:00:00 | 300 demonstrators march to Malacañan Palace | Around 300 demonstrators march from Agrifina Circle to Malacañan Palace. The protesters forcibly open the gates of the palace and storm Maharlika Hall (now Kalayaan Hall). Then, they climb the stairway and interrupt a meeting between President Marcos and the leaders of the Nacionalista Party. The demonstrators go on a rampage. They yell, overturn tables, and throw chairs. President Marcos and the leaders of the Nacionalista Party simply watch and “[leave] the demonstrators to do their worst.” Source: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City: ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 268 | ||
| 11/11/1969 0:00:00 | 1969 Elections | President Marcos runs for re-election and faces Senator Sergio Osmeña, Jr. of the Liberal Party (LP). The Nacionalista Party (NP) sweeps the Senate again, 5-2, further solidifying the administration party’s grip on the upper chamber with 18 Nacionalistas, five Liberals, and one member of the Nationalist Citizens Party (NCP). In the House, the Liberal Party (LP) is also soundly defeated by the administration NP. Click here to view a map of the Philippines showing the provincial breakdown of votes. | ||
| 12/1/1969 0:00:00 | President Marcos summons Justice Secretary Enrile for a feasibility study on martial law | Sometime in December, President Marcos summons then Justice Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile in the Malacañan Palace. President Marcos orders Enrile to study the powers of the president as commander-in-chief under the provisions of the 1935 Constitution. Enrile will later write in his memoir that President Marcos foresees an escalation of violence and disorder in the country and wants to know the extent of his powers as commander-in-chief. President Marcos tells Enrile that, “The study must be done discreetly and confidentially.” Source: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 275. | ||
| 12/30/1969 0:00:00 | President Ferdinand E. Marcos begins his second term. | President Marcos wins his re-election bid against Sergio Osmeña Jr. This is the first time under the 1935 Constitution that a President has won a second full term. His running mate under the Nacionalista banner, Fernando Lopez, wins as Vice President. According to Primitivo Mijares, confidential pressman of President Marcos who will later switch sides and expose the Marcoses, President Marcos overspent public and privately supplied funds for his “win at all costs” reelection campaign. The overspending will result in inflation in 1970, when the exchange rate drops from P3.90 - $1.00, to P6.85 - $1.00. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 134. | ||
| 1/1/1970 0:00:00 | Enrile calls Efren Plana and Minerva Gonzaga for a feasibility study on martial law | Justice Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile calls Efren Plana, a magna cum laude of the College of Law of the University of the Philippines and member of Enrile’s legal staff in the Department of Justice (DOJ), to help him with the feasibility study on martial law, as instructed by President Marcos. Plana then refers Minerva Gonzaga Reyes, another bright mind and member of Enrile's legal staff, to the study group. The group confidentially analyzes books from the Supreme Court, UP College of Law and the Department of Justice regarding martial law. Source: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 276. | ||
| 1970-01-04 00:00:00 | President Marcos resolves to stop the Lopezes and Montelibanos | President Marcos : We have to watch the Lopezes and Montelibanos. They are still sore for my veto of their franchise to operate a telephone company anywhere in the Philippines and the [illegible] cable television company that would select programs from any of the television companies to be [illegible] to their subscribers by cable. Both were illegal and unconstitutional but they took offense at the veto. They are the worst oligarchs in the country. I must stop them from using the government for their own purposes. This means that just four days after his reelection, President Marcos was already plotting against his running mate. | ||
| 1970-01-05 00:00:00 | President Marcos plans to depose House Speaker Jose B. Laurel Jr. | President Marcos writes in his diary about the move to depose Speaker of the House Jose B. Laurel Jr.: But we will keep him after we have clarified the position they [Laurel and the Congressional Economic Planning Office] have taken on the apparently socialist and communist policies they are favouring under the guise of nationalism. Laurel is President Marcos’ partymate under the Nacionalista banner. Originally belonging to the Liberal Party, President Marcos switched to the Nacionalista Party and won his first term as president in 1965. The rationale for Laurel’s deposition is that the House Speaker is in a position to oppose the plans of Marcos as Chief Executive. Source: Amado Doronila, The State, Economic Transformation, and Political Change in the Philippines, 1946-1972 (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1992), p.129. | ||
| 1970-01-23 00:00:00 | President Marcos suspects leader of the Hunters ROTC of planning a coup | President Marcos writes in his diary that Joe Maristela told him that the Eleuterio Adevoso group is planning a coup d’etat. According to Primitivo Mijares, Marcos has long accused Adevoso, head of the ROTC Hunter's Guerrillas, of allegedly plotting with Sergio Osmeña Jr. to assassinate him. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 77. | ||
| 1970-01-24 00:00:00 | President Marcos reshuffles the Armed Forces of the Philippines | President Marcos writes in his diary about keeping an eye on the opposition and what he perceives to be coup plots. He also writes about reshuffling the top brass of the Armed Forces and picking a new Secretary of National Defense. | ||
| 1970-01-25 00:00:00 | President Marcos faces the student demonstrators | President Marcos writes in his diary about meeting student demonstrators themselves. “Their speeches were getting obscene and lewd.” He tells them “no release of funds until after July.” | ||
| 1970-01-26 00:00:00 | President Marcos' Fifth State of the Nation Address triggers the First Quarter Storm | President Marcos' State of the Nation Address triggers the First Quarter Storm, a period of unrest marked by rallies and student demonstrations. As he steps out of the Legislative Building after delivering his speech, a papier-mâché crocodile and makeshift coffin are thrown in the direction of Marcos and Imelda. Demonstrators throw their placards at the President and the First Lady as they enter their limousine. | ||
| 1970-01-26 00:00:00 | Justice Secretary Enrile watches the riot on television | Juan Ponce Enrile will later recall in his memoirs the riot after President Marcos’ SONA. Enrile watches on television how a huge crowd of protesters, upon seeing President Marcos and Imelda exiting Congress, throws stones and molotov bombs at them. As the President and First Lady rush towards their car, the demonstrators throw a cardboard coffin that hits President Marcos in the back. The crowd of protesters (who are trapping Cabinet members, Supreme Court Justices, and foreign ambassadors inside the Legislative Building) is dispersed by Presidential Security, police, and military. That night, President Marcos writes in his diary: After the State of the Nation address, which was perhaps my best so far, and we were going down the front stairs, the bottles, placard handles, stones and other missiles started dropping all around us on the driveway to the tune of a “Marcos, Puppet” chant… Some advisors are quietly recommending sterner measures against the Kabataang Makabayan. We must get the emergency plan polished up. Source: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 277. | ||
| 1970-01-26 00:00:00 | 1972-09-23 00:00:00 | 1969 Legislative Elections | ||
| 1970-01-27 22:45:00 | President Marcos concludes that the U.S. won't get in his way | President Marcos writes in his diary that he met with Ambassador Henry Byroade at 10:45 pm and confronted him about the story (allegedly being spread by Liberals) that the U.S. Embassy is supporting a coup d’etat. According to Marcos, the ambassador assured him that they won’t get in Marcos’ way. Byroade, however, has a different opinion. According to American correspondent Raymond Bonner, Byroade prodded Marcos that the United States would react negatively if the Philippine president toppled Philippine democracy, especially the Congress. Source: Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with the Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (New York: Times Books, 1987), p.4. | ||
| 1970-01-28 00:00:00 | President Marcos further fleshes out the rationale for his forthcoming emergency rule | President Marcos writes in his diary: If we do not prepare measures of counter-action, they will not only succeed in assassinating me but in taking over the government. So we must perfect our emergency plan. | ||
| 1970-01-29 00:00:00 | President Marcos engages in a dialogue with UP students and faculty members | Upon sensing the unrest prevalent in those days among student and faculty protesters, President Marcos issues an invitation for representatives to discuss mutual concerns and to voice issues at the Palace. | ||
| 1970-01-29 00:00:00 | President Marcos writes his opinion on the dialogue that happened with the UP Faculty | President Marcos rather angrily recounts in his diary the meeting with the UP students and faculty, saying they submitted a manifesto, “blaming the administration for ‘the pattern of repression.’” He say he was disappointed in his alma mater, and writes that a very big student protest is due the next day. | ||
| 1970-01-30 00:00:00 | First Quarter Storm: "Battle of Mendiola" | Student groups demonstrate outside Malacañan Palace. Journalist Jose Lacaba reports that this is “so far the most violent night in the city’s postwar history,” as rallyists start fires and destroy property, and a fire truck is rammed into the Palace gate. It is followed by the so called “Battle of Mendiola,” where student protesters face armalite-wielding troops from the Presidential Guard Battalion. The incident leaves two dead and 106 injured. Journalist Kerima Polotan, writes: “‘This is no longer a riot,’ said a police officer. ‘This is an insurrection.’ And the President called it a revolt—‘a revolt by local Maoist Communists.’” A week after the riot, journalist Jose F. Lacaba writes an account from the point of view of the students for Philippines Free Press. Enrile will later write in his memoirs that the demonstrators number at 30,000. Sources: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 161; Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 278. | ||
| 1970-01-30 00:00:00 | President Marcos writes about the First Quarter Storm | President Marcos writes in his diary: The rioters have been able to breach Gate 4 and I had difficulty to stop the guards from shooting the rioters down. Specially as when Gate 3 was threatened also. I received a call from Maj. Ramos for permission to fire and my answer was “Permission granted to fire your water hoses.” In another entry, President Marcos writes: [...] demonstrators numbering about 10,000 students and laborers stormed Malacañan Palace, burning part of the medical building, crashing through Gate 4 with a fire truck that had been forcibly commandeered by some laborers and students amidst shouts of “Mabuhay Dante!” and slogans from Mao Tse-Tung, the new Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army. Source: Lewis E. Gleeck, Jr., President Marcos and the Philippine Political Culture (Manila: Loyal Printing, Inc., 1987), p. 85. | ||
| 1970-01-31 00:00:00 | Philippines Free Press criticizes President Marcos when he claims to give up “ALL his worldly possessions” | Philippines Free Press publishes President Marcos’ statement on the establishment of Ferdinand E. Marcos Foundation, Inc., through which he pledges to give “all” his material possessions to the Filipino people. President Marcos gives a glimpse of this move in a diary entry dated January 3, 1970: Some people have asked me why I have given away my earthly possession I [illegible] answered that I did not need them but that the people did. But I have been asking myself why has the world become so vile, so materialistic, so dirty. All is pragmatism, selfish and unedifying. Why is there no more tenderness--all sex? Why is there no more charity--all malice? …Now after the 1965 elections I kept asking myself this--until I decided that giving my properties to the people was the answer. In the same editorial, Free Press further comments: Why did the President say he would give ALL his worldly possessions to the Filipino people? If he had said he would give some, nobody could have made an issue or a joke of it. Now, no matter how much he gives, it will not be enough. “Is that all?” the question will be asked by those who do not give or hardly give anything at all. Yet, something is better than nothing, indeed. If only he had not said “all”! | ||
| 1970-01-31 00:00:00 | Enrile's confidential legal study on martial law is submitted to President Marcos | At the end of January, the study group headed by then Justice Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile submits the only copy of their confidential report on the legal nature and extent of Martial Law to President Marcos. According to Enrile, after the submission of the report, the study group never heard about it again. Source: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 276. | ||
| 1970-01-31 00:00:00 | President Marcos identifies people to spy on | President Marcos, in his diary, further fleshes out his version of the student attack on the Palace, and begins enumerating more people to keep an eye on–politicians, media people; he also mentions the need to suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus–eventually. | ||
| 1970-02-07 00:00:00 | President Marcos reshuffles his Cabinet | President Marcos calls a meeting with his cabinet and announces a cabinet reshuffle. Source: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 282. | ||
| 1970-02-07 00:00:00 | President Marcos writes: Congress is “hopeless” | President Marcos about his problems with Congress: I have to tell the senators and congressmen that the demonstrators and the radicals felt that Congress was hopeless because it was moving along as slowly as usual and not acting as if there was need for immediate change. | ||
| 1970-02-08 00:00:00 | Enrile becomes Secretary of National Defense | Juan Ponce Enrile swears oath and becomes Secretary of National Defense, replacing Ernesto Mata. Source: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 283. | ||
| 1970-02-19 00:00:00 | President Marcos first mentions martial law to the public | President Marcos, challenged by students and street protesters, responds that he will impose martial law. Vergel Santos will later consider this as the President’s first public mention of martial law two years prior to its proclamation. Source: Vergel O. Santos, Chino and His Time (Pasig: Anvil, 2010), p. 15. | ||
| 1970-02-25 00:00:00 | The Chronicle predicts that Marcos administration may be the “most turbulent in history” | Indalecio P. Soliongco of the Manila Chronicle writes that if President Marcos refuses to break from “imperialism, feudalism and fascism,” his administration will be the “most turbulent in history.” Source: Lewis E. Gleeck, Jr., President Marcos and the Philippine Political Culture (Manila: Loyal Printing, Inc., 1987), p. 88. | ||
| 1970-02-27 00:00:00 | Manila College faculty is arrested | President Marcos orders the arrest of the president and professors of Manila College, accusing them of inciting demonstrations. Source: Vergel O. Santos, Chino and His Time (Pasig: Anvil, 2010), p. 25. | ||
| 1970-03-22 00:00:00 | President Marcos addresses the PMA and mentions “martial law” | President Marcos delivers a speech at the Philippine Military Academy commencement and presumably mentions “martial law” in the context of communist insurgency. Source: Vergel O. Santos, Chino and His Time (Pasig: Anvil, 2010), p. 25. | ||
| 1970-03-23 00:00:00 | Yuyitungs of the Chinese Commercial News are arrested. | Rizal and Quintin Yuyitung of the Chinese Commercial News are arrested, detained, and deported to Taiwan on the allegation of being “engaged in communist activities.” Source: Vergel O. Santos, Chino and His Time (Pasig: Anvil, 2010), p. 25. | ||
| 1970-06-11 00:00:00 | Nilo Tayag of Kabataang Makabayan is arrested | Nilo Tayag, student activist and National Chairman of student leftist organization Kabataang Makabayan, is arrested in a secluded town in Laguna for violating the Anti-Subversion Act (Republic Act No. 1700). Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 282. | ||
| 1970-09-24 00:00:00 | Attempted assassination of Rep. Salipada Pendatun | Representative Salipada Pendatun, a powerful member of the Liberal Party, is attacked by men with armalite rifles and grenade launchers. One of his bodyguards dies. Pendatun survives the assassination attempt, causing his supporters to seek retaliation against their political rivals: the Sinsuat family of North Cotabato and their allies, the clans of the Ampatuan and the Sanki. Source: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 308 | ||
| 1970-10-18 00:00:00 | Rep. Floro Crisologo is assassinated | Representative Floro Crisologo is shot in the back by unknown gunmen while receiving communion inside the cathedral of the capital town of Vigan. Primitivo Mijares will later relate the death of Floro Crisologo to the tobacco monopoly triumvirate in the Ilocos region. Apparently, Crisologo had confrontations with President Marcos and Colonel Fabian Crisologo Ver over the proceeds of their tobacco monopoly. Crisologo even threatened the President that he would expose the entire operation. When Crisologo’s assassins attempted to collect their fee, they, too, were killed to eliminate loose ends. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 151. | ||
| 1970-12-29 00:00:00 | Lt. Victor Corpus joins NPA | Lt. Victor Corpus defects to the New People’s Army after raiding the armory of the Philippine Military Academy. Source: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 324. | ||
| 1971-01-01 00:30:00 | President Marcos writes that the need for martial law is at hand | Marcos writes in his diary: As I listen to the remarks about the infiltration of media and the need for a strong leadership I cannot but wonder inside me if the crucial hour of decision is not fast approaching, when I must determine whether the irremediable step of martial law is the only course of action if we were to save our republic. But I am decided that there must be massive sabotage or an overt attempt to overthrow the government before I declare martial law. Thus the decision will be better understood and supported by the people and by foreign governments. Source: Marcos Diary, January 1, 1971, 12:30 AM. | ||
| 1971-01-02 22:00:00 | President Marcos perceives that there is a conspiracy to bring down the republic, saying "martial law" will save it | President Marcos ponders in his diary: And when I watch the supposedly patriotic men, in their selfish and egoistic ways, wreck our republic, I almost lose my objectivity and dispassionate attitude as anger boils within me and eggs me to immediately put into effect the plan to establish martial law. This I must avoid. For I will not declare martial law unless there is anarchy or the beginnings of it which prevents the functioning of courts and other government offices, even if the constitution authorizes me to do so when there is 'imminent danger of invasion, insurrection or rebellion'--and there is actually rebellion going on now. The silent conspiracy against our republic is joined in by well-meaning men who use the inequities of our society and despair that they can ever be rectified except by radicalism and violence. For there are many valid grounds of grievance as the rich and powerful disregard or are insensitive to the dreams or even the frustrations and pains that torture the masses of our people. So I must be deliberate, prudent, and wise.. | ||
| 1971-01-03 00:00:00 | President Marcos mulls over the imposition of martial law | President Marcos writes in his diary that he has been eating every two or three hours. His enthusiasm to eat is mainly caused by “the tension arising from the plan for the proclamation of martial law.” President Marcos writes down his plans: We must refashion this society. We must wage our own revolution. The concept of ownership must be changed so the small people have a chance. All the crooks in government must be booted out. The media must be geared to development and progress, not to destruction and retrogression. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1971-01-04 22:00:00 | President Marcos plans to set up a special unit merging the military in preparation for martial law. | Marcos writes in his diary at 10:00 pm that he plans to set up a Special War Center, as a component unit under the command of Col. Fabian Ver. He writes: …Today (this morning 11:00 am up to lunch at 2:00 pm) in a conference with Sec. Juan Ponce Enrile, Sec. Alex Melchor and Gen. Yan, I ordered the setting up of a Special War Center, an Internal Security Agency, a Psy-War Branch all under the DND as well as the creation of a new command, the Metropolitan Command, that will cover the provinces of Cavite, Rizal, Bulacan, Bataan, the Pasig Task Force and the PGB under Col. Ver. I ordered the transfer of Gen. Fidel Ramos from the 3rd Brigade to the 2nd PC Zone Vice Gen. Zosimo Paredes whom I am retiring. Col. Palacios the CO of the 1st Brigade goes to the 3rd Brigade Vice Gen. Ramos. The Special War Center personnel may also be placed as a component unit of the command of Col. Ver’s, as Metropolitan Command CO. It integrates all the special forces of the major services, the special forces and rangers of the Army and Constabulary, the air commanders of the Air Force and the Navy’s marines and other teams. They will be retrained under chosen officers for special missions. As I plan it, in the event of violence in the city, the Metrocom under Gen. Ordonez will seek to hold back the mass of rioters with his 1,400 men. If they are unequal to the task or special task forces are necessary, the Metropolitan Command comes in. If still unable to contain the violence, then the entire Internal Security Forces under Maj. Gen. Romeo Espino, Vice-Chief of Staff under whom both Gen. Ordonez and Col. Ver will be subordinated comes into the metropolitan area. In the meantime outside of the NBI-Metrocom teams that will be fielded, Col. Ver will have special teams to arrest target personnel or take target areas. This will assure performance in the event that NBI and Metrocom are committed prematurely to the routine of maintaining order. I have ordered the PC and 1st Infantry Division at Fort Magsaysay as well as the 51st Engineer Brigade brought up to full strength. The P3 million needed for the procurement of 3,000 Armalites for the PC, I have ordered to be released and the guns delivered not later than the end of February. The engineers should be ready to take over the public utilities like Nawasa, Meralco, PLDT, Butel, PNR, PAL, Air Manila, Fairways, land transport as well as shipping. But the media which according to Sec. Melchor Ambassador Byroade calls a serious threat to security, calls for a separate operation. We have to take them over immediately. The Psy-War Branch should use them for the purposes of the military administration. The framework of government and present officials should be kept and all laws except those I suspend kept in force unless changed by edict by me. But a new plan of government and society must be worked out… While private property will be recognized and respected, they should be run for the state. Their profits should go to a fund for investment and development… All able-bodied men must be put to work. There must be total exploitation of natural resources. This must be a complete revolution. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1971-01-08 22:40:00 | President Marcos formulates a “political philosophy” for martial law | Marcos writes in his diary at 10:40 pm that he is thinking of forming a political philosophy that could make people of all classes to rally “in the event of a takeover.” He also classifies all the records that have to be duplicated and stored in a place other than Malacañan. | ||
| 1971-01-09 23:00:00 | President Marcos plans to evacuate his family if conflict arises upon the imposition of martial law | Marcos writes in his diary his plans for his family. Bongbong left by Qantas via Hongkong, New Delhi, Teheran, Athens and London. I talked to him, and his sisters, Imelda and Kokoy about the possibility of his mother and two sisters joining him if there should be trouble here; that whether I am there beside them or not they [the children] should value education and get a doctorate degree because even if we should lose our fortune and position here in the Philippines, then they could work their own way in the world; that if for any reason we should be separated and I should not be able to guide them after normalcy returns to the world or the Philippines as the case may be, they should return to the Philippines where their roots are; that I would prefer them marrying Filipinos… | ||
| 1971-01-11 22:15:00 | President Marcos observes how the rallyists are becoming intense | Marcos recounts in his diary at 10:15 pm that the rallyists are beginning to stone private cars. They are becoming more and more intense. …Tonight they have started to stone even private cars. It is expected that it will be worse tomorrow…. We will keep watching for the need of the use of emergency powers… Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1971-01-12 13:55:00 | President Marcos reads scathing attack from newspaper, The Manila Times | Marcos writes in his diary: …Freddie Elizalde [of Manila Broadcasting Company] showed me a copy of an editorial which Chino Roces [of Manila Times] wanted to be pooled by all the newspapers castigating me and asking for my resignation and that of the cabinet. For good measure the editorial included the Vice-President. It was opposed by Freddie [Elizalde]and [Sebastian] Ugarte [of Philippines Herald]. And Teddy Locsin [of the Philippines Free Press] opposed the demand for resignation. What a ridiculous spectacle Chino Roces is making of himself. He is supposed to have said that I engineered the drivers strike and am leading to a declaration of martial law as there will be violence tomorrow and in the days to come, and he predicted that at least ten men would be killed tomorrow… …The timetable is being pushed too fast by the leftists. It may be earlier than we think. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1971-01-13 01:00:00 | President Marcos reveals to congressmen close to him that “it may be sooner than we think” | Marcos writes in his diary at 1:00 am: The congressmen close to me, Cong. Cojuangco, Frisco San Juan, Ali Dimaporo, Jose Aspiras, [Constantino] Navarro [Sr.], Lucas Canton, Roque Ablan all proposed for the use of my emergency powers. “We cannot understand why you are so patient. Do not wait until we are completely debilitated and the people is against us. It will be too late. One swift blow and we remove the cancer from our society,” they all said. I could only answer that it may be sooner than we think… Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1971-01-14 00:00:00 | Vice President Fernando Lopez resigns from President Marcos' cabinet | Vice President Fernando Lopez resigns from his position as Secretary of Agriculture after Marcos charges him with being responsible for undermining government reforms and programs. Source: Albert F. Celoza, Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippines: The Political Economy of Authoritarianism (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 1997), p. 29. | ||
| 1971-01-20 21:30:00 | Liberals come out with full-page article on their opposition to martial law | Marcos writes in his diary: The Liberals have taken out a full page advertisement on martial law declaring they would not attend sessions if martial law is declared. Marcos reiterates his stand that “martial law is the last recourse--that he would resort to it only if there is massive sabotage, terrorism, assassination and a violent grab for control of government.” Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1971-01-22 00:00:00 | Esso and Caltex bombings | Bombs explode at the Manila headquarters of the American oil companies Esso and Caltex. Source: Vergel O. Santos, Chino and His Time (Pasig: Anvil, 2010), p. 26. | ||
| 1971-01-23 00:25:00 | President Marcos discloses the possibility of martial law to Soriano and Ugarte | Marcos writes in his diary: …I met Andy [Andres] Soriano [Jr.] [of the San Miguel Corporation] and Sebastian Ugarte of the Herald this morning. I explained that the fight against the oligarchs was not against bigness but against the use of bigness to oppress our people and intimidate the public officials for more financial gain. Marcos continues: He seemed relieved but still worried about anarchy. I had to assure him when I called him back alone that if the situation deteriorates, I may have to use my extraordinary powers like declaring martial law. Her seemed relieved and said, “you would be surprised at the number of people who would welcome it.” Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1971-01-23 00:00:00 | Philippines Free Press writes "Must there be martial law?" | On the same day, the Philippines Free Press publishes an editorial entitled “Political War and Martial Law?" The article states: Must the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus be suspended, enabling the President to send to prison or otherwise detain anyone indefinitely? Must 38 million Filipinos be placed—by declaring martial law—under a military dictatorship headed by Ferdinand Marcos? The demonstrations held so far in the Philippines against the government and the violence that has marked some of them are nothing compared with the violent expressions of protest in the United States. President Nixon has yet to speak of the possibility of suspending the writ of habeas corpus or imposing martial law on the America people. If he were to do so, is there any doubt he would be impeached and ousted from office? Why does President Marcos keep talking of the possibility of suspending the writ or imposing martial law on us? The solution for the problem of social unrest in the Philippines is not suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or the imposition of a military dictatorship on the Filipino people but reform. Regain the confidence of the people. Stop corruption and the waste of the nation’s resources in senseless extravagance. Set a moral example. Be a true President of the Filipino people. Is that too difficult to do? Must the writ be suspended? Must there be martial law? | ||
| 1971-01-25 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos: The Democratic Revolution | [...] there is an urgent truth we must face unflinchingly. National unity on the old terms—the domination of the many by the few—may no longer be feasible. The supreme challenge to this generation is to redefine the terms of this unity, so that it will rest on enduring foundations of social justice and true fraternity. Only by forging anew our unity on the basis of far-reaching social and economic reforms, motivated by a profound regard for the dignity of the human person, can we defend this unity and preserve it against other claims, especially radical ones. Click here to read President Marcos' Sixth State of the Nation Address. | ||
| 1971-01-25 23:15:00 | President Marcos is surprised that after the SONA, the country was relatively peaceful | Marcos writes in his diary: This is the turning point. The congressional opening and State of the Nation address ceremonies were peaceful. And the whole nation heaved a sigh of relief. For many had left for the provinces and for abroad to avoid the imagined dangers of a revolution. Chino Roces, Manglapus, the radicals who have been predicting the start of a revolution today must be disappointed. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1971-01-27 23:00:00 | President Marcos meets some intellectuals from UP for their opinion on “Democratic Revolution” | Marcos writes in his diary: [...] I met with the egalitarian intellectuals of the UP tonight, Cesar Majul, Ruben Santos, Bonifacio and Almonte. They are all enthusiastic about the Democratic Revolution. Now we have to reduce the theory and ideal into practical programs to be implemented... Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1971-01-28 21:30:00 | President Marcos addresses businessmen on communist threat and the alternative, his “Democratic Revolution” | Marcos writes in his diary: Met about 25 of the leading businessmen of the country in a merienda hosted by Andy Soriano at his Forbes Park home this afternoon at 4:00-6:00 pm. I informed that the communists or subversives were slowly sapping the vitality of our country; that the communists are presently in no position to start a rebellion or a revolution but in two years or three there would probably be a need for a revolution, the communists would nearly take over--or the military. But my democratic revolution offers an alternative or option. So I asked that it be supported to abort a communist take-over. Bert Villanueva said they were all for my objectives but what were the specifics [...] Don Manolo Elizalde started the exchange of views after my opening statement to the effect that it was not my intention to go after any particular businessman or corporation [...] Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1971-01-30 22:00:00 | President Marcos claims that there is an all-out support for his “Democratic Revolution” | Marcos writes in his diary: [...] The City Mayors came to pledge their total and complete support for the Democratic Revolution. The governors have done likewise. The local officials are now enthusiastic and prepared to openly fight communism. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1971-01-30 00:00:00 | President Marcos' utterance of “martial law” spreads “alarm throughout [...] the nation” | On the same day, Napoleon G. Rama writes a contrasting opinion via the Philippines Free Press with an editorial entitled “Will there be Martial Law?”. He writes: All throughout the first 20 minutes of his [President Marcos] speech—a persuasive plea for restraint and understanding—he displayed style and coolness under fire, until he struck the jarring chords. Thus, the newspaper headlines the next day couldn’t help but scream the frightening words: “martial law.” Instead of calm, the speech succeeded in spreading alarm throughout the breadth and width of the nation. | ||
| 1971-01-30 00:00:00 | Philippines Free Press chronicles the feud between Marcos and the Lopezes | The Philippines Free Press features on its pages the end of a six-year political marriage between President Marcos’ and the Lopezes. The reason behind this split is the so called “Malacañang-Meralco war,” which is challenging the financial empire of the Lopezes. Specifically, the Public Service Commission, the Solicitor General, the Bureau of Customs, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue are going over Meralco’s operations with the sole purpose of cutting down its revenue. | ||
| 1971-02-01 00:00:00 | President Marcos sees opportunity at communist weakness | Marcos comments in his diary: There is bound to be an inevitable confrontation between the communists and our democracy in the military front, I have always said [...] […] The communists gamble that the Republic will be too weak by then as they will have sapped our vitality [...] [...] I have also said that if we do not now take measures of self-preservation, this will come about. My democratic revolution will rally the great majority of our people around our republic [...] So if there is going to be an inevitable collision, then perhaps we should induce it now while communists are weak and disorganized. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1971-02-01 00:00:00 | Diliman Commune begins | In the lead-up to the 1971 midterm elections, University of the Philippines students, supported by faculty members and non-academic personnel, occupy the Diliman campus and barricade its main roads. This movement is known as the “Diliman Commune.” The university radio station broadcasts a recording of the President making love to American actress Dovie Beams. Some residents in the area banded together and hunted down the radical students in the defense of order and their property rights. President Marcos orders the Philippine Constabulary Metropolitan Command to retake the campus. The Philippine Constabulary goes to UP and dismantles the barricades. Violence ensues. Three students die. Sources: Vergel O. Santos, Chino and His Time, (Pasig: Anvil, 2010), p. 26; Manuel L. Quezon III, The Explainer: The Defiant Era | ||
| 1971-02-09 00:00:00 | Diliman Commune ends | The demonstrations in UP Diliman end only after the school administration accepts some of the demands of the students. The military siege is also put to a halt following a recommendation made by University President Salvador Lopez to President Marcos. | ||
| 1971-02-10 00:00:00 | Research Center Philippines begins a survey regarding the Marcos administration and the 1972 presidential elections | Research Center Philippines, an independent polling organization, surveys the people's perspective on the Marcos administration. Among the survey questions are: “Are you in favor or against amending our Constitution to allow President Marcos to run for a third term?” “There has been a talk of putting Mrs. Marcos, the wife of our President as a candidate for President next time. In your opinion, is this a good idea or not a good idea?” “Do you approve or disapprove of the way President Marcos is running the affairs of our government at present?” “In his State of the Nation Address last January 25, President Marcos said he will devote his time and efforts from now on to the welfare of the people. Which of the following statements is closest to your opinion about what he said?” Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 289. | ||
| 1971-02-19 00:00:00 | Research Center Philippines survey results reveal public opinion against Marcos | The survey results are: (1) “Are you in favor or against amending our Constitution to allow President Marcos to run for a third term?” 85 % are against 8.8 % are in favor (2) “There has been a talk of putting Mrs. Marcos, the wife of our President as a candidate for President next time. In your opinion, is this a good idea or not a good idea?” 82.7 % says it is not a good idea 11 % says it is a good idea (3) “Do you approve or disapprove of the way President Marcos is running the affairs of our government at present?” 67.3 % disapproves 20.3 % approves (4) “In his State of the Nation Address last January 25, President Marcos said he will devote his time and efforts from now on to the welfare of the people. Which of the following statements is closest to your opinion about what he said?” 45.9 % says it will become another one of his broken promises 25.6 % says he is sincere but he can do little to improve living conditions Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 289. | ||
| 1971-04-01 00:00:00 | Liberal Representative Cornelio Villareal is re-elected House Speaker, replacing Nacionalista Jose B. Laurel Jr. | Primitivo Mijares will later write that the ousting of Speaker Laurel was a “well executed Malacañang plot”. The leadership change is held out to be a necessary consequence of a fund scandal within the House of Representatives. According to Mijares, President Marcos secretly transferred P69 million to the outlay of the lower chamber for the use of congressmen in getting pro-Marcos candidates seats in the Constitutional Convention; Laurel is accused by party members of allocating a huge portion for himself. In his address, Laurel states that, “This House is not truly independent. I dare anyone to stand up and say if under this situation it is possible to impeach the worst President. I feel happy now that i have been liberated. I would rather be right than Speaker.” Sources: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 159; Assembly of the Nation: A Centennial History of the House of the Representatives of the Philippines, 1907-2007 (Quezon City: House of Representatives of the Philippines, 2007), p. 189. | ||
| 1971-05-01 00:00:00 | President Marcos appoints Eduardo Romualdez as Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. | Sometime in the late summer of 1971, President Marcos appoints Eduardo Z. Romualdez, Imelda’s uncle, to be Philippine Ambassador to Washington. Source: Lewis E. Gleeck, Jr., President Marcos and the Philippine Political Culture (Manila: Loyal Printing, Inc., 1987), p. 98. | ||
| 1971-06-01 00:00:00 | 1971 Constitutional Convention | Congress calls for a Constitutional Convention on June 1, 1971 to review and rewrite the 1935 Constitution, with 320 elected delegates. The Convention is headed first by former President Carlos P. Garcia and later by former President Diosdado Macapagal. Click here to view the composition of the Constitutional Convention, detailing the number of delegates per province. | ||
| 1971-06-26 00:00:00 | President Marcos sees Senate as a “stumbling block” to his plans | President Marcos writes in his diary about his distrust of Congress: The Senate is turning out to be a serious stumbling block to our reform programme. Most of the senators are egoistic men concerned with their own personal ambitions and oblivious to the public welfare. And their pet dream is to cut all powers of the presidency no matter what the consequences. Source: Amado Doronila, The State, Economic Transformation, and Political Change in the Philippines, 1946-1972 (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1992), p.130. | ||
| 1971-06-28 00:00:00 | President Marcos thinks Senate is wasting time on pointless debates | President Marcos further writes in his diary about his issues with Congress: And the Senate, notwithstanding the serious problems that can be solved by legislation, wastes its time on petty politically oriented debate. It has not done any work at all and they are halfway on the 30 day special session. I cannot but agree with some critics of democracy about its many weaknesses and failings. Source: Amado Doronila, The State, Economic Transformation, and Political Change in the Philippines, 1946-1972 (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1992), p.130. | ||
| 1971-08-01 00:00:00 | President Marcos begins feasibility study on martial law | Marcos orders lawyers in the AFP and DOJ to do a feasibility study on declaring martial law before the 1973 election with the objective of suspending the election, for submission to the Supreme Court in case they question his suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. Source: Arturo M. Tolentino, Voice of Dissent (Quezon City: Phoenix Press, Inc., 1990), p. 464. | ||
| 1971-08-06 00:00:00 | Some members of the Con-Con are bribed by President Marcos | Forty-five delegates of the Constitutional Convention allegedly attend a dinner in Malacañan Palace. In this dinner, the delegates receive bribe money to vote in favor of a parliamentary form of government. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City, 1987), p. 284 | ||
| 1971-08-07 00:00:00 | President Marcos publishes book: Today's Revolution: Democracy | The book unveils Marcos' concept of a New Society. | ||
| 1971-08-07 00:00:00 | President Marcos believes he has American support for martial law | Marcos writes in his diary: I asked Ambassador [Henry] Byroade again point blank what the Americans would do if I declared martial law after the [US] elections and after the Con-Con [Constitutional Convention] had acted on the principal issues, and he said that he had asked President Nixon and the latter said that they would not only not do anything to interfere but would support the action of the Philippine President. And so my mind is at peace on this score.” However, Byroade still tried to convince Marcos not to push through with the abolition of Congress through martial law, as this would have a negative effect on the diplomatic relations of the Philippines with the United States. Sources: Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with the Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (New York: Times Books, 1987), p.4; Amado Doronila, The State, Economic Transformation, and Political Change in the Philippines, 1946-1972 (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1992), p.167. | ||
| 1971-08-21 21:15:00 | Plaza Miranda bombing | A political rally of the Liberal Party in Plaza Miranda is bombed, killing nine and maiming scores of others. Sources differ on the time of the bombing: Mijares says 9:30 pm, but Philippines Free Press says 9:15 pm. Sources: Lewis E. Gleeck, Jr., President Marcos and the Philippine Political Culture (Manila: Loyal Printing, Inc., 1987), p. 98.; and “The outrage,” Philippines Free Press, September 4, 1971. Learn more about the Plaza by clicking here: “Defend it at Plaza Miranda": A History of the Country's Foremost Public Square. | ||
| 1971-08-21 21:15:00 | Plaza Miranda bombing | Two persons, later identified as Muntinlupa criminals probably employed by an aide of Manila Mayor Antonio Villegas, throw grenades at the inaugural rally of the Liberal Party, killing several bystanders and injuring leading figures of the Liberal Party. Among those hurt are prominent opposition leaders Jovito Salonga, Gerardo Roxas, and Sergio Osmeña, Jr. Immediately after the Plaza Miranda bombing, President Marcos suspends the Writ of Habeas Corpus, leading to the arrest and incarceration of 20 people. Philippines Free Press, in a later issue, writes: August 21, at about 9:15 p.m., barely seconds after the Liberal Party candidates for Manila’s elective posts had been officially proclaimed on jam-packed Plaza Miranda, two fragmentation, combat grenades suddenly exploded in what proved to be the most villainous, outrageous and shameful crime in the annals of local political violence. It was a night of national tragedy and infamy as democracy—Philippine style—bared itself in all its terrifying ugliness. Sources: Lewis E. Gleeck, Jr., President Marcos and the Philippine Political Culture (Manila: Loyal Printing, Inc., 1987), p. 98.; and “The outrage,” Philippines Free Press, September 4, 1971. Learn more about the Plaza by clicking here: “Defend it at Plaza Miranda": A History of the Country's Foremost Public Square. | ||
| 1971-08-21 21:15:00 | Plaza Miranda bombing | [cont.] For one dark, demented, damning moment of history, time stopped as tens of thousands of televiewers all over the country watched in utter horror the mass slaughter at Plaza Miranda. Miraculously, all top Opposition leaders who were there managed to cheat death. But not one of the eight LP senatorial candidates escaped injury. Sen. Jovito Salonga, as of this writing, is still fighting for his life, although the others were already pronounced “out of danger.” In the aftermath, Senator Jovito Salonga and President Marcos accused the Communists, but public opinion pointed at Marcos. Sources: Lewis E. Gleeck, Jr., President Marcos and the Philippine Political Culture (Manila: Loyal Printing, Inc., 1987), p. 98.; and “The outrage,” Philippines Free Press, September 4, 1971. | ||
| 1971-08-22 00:00:00 | Suspension of the writ of habeas corpus | With the Plaza Miranda bombing as precedent, President Marcos suspends the Writ of Habeas Corpus. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 59. | ||
| 1971-08-23 00:00:00 | President Marcos announces the nationwide suspension of Writ of Habeas Corpus via radio and television | President Marcos goes on radio and television to announce the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in the government effort to deal with subversive elements in rebellion against constituted authority. Read the President’s Week in Review: August 20 – August 26, 1971. | ||
| 1971-08-28 00:00:00 | Senator Aquino: “President Marcos has threatened again to bring charges of subversion against me” | Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., writing in Philippines Free Press, recounts a conversation he had with Senator Ninoy Aquino. Aquino says: “President Marcos has threatened again to bring charges of subversion against me. It’s a bluff, but who knows?" Locsin continues: “Would he pull something as stupid as that?” I wondered. “Has he forgotten how the Yuyitung affair backfired in his face?” But then, Marcos is not a computer but a man and, therefore, capable of making errors, which do more harm to his victims than to himself because of his power. Senator Diokno called him the most dangerous threat to freedom in this country. “A very dangerous man,” Aquino said. “And the secret is not to be afraid.” | ||
| 1971-09-01 00:00:00 | ||||
| 1971-09-04 00:00:00 | Senator Eva Kalaw: Be patient as unrest might be used as excuse for martial law | Injured Liberal Senator Eva Kalaw, in the aftermath of the bombing, is interviewed by Philippines Free Press: I think the best thing is for the people to wait two more years. If they agitate now, it will be used as an excuse for martial law. But if we wait quietly until the end of Marcos’s term, then we can have the government of our choice, the people’s choice. Source: Eva Estrada Kalaw, A Political Journey (Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2008), p. 121. | ||
| 1971-09-05 00:00:00 | Senator Eva Kalaw criticizes the suspension of writ of habeas corpus | Senator Eva Kalaw delivers her privilege speech titled “Terror and Freedom,” in which she argues that the nationwide suspension of the writ of habeas corpus was uncalled for because the precedent (the Plaza Miranda bombing) was not national in scope. Source: Eva Estrada Kalaw, A Political Journey (Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2008), p. 122. | ||
| 1971-09-05 00:00:05 | President Marcos replies to Kalaw | President Marcos’ reply to Kalaw’s speech: “I appeal to the Liberal Party to segregate communist conspiracy from politics. Otherwise, I will be compelled to conclude that the Liberals are protecting Communists.” Source: Eva Estrada Kalaw, A Political Journey (Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2008), p. 122. | ||
| 1971-09-05 00:00:05 | President Marcos replies to Kalaw | President Marcos’ reply to Kalaw’s speech: “I appeal to the Liberal Party to segregate communist conspiracy from politics. Otherwise, I will be compelled to conclude that the Liberals are protecting Communists.” Source: Eva Estrada Kalaw, A Political Journey (Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2008), p. 122. | ||
| 1971-11-08 00:00:00 | 1971 Legislative Midterm Elections | The fallout from the Plaza Miranda bombing results in an opposition win in the Senatorial race with six Liberals and two Nacionalistas winning, for the first time in a decade. President Marcos insisted that fighting communism is the country's most serious problem. The Liberal Party, however, siezed the moment and charged the Marcos administration of its inability to address key issues of lawlessness, unemployment, and high prices. Despite the electoral rout by the Liberal Party, this translates to modest gains in the 24-seat upper chamber for the opposition, with only nine Liberals as opposed to 15 Nacionalistas. For a more detailed account, read the entry for the 1971 Legislative Elections in PCDPSO’s Electoral Alamanac. | ||
| 1971-12-11 00:00:00 | President Marcos warns newly elected officials of “communist takeover” | President Marcos gives 1,000 newly elected officials a lecture on alleged Communist plans for the rural areas. The President explains that subversives have established “rural sanctuaries in the provinces in a move to expand their influence and pave the way for a Communist takeover of the country.” Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 164. | ||
| 1971-12-30 00:00:00 | Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile submits “final draft” of martial law documents to President Marcos | Before he leaves for Hong Kong, Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile visits President Marcos and delivers a large brown envelope to him. The brown envelope contains 16 documents for review: 1. Draft of a proclamation to declare Martial Law 2. Drafts of seven General Orders. 3. Drafts of seven Letters of Instruction 4. Draft of his [Enrile] appointment as deputy commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Source: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 351. | ||
| 1972-01-06 20:00:00 | President Marcos invites 39 Con-Con delegates to Malacañang for dinner | According to Eduardo Quintero, delegate of the first district of Leyte to the Constitutional Convention, 39 Con-Con delegates are invited to a dinner at Malacañan Place. After the dinner, Delegate Casimiro Madarang of Cebu announces, “The envelopes are ready. They will be distributed in a couple of days.” Primitivo Mijares will later write that the delegates are bribed to vote in favor of the parliamentary form of government in the convention. Sources: G.R. No. L-35149, June 23, 1988, Eduardo Quintero vs. The National Bureau of Investigation; Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 162. | ||
| 1972-01-07 00:00:00 | Quintero receives bribe from President Marcos | Delegate Eduardo Quintero receives “an envelope [...] which contained one thousand pesos in P50 bills.” He will divulge the incident in the hall of the Constitutional Convention on May 29, 1972. Sources: G.R. No. L-35149, June 23, 1988, Eduardo Quintero vs. The National Bureau of Investigation; and Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 162. | ||
| 1972-01-22 00:00:00 | Philippines Free Press editorial exposes bribes to Con-Con delegates | The Philippines Free Presswrites in an editorial: Is it true that Malacañang has given or is offering “10,000 reasons” per delegate to the Constitutional Convention to vote for the parliamentary instead of the presidential system? “A reliable little bird was heard to say this,” went a prepared statement to the press by 10 delegates. There were a series of conferences with Malacañang, ending in a dinner on the eve of the voting by the legislative powers committee, the statement elaborated. “In that January 6 dinner, is it true that the Three Kings—or a King and a Queen—distributed 10,000 reasons to each of the delegates in order to change their minds?” The statement located the “headquarters of the (Malacañang) tutas” in one of the rooms on the Manila Hotel’s fourth floor. The statement raised another question: “Is it true that these tutas are receiving weekly allowances from Malacañang?” A Cebuano delegate “identified with the Nacionalista Party” was called one of the Malacañang tutas in the statement, which went on: “This delegate, who is now so vociferous for the parliamentary system, shouted himself hoarse during the campaign and over the radio for the presidential system, but now he is the spokesman for the parliamentarists.” In the same newspaper, another article written by Edward R. Kuinisala narrates: But, alas, as the opening date of the Convention drew closer, more and more delegates were invited or crawled to Malacañang. The public did not know what transpired there, but could guess. The Malacañang meeting marked the politicalization, that is, the tutaization, of delegates. Reports spread that President Marcos wanted the Constitutional Convention to extend his term by two more years or, failing that, to change the form of government from presidential to parliamentary to enable him to become the first Prime Minister. | ||
| 1972-01-24 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Seventh State of the Nation Address | President Marcos delivers his Seventh State of the Nation Address. | ||
| 1972-02-05 00:00:00 | PC Brigadier General Fidel Ramos disbands private armies | Filemon V. Tutay writes in Philippines Free Press that President Marcos blames the private armies for the deplorable state of peace and order in the country. As a result, Brigadier General Fidel V. Ramos, the new Philippine Constabulary (PC) Chief, instructs the PC commanders to disband private armies of all political warlords in the country. | ||
| 1972-03-08 00:00:00 | Marcos is interviewed on Meet the Press by the National Press Club | This clip is a spoof featuring the voices of panelists Amando Doronila (President of National Press Club, Editor of The Manila Chronicle), Renato Constantino (Columnist of The Manila Chronicle), Louie Beltran (Columnist of The Evening News), and Eduardo Arcances (Deputy Director of the Philippine Press Institute). Courtesy of Gerry Kaimo. | ||
| 1972-03-15 00:00:00 | Arca Building bombing | In the early evening, the Arca Building at Taft Avenue in Pasay City is bombed by two men riding a motorcycle. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 292 | ||
| 1972-04-17 00:00:00 | President Marcos' writes what he perceives to be assassination plots against him | President Marcos writes in his diary: Frank Starr implicates Col. Lino Aragon Angara, nephew of the late Pres. Quezon, in a plot to assassinate me on July 17, 1972. What is disturbing is the supposed statement of Angara “Marcos will be killed xxx And when he is dead the Vice President will become President and then our group takes over control of the Philippines.” Starr says he told me of his contacts often with the Hon. Vice President Fernando Lopez and this report is made in sincere interest to [illegible] maneuver and shape or form to breed distrust between the President and Vice President of the RP. But in fairness to the truth, and facts statements must be made accordingly. I spoke to him [Angara] on at least 7 telephone calls and he said he had gone down to meet the Vice President Lopez in his home province. This is not the first time that the Lopezes have conspired against my life. Since 1969 they have so at least three times. The old plot of Eleuterio Adevoso under Osmeña was connected to the Lopezes. And the Lopez financial and propaganda support for the NPA through Geny [Eugenio] Lopez [Jr.] and the ABS-CBN included as one of the objectives my assassination. Thru Commander Melody of the NPA was assigned to this mission. Commander Melody confessed this. On the Adevoso plot, our asset within the conspiracy, [it was] revealed that the Osmeña and Lopez camps were involved. Then when on January 1970, Lopez and I parted ways, Serging [Sergio] Osmeña [Jr.] suggested to Ining [Eugenio] Lopez [Sr.] my assassination and this idea was picked up and being implemented. Chino Roces had in 1969 repeatedly voiced his demand that I be liquidated as this was the only way for them (the activists) to take over. And Roces and Ining Lopez have joined in partnership against us. They have also joined hands to blacken my character. Thus they contrived the Dovie Boehms case. The funds sent to her in California have been traced as coming from the Lopez camp. The escalating demonstrations, mobs and riots, all supported by the Lopezes. And now the Lopezes have joined up with Roxas and his father-in-law, Amading [Jesus Amado] Araneta. But apparently they are desperate and may be planning assassination to prevent my declaring Martial Law! | ||
| 1972-04-23 00:00:00 | Filipinas Orient Airways Building bombing | A board room of the Filipinas Orient Airways in Pasay City is bombed. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 292 | ||
| 1972-05-07 00:00:00 | The Daily Express is established | The Daily Express printing plant is inaugurated. Primitivo Mijares will later write that the newspaper was established by President Marcos through Roberto S. Benedicto from funds borrowed from the Philippine National Bank. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 51, 171. | ||
| 1972-05-08 00:00:00 | President Marcos meets military leaders for instructions | Marcos writes in his diary: [...] After the meeting I directed Sec. Ponce Enrile, the Chief of Staff, Gen. Espino, Vice Chief of Staff, Gen. Ileto, PC Chief, Gen. Ramos, PA Chief, Gen. Zagala, Air Force Chief, Gen. Rancudo, 1st PC Zone Commander, Gen. Tomas Diaz, IV PC Zone Commander, Gen. Encarnacion, Asst. Chief of Staff, J-2, Col. Paz, to update the contingency plans and the list of target personalities in the event of the use of emergency powers. I directed Sec. Ponce Enrile to finalize all documentation for the contingency plans, including the orders and implementation. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1972-05-12 12:30:00 | President Marcos "reestablishes friendship" with the Lopezes. | Marcos writes in his diary: The entire country continues to speculate on my visit to the brothers Lopez. The comments all seem favorable, especially after my statement that I have reestablished my friendship with the Lopezes for national unity in view of the national interest. The opposition is still in a state of shock while the Nacionalistas are jubilant. Gerry Roxas and Ninoy Aquino are meeting with Ining Lopez on Sunday but Kokoy has been told not to be concerned as Ining will make no commitments. And that whatever obstacles to the rapprochement will be overcome. The general impression is that I have just accomplished a political coup! As Gerry Roxas is supposed to have said: “Titiklopin na yata tayo.” Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1972-05-29 00:00:00 | Quintero exposé | Eduardo Quintero, delegate of the first district of Leyte to the Constitutional Convention, reveals on the Convention floor that on January 7, 1972, after a dinner from the previous night in Malacañan Palace, 39 Con-Con delegates were bribed to vote in favor of the parliamentary form of government in the convention. He says he received an envelope that contained P1,000 in 50-peso bills. Marcos calls Quintero's speech “as vicious as it is false.” Sources: G.R. No. L-35149, June 23, 1988, Eduardo Quintero vs. The National Bureau of Investigation; Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 162. | ||
| 1972-05-30 00:00:00 | South Vietnamese embassy bombing | At midnight, two grenades explode on the porch of the South Vietnamese embassy. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 292. | ||
| 1972-05-30 00:00:00 | 1972-07-31 00:00:00 | CPP allegedly brings weapons into the country | The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) allegedly brings a substantial quantity of weapons, ammunition, and combat paraphernalia into the country from May to July 1972. According to the report of Col. Rosendo Cruz on this day (May 30, 1972) at Digoyo Point, Palanan, Isabela: An unidentified U-boat unloads its cargo consisting of some 200 passengers, firearms and other supplies at the coast of Isabela. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 164. | |
| 1972-06-04 23:00:00 | President Marcos says the Constitutional Convention “has become useless” | Marcos writes in his diary: I have just answered a letter of Concon President Macapagal wherein he asks whether I or Imelda are running for President in 1972. I wrote him through Kit Tatad that neither Imelda or I intend to run -I because I am disqualified by the constitution from a third term and Imelda because she has no intention to do so. I asked him to do me the honor of furnishing me the original of his letter which he sent to media, so that I could answer him in more detail. And that he should exercise the leadership that is sadly lacking in the convention. Apparently Pres. Macapagal has decided to lay the blame on me for the failures of the convention. Typical traitor and coward! But from my point of view the Concon has become useless. Anything they will approve now will be rejected by the people in a plebiscite. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1972-06-17 00:00:00 | Con-Con proposes “Ban Marcos” in the new constitution | Senator Arturo Tolentino calls on Marcos to support the “Ban Marcos” proposal in the Constitutional Convention. The “Ban Marcos” resolution was a proposed provision during the 1970 Constitutional Convention to ban any former President, his wife, and relatives by affinity and consanguinity within the fourth civil degree from seeking the post of Prime Minister. Sources: Arturo M. Tolentino, Voice of Dissent (Quezon City: Phoenix Press, Inc., 1990), p. 529.; Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 137. | ||
| 1972-06-18 00:00:00 | CPP Plan is retrieved by the Philippine Constabulary | At Barrio Taringsing, Cordon, Isabela, a copy of the document titled “REGIONAL PROGRAM OF ACTION 1972” is captured by elements of the 116th and 119th Philippine Constabulary Companies. The document is said to be part of the overall plan of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) to “foment discontent and precipitate the tide of nationwide mass revolution.” Source: Proclamation No. 1081 | ||
| 1972-06-23 00:00:00 | Court of Industrial Relations bombing | In the morning, a bomb explodes at the Court of Industrial Relations. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 292 | ||
| 1972-06-24 00:00:00 | Philippine Trust Company bombing | At dusk, a branch of Philippine Trust Company in Cubao is bombed. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 292 | ||
| 1972-06-30 00:00:00 | PC Chief Fidel Ramos finds out that the alleged Communist U-boat landing is without basis. | Philippine Constabulary Chief Brig. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos visits Palanan, Isabela to confirm the alleged submarine (U-boat) landing (see May 30, 1972). The PC then writes off the intelligence report about the submarine as “without basis.” Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 164. | ||
| 1972-07-01 00:00:00 | President Marcos' feasibility study on martial law circulates | Reports about Marcos’ feasibility study on declaring martial law before the 1973 election circulate. Senator Ninoy Aquino does not find a study per se objectionable, claiming that Presidents Garcia and Macapagal had ordered similar studies. Marcos, through Press Secretary Tatad, issues a denial of the study, calling it a “complete fabrication” (see August 1, 1971). Source: Arturo M. Tolentino, Voice of Dissent (Quezon City: Phoenix Press, Inc., 1990), p. 464. | ||
| 1972-07-03 00:00:00 | First Philam Life bombing | At night, explosions shatter the glass walls of the Philam Life building at United Nations Avenue, Manila. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 292. | ||
| 1972-07-05 01:00:00 | Skirmish between Philippine Constabulary and alleged NPA rebels at Palanan, Isabela | Shortly after midnight, a ship marked MB Karagatan unloads cargo at Digoyo Point, Palanan, Isabela. The cargo consists of military hardware, including the latest type of automatic weapons and other supplies. A skirmish ensues as a Philippine Constabulary Company is fired upon by alleged New People's Army guerillas. The government claims that the NPA retreated to the forests in disarray. Primitivo Mijares will later write that the “NPA rebels” that battled the PC company are actually elements of the Presidential Guard Battalion tasked with the “planting” of ammunitions in Palanan. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 166. | ||
| 1972-07-18 00:00:00 | Bomb found in the Legislative Building | An unexploded bomb is found in the Senate Publications Division at the Legislative Building, Manila. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 292. | ||
| 1972-07-22 00:00:00 | Philippines Free Press: “Military rule next?” | Philippines Free Press releases an editorial: Marcos could remain in Malacañang as President--after the suspension of elections under martial law--only if he turned bandit and if the Armed Forces of the Philippines should join him in banditry. He could remain in power only by violating the Constitution under which he declared martial law and if the military supported him in his criminal act [...] Martial law should not be declared at all in the first place, not under present conditions, if the purpose were not to junk the Constitution--after invoking it to justify the declaration of martial law--establish a dictatorship. There is no good and sensible reason for the declaration of martial law, whatever, the Supreme Court may say to the contrary, but that does not mean that martial law will not be declared. Then it will be goodbye Constitution, hail dictatorship. Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 413-414. | ||
| 1972-07-27 00:00:00 | Tabacalera bombing | Jeepney-riding men toss bombs at the Tabacalera Cigar & Cigarette Factory Compound at Marquez de Comillas, Manila. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 292. | ||
| 1972-08-01 00:00:00 | President Marcos decides to declare martial law within two months | Marcos meets with Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile and a few of his most trusted military commanders. He decides to declare martial law within the next two months. They discuss several tentative dates, all of which either end in seven or are divisible by seven. Source: Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (New York: Times Books, 1987), p. 95. | ||
| 1972-08-15 19:30:00 | PLDT Exchange bombing | Jeepney-riding men hurl bombs at the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Exchange office in East Avenue, Quezon City. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 293. | ||
| 1972-08-15 19:37:00 | Philippine Sugar Institute bombing | Bombs blast the Philippine Sugar Institute building in North Avenue, Quezon City. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 293. | ||
| 1972-08-17 00:00:00 | Department of Social Welfare bomibing | In the afternoon, a portion of the building of the Department of Social Welfare in Sampaloc, Manila is destroyed by explosives. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 293. | ||
| 1972-08-19 00:00:00 | Aurora Blvd. water main bombing | At midnight, a water main on Aurora Boulevard and Madison Avenue is destroyed by a plastic bomb. The suspects escape in a bantam car. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 293. | ||
| 1972-08-30 00:30:00 | Second Philam Life bombing | The Philam Life Building in United Nations Avenue, Manila is bombed again. The incident damages the nearby Far East Bank and Trust Company building. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 56-57. | ||
| 1972-08-30 00:45:00 | Railroad Street Bombing | Fifteen minutes after the Philam Life bombing, a series of explosions hit Railroad Street in Port Area, Manila. The following were damaged: This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 293. | ||
| 1972-08-31 00:00:00 | Bomb found in DFA Building | A 12-pound time bomb is found in an attache case on the ground floor of the Department of Foreign Affairs. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 293. | ||
| 1972-09-05 00:00:00 | Ban Dynasty Resolution becomes the "big topic" at the Con-Con | Augusto Caesar Espiritu, 1971 Constitutional Convention delegate, writes in his diary about the big topic of the day in the convention: the Ban-Dynasty Resolution (“Ban Marcos”; see June 17, 1972). This threatens President Marcos’ desire to stay beyond the constitutional limit of eight years. He details the delegates’ arguments, both for and against the amendment proposed by Delegate Ramon Diaz, which states: NO PERSON WHO HAS AT ANY TIME SERVED AS PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES, UNDER THIS OR THE PREVIOUS CONSTITUTION, SHALL BE ELIGIBLE TO OCCUPY THE SAME OFFICE OR THAT OF PRIME MINISTER. THE SPOUSE OF SUCH PERSON SHALL BE INELIGIBLE TO OCCUPY EITHER OFFICE DURING THE UNEXPIRED OFFICE OF HIS TERM OR IN THE IMMEDIATE SUCCEEDING TERM. | ||
| 1972-09-05 21:00:00 | Joe's Department Store bombing | Joe’s Department Store in Carriedo, Manila is bombed. The incident takes the life of a woman and injures 38 others (according to Proclamation No. 1081), but according to American correspondent Raymond Bonner, there are 41 injured. A Philippine Constabulary Sergeant assigned to the Firearms and Explosives Section of the PC later confesses and takes responsibility for the bombing. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree 1081. Sources: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 293; Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (New York: Times Books, 1987), p. 97; Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 56-57. | ||
| 1972-09-07 00:00:00 | Delegate Espiritu on the two options for the Ban Dynasty Resolution | Delegate Augusto Caesar Espiritu writes in his diary he met with former President and Con-Con president Diosdado Macapagal in the morning. Espiritu suggests that those for the ban-dynasty resolution have two options: 1. To freeze the ball and let the Convention work as slowly as possible so that the plebiscite on the new Constitution may only be done after the expiration of Marcos’ term in 1973. This would really, in effect, ban the incumbent. 2. To declare a recess until January 1974 Espiritu also writes about their discussions on the transition government resolution filed by Oka [Oscar] Leviste and Antonio [Tony] Velasco, which ensures that the delegates will be part of the First Parliament. The resolution might pass, given that for some delegates, the ban-dynasty resolution has failed anyway. | ||
| 1972-09-07 00:00:00 | Bomb found at Good Earth Emporium | A homemade explosive is discovered at the foot of the escalator on the ground floor of Good Earth Emporium, Carriedo, a few blocks away from Joe's Department Store. A small bar of soap with a timing device, three matchsticks, and a blasting cap is discovered on-site. This incident will not be included in the list of events made as basis forProclamation No. 1081. Source: Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (New York: Times Books, 1987), p. 97 | ||
| 1972-09-07 21:30:00 | President Marcos spends time preparing documents for martial law | President Marcos writes in his diary: This afternoon I spent in finishing all papers needed for a possible proclamation of martial law, just in case it is necessary to do so. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1972-09-08 00:00:00 | Manila City Hall bombing | At nighttime, the Manila City Hall is bombed. Three rooms in the building are destroyed. According to Raymond Bonner, the bombing happened on September 9. Sources: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 56-57; Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (New York: Times Books, 1987), p. 97. | ||
| 1972-09-08 00:00:00 | President Marcos suspects Senator Ninoy Aquino of conspiring with CPP | President Marcos writes in his diary:Sen. Aquino is, of course, playing a double game. He was in danger from the Maoists, as reported by him to Sec. Juan Ponce Enrile. So I believe he negotiated in a meeting with Jose Maria Sison and is protected from that side. But now he is convinced he is also in danger, from the government. So he goes through the motions of giving information to the Secretary of National Defense to get protection from government. And I believe that he will, however, help the Maoists more than the government. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1972-09-09 12:35:00 | All legal papers for martial law are ready | Marcos writes in his diary: Sec. Ponce Enrile and I finished the material for any possible proclamation of martial law. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1972-09-11 00:20:00 | Widespread blackouts at 12:20 am | Between 12:20 am to 12:30 am, three undocumented power company substations are bombed, causing widespread blackouts. This incident will not be included in the list of events made as basis forProclamation No. 1081. Source: Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (New York: Times Books, 1987), p. 97 | ||
| 1972-09-11 00:30:00 | President Marcos celebrates his birthday. | President Marcos writes in his diary: It is now my birthday. I am 55. And I feel more physically and mentally robust than in the past decade and have acquired valuable experience to boot. Energy and wisdom, 'the philosopher's heaven. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1972-09-12 12:00:00 | Senator Ninoy Aquino reveals “Oplan Saggitarius” to the U.S. Embassy | Senator Ninoy Aquino advises the U.S. Embassy officers, over a luncheon, about the government’s plan of imposing martial law. Present at the luncheon is Frank Maestrone, the new political officer at the embassy. American correspondent Raymond Bonner writes: When Imelda Marcos, who did not take kindly to American officials talking with the “enemy,” learned about the lunch, she called Rafferty, demanding to know who was the “Macaroni,” a nickname that stuck with Maestrone. Source: Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (New York: Times Books, 1987), p. 98. | ||
| 1972-09-12 00:00:00 | San Juan water mains bombing | At night, the water mains in San Juan, Rizal are bombed. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree 1081. Sources: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 293; Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 56-57. | ||
| 1972-09-13 00:00:00 | The US Embassy alerts Washington of martial law | The Embassy of the United States in Manila alerts Washington that Marcos is studying “emergency” measures, “including martial law,” but they are unaware of the exact time it will be imposed. Source: Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (New York: Times Books, 1987), p. 5. | ||
| 1972-09-13 00:00:00 | Senator Ninoy Aquino delivers his privilege speech on “Oplan Sagittarius” | Senator Ninoy Aquino, speaking to the Senate floor, says he received a top-secret military plan given by Marcos himself to place Metro Manila and outlying areas under the control of the Philippine Constabulary as a prelude to Martial Law. Marcos will use the bombings, including the Plaza Miranda Bombing, in Metro Manila as a justification for his takeover and subsequent authoritarian rule. He claims that he received this information from the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Sources: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 200; Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (New York: Times Books, 1987), p. 98. | ||
| 1972-09-13 00:00:00 | Senator Ninoy Aquino delivers his privilege speech on “Oplan Sagittarius” | |||
| 1972-09-13 00:00:00 | President Marcos assures the Senate there is no plan for martial law | A meeting is held at the office of the Senate President Gil Puyat. Earlier, Puyat went to the Palace and came back with a denial from President Marcos. Puyat says: “The President stated that he has no plan to declare martial law. But if martial law is to be imposed due to some unusual event, he would first consult the leaders of the Congress.” Source: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 200. | ||
| 1972-09-13 00:00:00 | President Marcos admits there is a “contingency plan” to contain the Communists | The Malacañan Press Office issues a statement quoting President Marcos: There is a contingency plan for the whole country, including the Greater Manila area, and it was organized in 1966.The plan is aimed at the coordination of local police forces and the AFP in the event of actual fighting with the Communist. It would be the height of negligence not to prepare such a plan. Source: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 200. | ||
| 1972-09-13 23:00:00 | President Marcos and close associates plan to impose martial law on September 21 | President Marcos writes in his diary: So I met with Johnny Ponce Enrile, Gen. Tom Diaz, Col. Montoya, Col. Romy Gatan, and Danding Cojuangco this evening at Pangarap and we agreed to set the 21st of this month as the deadline. In the meantime Sen. Aquino in a privilege speech, today, claims we have an OPLAN Sagittarius, which allegedly includes placing Greater Manila under PC Control preparatory to proclaiming martial law. This is nothing but the contingency plan for the coordination of the local police forces and the Armed Forces in case of insurgency. It is ridiculous to ascribe it to the plan of martial law since it refers to calling out the troops to quell a disorder. But of course the media will give it all kind of meaning. But, again, perhaps it is best that the political opposition start a debate that will get the people used to the idea of emergency powers. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1972-09-14 00:00:00 | San Miguel Bombing | A building of San Miguel Corporation in Makati is bombed. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree 1081. Sources: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 293; Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 56-57. | ||
| 1972-09-14 00:00:00 | Espiritu: “The bomb scare has been sweeping Manila in the past few days [...]” | Con-Con Delegate Augusto Caesar Espiritu writes in his diary: The bomb scare has been sweeping Manila in the past few days. Rebeck [Espiritu, Caesar’s brother] tipped me off on a rumor that the Convention would be bombed. He said this could not be mentioned in the Convention Hall because the delegates might panic. Even Raul Manglapus, he said, was preparing to leave at about 4:00 p.m. | ||
| 1972-09-14 23:00:00 | President Marcos plans to have martial law for "at least a year and two months." | President Marcos writes in his diary: After golf, at 9:00 amat [sic] my room at Pangarap while taking breakfast, I told the SND, C of S, Major Service Commanders (Gen. Ramos, PC, Gen. Zagala, PA, Romando, PAF and Commodore Ruiz, PN) Gen. Ver and Gen. Paranis that I intend to declare martial law to liquidate the communist apparatus, reform our government and society, then have the Concon ratify our acts and the people can confirm it by plebiscite and return to constitutional processes; but that I needed at least one year and two months; that this would be a legitimate exercise of my emergency powers under the constitution as clarified by the Habeas Corpus case by the Supreme Court last January; that we need to cure the ills of our society by radical means (I mentioned corruption, tax evasion, criminality, smuggling, lack of discipline, unequal opportunities) so we must keep our moves clean and submerge self-interest. I asked for any objection to the plan and there was none except for the observation of Gen. Ramos that the closing of the media should be done by a civilian minister supported by the military, and Gen. Gen. Romando who wanted missions definitely assigned to each branch of the service. | ||
| 1972-09-15 00:00:00 | Senator Aquino: Oplan Sagittarius was only completed on September 8 | Senator Ninoy Aquino reports to the media that the planning for Oplan Sagittarius was only completed on September 8. Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 200. | ||
| 1972-09-15 00:00:00 | Manila Times is skeptical of martial law | Teodoro Valencia, writer for the Manila Times (“the most widely circulated newspaper at the time”) writes: One thing is sure, the President is not discouraging talk about martial law and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. My own interpretation is that he is not about to do it. Perhaps he is fishing for reaction. He's getting all kinds of reactions. The more serious portion of the Aquino diatribe was to reveal that Manila would be placed under PC control. When you come to think of it, Mayor Ramon Bagatsin is almost asking for it. PC control is not the same as martial law. So many cities and provinces are under PC control right now [...] There's no point in denying that the President is ready with a plan on the imposition of martial law if that should become necessary. But that's not the same as saying he will impose martial law tomorrow or the next day or when. Or if at all. To have a plan and to do as planned are two different propositions. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 411-412. | ||
| 1972-09-17 00:00:00 | U.S. embassy finds out that martial law will probably be imposed on September 19 | A Filipino recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to provide information calls the U.S. Embassy in Manila to inform them that martial law will be declared on Tuesday, September 19. Source: Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (New York: Times Books, 1987), p. 3. | ||
| 1972-09-17 22:00:00 | President Marcos: “[...] the Liberals should not get out that easily” | President Marcos writes in his diary: [...] The departure of our children has made the palace a ghostly unbearable place. I have invited the Liberal Party leaders (at least ten of their hierarchy) to come to the palace on Sept. 19th to be informed of what we have on the negotiations and agreements between the Maoists and the Liberals. The Liberal head, Sen. G. Roxas, issued a demand for us to point out the Liberal negotiating with the Communists, knowing full well that I refer to Sen. Aquino, his opponent for leadership in the party and wanting to disqualify Aquino by his own action. But the Liberals should not get out that easily. For some of the other leaders have been dealing with the Communists -Mitra, Yap, Felipe, Dy, Pendatun, Lucman, etc. Antonio Zumel, news editor of the Bulletin had an explanation of his Trade Asia activities in today’s papers. He adopts an aggressive stance of hurt innocence! I received the report on the 7,400 case of dynamite apprehended in the del Pan bridge by the OOSAC under Maj. Cruz, son of Maj. Gen. Pelagio Cruz, the ASAC chief. I ordered the dynamite impounded notwithstanding the claim of [illegible] for it. The Air Manila plane was apparently bombed at 4:40 am yesterday by a grenade in a valise with incendiary bombs over Romblon, prepared to ditch because of the right engine being out of commission from the grenade blast but was able to limp up to Roxas City where it landed at about 5:00 am in the dark with nothing but its landing lights to guide it. Capt. Samonte, the captain of the plane did a good job and was lucky. | ||
| 1972-09-18 00:50:00 | President Marcos finalizes the plans for the proclamation of martial law | Marcos writes in his diary: We finalized the plans for the proclamation of martial law at 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm with the SND, the Chief of Staff, major service commanders, J-2, Gen. Paz, 1st PC Zone Commander, Gen. Diaz and Metrocom commander, Co. Montoya, with Gen. Ver in attendance. They all agreed the earlier we do it the better because the media is waging a propaganda campaign that distorts and twists the facts! So after the bombing of the Concon, we agreed on the 21st without any postponement. We finalized the target personalities, the assignments, and the procedures. | ||
| 1972-09-18 00:00:00 | U.S. embassy finds out that martial law will be postponed to September 21 or 22 | The Filipino recruited by the CIA calls back to inform that martial law will be postponed to either September 21 or 22. Source: Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (New York: Times Books, 1987), p. 3. | ||
| 1972-09-18 15:40:00 | Con-Con bombing | A bomb explodes in a restroom inside the Constitutional Convention area at the Quezon City Hall. Con-Con Delegate Jose Nolledo issues a statement saying that he saw people fleeing from the building just after the explosion. The people looked like military men, not communists. This incident, along with other intensified acts of violence and terrorism across the country, will later be made the basis for the implementation of Martial Law by virtue of Presidential Decree 1081. Sources: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 293; Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 56-57. | ||
| 1972-09-18 15:40:05 | Judge Julian Lustre residence bombing | Within five seconds of the Con-Con explosions, bombs explode in the sala of Quezon City Judge Julian Lustre, who is hearing a subversion case. Source: Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City: M. F. Martinez, 1987), p. 293 | ||
| 1972-09-18 00:00:00 | Manila Times: “The President is gambling on [...] the silent majority.” | Max Soliven writes in the day's issue of the Manila Times: The government has only managed to arrest a few dozen students who seem to have stashed away in their armory merely some books, pamphlets and posters glorifying Mao Tse Tung and communism, plus half a dozen pillbox bombs, which could not have blown up Joe's Department Store. I do not intend to belittle the possibility that some of these young suspects were, indeed, dead set on overthrowing the government. But if the time has come when the government can be toppled by children, then it deserves to be overthrown. We must never, of course, underestimate Mr. Marcos. He is no fool. There is always method in what looks like madness. The Apo is a “group dynamics” expert, a practitioner of that science dedicated to the manipulation of people and the cunning exploitation of the basic weaknesses of human nature. The President is gambling on the probability that the 'silent majority,' as a term implies will remain silent; that the Filipino's every-man-for-himself mentality will assert itself and impose inaction; and that all good men will shake their heads sadly but do nothing. And he is right. A few articulate dissenters will make loud and angry noises, but nothing will happen. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 412-413. | ||
| 1972-09-18 15:50:00 | Delegate Espiritu's account of the Con-Con Bombing | Delegate Augusto Caesar Espiritu writes an eye-witness account of the Con-Con bombing: Today is one of my once-a-week trips by bus to Quezon City Hall. I do this to feel the pulse of the people. As I was alighting from the bus at about 3:50 p.m., Ruth Manoloto, wife of my friend Ric at Knox, was getting nervously on the bus. Upon seeing me, she yelled, “Caesar, huwag ka nang magtuloy sa Con-Con. Umuwi ka na. Binomba ang Con-Con ngayon. Umuwi ka na.” People were starting to flee. Romy Capulong was pale. The blast was at the sala of Judge Lustre on the 6th floor, he murmured. Trooping behind him in ruffled dignity was well-known criminal lawyer delegate Dakila Castro, murmuring that Lustre is a good man—why should this happen? I got nearer the building. Many people were screaming that it was the session hall that was bombed. Two thoroughly frightened City Hall employees passed me by shrieking that the canteen was damaged; there were splinters all over the place. Rebeck later appeared. “I last saw Tonypet Araneta crawling like a cat under the desks,” he quipped. Apparently, this was what happened: At the precise time that Jess Matas was being interpellated, a big noise was heard. The soft-spoken Jess then politely said, “Excuse me, but could you please speak louder because there is so much noise outside?” He had hardly finished his sentence when there was a sudden explosion at the comfort room of the 14th floor. The delegates docked and flew to the other side of the session hall to the stairway. The women screamed. And pandemonium ensued. I saw two people, one male and one female, being carried out in stretchers. Tonypet appeared later and gave us his version of what happened: The 4th, 6th and 14th floors were bombed! Panic was in everybody’s face. The venerable Justice Jose Ma. Paredes came out scampering like a frightened rabbit. His eyes popping out, the gentle old man blurted, “This is the justification of your resolution for a recess. We have reason for a recess.” This bombing incident made martyrs, to some extent, of the delegates. And at this stage, some martyrdom may be necessary to gain sympathy from a public that is fast losing its patience. The people are losing confidence in the Convention. After more than a year, it has not yet finished its task. The time bombs were planted on three floors and they exploded almost simultaneously within seconds of each other. The question is—were they really meant to kill—or only to terrorize? The corollary question is—who could have done it? To me, no moderate—whether of the right or of the left—would have done this. I am inclined to believe that not even the radical left would want to sow terrorism; this would alienate them from the population. The only group, to my mind, that would have some motive for bombing Quezon City is the Marcos group itself. The motive? To sow fear among the population and to find an excuse for imposing martial law or suspending the writ of habeas corpus. The executioners could be some paid pigeons of Marcos. Come to think of it: who burned the Reichstag in 1933 anyway? Surely not that unfortunate Dutchman who was immediately arrested. Wasn’t the joke in Berlin at that time, that Goebbels loved to play dangerously with matches? The Constitutional Convention would never be the same again. Fear has been sown into the hearts of delegates. Nevertheless, it would be difficult, at this stage, to suspend or adjourn the Convention. The proper thing would have been for the Convention to decide on a recess before the bombing incident. But now, it is too late to call for a recess; it would look cowardly for the delegates to do so. | ||
| 1972-09-19 00:00:00 | President Marcos meets with the National Security Council | An executive session of the Philippine National Security Council is briefed on internal security at Malacañan Palace. Security conditions are reportedly described as between “normal” and “Internal Defense Condition No. 1” (with No. 3 being the worst security condition). Source: Daniel B. Schirmer and Stephen Rosskamm Shalom, The Philippines Reader: A History of Colonialism, Neocolonialism, Dictatorship, and Resistance (Quezon City: KEN Incorporated, 1987), p. 166-167. | ||
| 1972-09-19 00:00:00 | Roxas and Aquino attend Oplan Sagittarius briefing | According to Senator Jovito Salonga, Liberal Party Senators Gerry Roxas and Ninoy Aquino, attend the “Oplan Sagittarius” briefing at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. On the same day, Enrile claims that President Marcos challenged Senators Roxas and Aquino by inviting them to identify the LP leader who had allegedly met with the leaders of the Communist Party. In response, Salonga criticizes President Marcos: “The President has involved himself in a hopeless inconsistency. Why should Mr. Marcos invite the Liberals to the Security Council meetings to discuss plans to counter the communist menace if he has any evidence linking the LPs with the Reds?” Source: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 201; Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City: ABS-CBN Publishing, Inc., 2012), p. 371; and Manuel Martinez, The Grand Collision: Aquino vs. Marcos (Quezon City, 1987), p. 294. | ||
| 1972-09-19 00:00:00 | President Marcos writes on the alleged meeting of Ninoy Aquino and Jose Ma. Sison | Marcos writes in his diary: Released the report of Sec. Ponce Enrile of Sept. 8, 1972 where he reported that Sen. Aquino had met with Jose Maria Sison of the Communist Party and had talked about a link-up of the Liberal Party and the Communist Party. So since I invited Sen. Pres. Puyat, Speaker Villareal, I explained to the media which was covering us that when I invited the leaders of the Liberal Party I had wanted a private conference where we could, as Filipinos and for the welfare of our people, agree that neither party (Nacionalista or Liberal) would “link-up" with the Communist Party but their refusal to attend indicated that the Liberals were in on the deal to “link-up" with the Communists through Sen. Aquino. Juan Ponce Enrile confirms in his memoir that Senator Ninoy Aquino and Jose Ma. Sison, Chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) had a meeting in Dasmariñas Village, Makati on September 7, 1972, and that the information regarding the meeting came from Ninoy himself. Up to this day, this remains an allegation. Sources: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993); Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 373. | ||
| 1972-09-20 00:00:00 | Manila Times: Marcos alienating rather than winning public support | Alfred Roces publishes in Manila Times: If the present situation has reached the stage where emergency powers are being seriously and publicly considered by the Marcos administration, then the question is whether at the same time President Marcos can possibly manage on his own, without the full support of the political opposition and the citizenry. It is curious that President Marcos appears to be alienating rather than trying to sincerely win public support by linking the LP leadership with the NPA, by warning businessmen not to support the subversives, and by rounding up the youth in raids, without effort to win some youth leaders over. There have been some stray comments that could be interpreted to mean that the administration thinks some members of mass media are tied up with subversives. In brief, what is missing is the effort to try to unify the nation if the Marcos administration really believes that there is a serious threat from the communists. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 412. | ||
| 1972-09-20 00:00:00 | Anti-martial law rally at Plaza Miranda | A mass rally organized by the Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties (MCCCL) is held at Plaza Miranda in Quiapo. It is headed by Senator Jose W. Diokno and the National Press Club, led by Eddie Monteclaro of the Manila Times. Speakers at the program denounce the reported plan of Marcos to declare martial law via Oplan Sagittarius. Gerry Roxas and Ninoy Aquino are quoted in the day's Manila Bulletin issue: “There is a need for military contingency plans to meet various threats to national security but consultation should be made with the National Security Council.” Source: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), pp. 201-202. | ||
| 1970-09-20 22:40:00 | Staff of the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces meets with President Marcos | Marcos writes in his diary: This afternoon General Staff with the SND and the Chiefs of the major services came to see us to submit the Assessment of Public Order wherein they recommend the use of “other forms of countering subversion/insurgency should be considered.” This means they recommend the use of Emergency Powers including Martial Law, formally. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1972-09-21 00:00:00 | Congress moves adjournment from September 21 to September 23 | Senate and House leaders agree not to adjourn today as earlier scheduled. They decide to conduct a special session and schedule the end of their respective sessions to September 23. According to Primitivo Mijares: 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. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 54, 62. | ||
| 1972-09-21 00:00:00 | Senator Ninoy Aquino delivers his last privilege speech in the Senate | Source: Benigno S. Aquino, From A Garrison State in the Make, (Makati: Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Foundation) p. 353. | ||
| 1972-09-21 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino relays his plan of leaving to Arturo Tolentino | Senator Arturo Tolentino has a conversation with Senator Ninoy Aquino after a meeting of the Senate committee on privileges on this day. Ninoy: “Ka Turing [Sen. Tolentino’s nickname] … I plan to disappear.” Sen. Tolentino: “ What do you mean?” Ninoy: “I cannot stay here any longer…. Marcos is making me appear as a double agent. Then he will have me killed and blame the communist for it.” Sen. Tolentino: “Where will you go?” Ninoy: “Bahala na ..” Source: Arturo M. Tolentino, Voice of Dissent (Quezon City: Phoenix Press, Inc., 1990), p. 465. | ||
| 1972-09-21 12:00:00 | Military troops in position at noon | Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile calls President Marcos to inform him that the troops are in position. Source: Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (New York: Times Books, 1987), p. 100. | ||
| 1972-09-21 00:00:00 | Protest march in Plaza Miranda | A protest march is held by a coalition of “more than thirty civic, religious, labor, student and activist groups" and a crowd of 30,000 at Plaza Miranda. The protest receives prominent coverage from newspapers, radio, and television. Source: Eva- Lotta E. Hedman and John T. Sidel, Philippine Politics and Society in the Twentieth Century: Colonial Legacies, Post- Colonial Trajectories (London: Routledge, 2005), p. 129. | ||
| 1972-09-21 00:00:00 | U.S. Ambassador Henry Byroade is informed by CIA of the martial law plan. | In the evening, U.S. Ambassador Henry Byroade receives from a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative a copy of Proclamation No. 1081, putting the entire country under martial law. He immediately calls President Marcos and meets with him at Malacañan Palace. Marcos tells the ambassador that he is considering martial law as an option to meet the deteriorating peace and order situation, and that he seeks US support for his decision to impose martial law. Byroade advises Marcos not to push through with the plan as the abolition of democracy will affect diplomatic relations of Philippines with the United States. After the meeting, Byroade dispatches a three-page cable labeled “Secret and ExDis” to Washington, concluding that “[...] for the time being, possibly for next six weeks or so, likelihood of martial law declaration has now lessened.” Sources: Amado Doronila, The State, Economic Transformation, and Political Change in the Philippines, 1946-1972 (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1992), p. 166-167; Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy (New York: Times Books, 1987), pp. 4-5. | ||
| 1972-09-22 01:45:00 | President Marcos denies to close associates that there would be martial law. | Marcos writes in his diary at 1:45 am: Delayed by the hurried visit of Joe Aspiras and Nating Barbers who came from the Northern bloc of congressmen and senators who want to know if there is going to be Martial Law in 48 hours as predicted by Ninoy Aquino. Of course Imelda and I denied it. But Johnny Ponce Enrile, Gen. Paz, Gen. Nanadiego, Kits Tatad and I with Piciong Tagmani doing the typing finished all the papers (the proclamation and the orders) today at 8:00 pm. [U.S.] Amb. Byroade came to see me at 11:15 pm and was apparently interested to know whether there would be Martial Law. He seemed to favor it when I explained it is intended to primarily reform our society and eliminate the communist threat. But he suggested that a proclamation before the American elections may be used by MacGovern, the Democratic presidential candidate, as proof of the failure of the foreign policy of the present president. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1972-09-22 00:00:00 | Manila Times: “Nobody wants martial law” | Teodoro Valencia of the Manila Times writes: Nobody wants martial law. Not even the closest friends of the President would wish it. Once martial law is imposed, the military becomes the power. Laws won't protect anyone. Those of us who have experienced martial law twice in our lifetime can't imagine another one. Young people toy with the idea by taunting the government into doing it, they don't know what they're asking for. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 412. | ||
| 1972-09-22 00:00:00 | President Marcos denies martial law plans to House Speaker Cornelio Villareal | In the morning, House Speaker Cornelio Villareal visits President Marcos to receive his instructions for his 10-day visit to Moscow. Speaker Villareal asks the President: “What is this report that martial law will be declared?” President Marcos replies: “Don’t mind those false rumors.” President Marcos then wishes Speaker Villareal a safe trip and a successful mission. Source: Arturo M. Tolentino, Voice of Dissent (Quezon City: Phoenix Press, Inc., 1990), p. 467. | ||
| 1972-09-22 00:00:00 | President Marcos denies martial law plans to Executive Secretary Melchor | In the morning, Executive Secretary Alejandro Melchor submits a memo regarding his objections to martial law before he leaves for a World Bank meeting in the United States. President Marcos assures him that he means the best for the country, and that after his term, Marcos intends to migrate to the U.S. Feeling assured, Melchor prepares to leave for a flight to the U.S. in the evening. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 408. | ||
| 1972-09-22 00:00:00 | President Marcos denies martial law plans to Adrian Cristobal | Adrian Cristobal, a presidential speech writer and Palanca awardee, meets with the President: That Friday night, September 22, I was packing my bags. I was all set to fly to Argentina the following day. I saw Marcos that morning, and he was effusive. 'O make sure you study Peronism, ha. We may need something like that before my term expires.' I said 'Yes, Sir.' And I meant it. I really thought he wanted a study like that. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 407. | ||
| 1972-09-22 00:00:00 | Senate junks Aquino probe on Oplan Sagittarius | The Manila Chronicle reports that the Senate has junked the Aquino probe on Oplan Sagittarius. According to Senator Jovito Salonga, the usual press statements coming from Malacañan Palace have ceased. At this time, he also sees streamers with the words “Rebolusyon--Sagot sa Martial Law.” Source: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 202. | ||
| 1972-09-22 00:00:00 | Aquino: Marcos “would not dare declare martial law!” | Senator Ninoy Aquino predicted to a group of AIM (Asian Institute of Management) students that President Marcos “would not dare declare Martial Law.” Source: Raul Rodrigo, Phoenix: The Saga of the Lopez Family Volume 1: 1800 - 1972 (Manila: The Eugenio Lopez Foundation, Inc., 2000), p. 302. | ||
| 1972-09-22 17:00:00 | Juan Ponce Enrile meets with General Mario Espina to discuss martial law in secret | Juan Ponce Enrile meets with Brig. Gen. Mario Espina of the Philippine Constabulary. The focus of the meeting is on the movement of military troops in some parts of the metropolis and the secrecy of the implementation of Martial Law. Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 377. | ||
| 1972-09-22 18:00:00 | Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile receives orders for martial law | After a phone conversation with President Marcos regarding the imposition of martial law, Major Roland Pattugalan, presidential aide de camp, delivers three large sealed brown envelopes to Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile. The envelopes, as stated in the memoirs of Enrile, contain: All documents contains the signature of President Marcos and the seal of the Office of the President. Maj. Pattugalan then delivers the instructions of President Marcos: The President wants you [Enrile] to convene the Chief of Staff, the J-Staff and the commanding generals of the army, the constabulary, the air force and the navy. The President wants you to tell them that the operation shall proceed as scheduled and that starting tonight at nine o’clock the country will be under Martial Law. The President instructed me to tell you that you will supervise the operation and that he will be in the Palace and available anytime for consultation if there is a need for you to consult him. Source: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 378. | ||
| 1972-09-22 19:00:00 | AFP receives orders on imposition of Martial Law | Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile arrives at the Armed Forces of the Philippines General Headquarters to inform the military commanders of the orders and instructions of President Marcos regarding the imposition of Martial Law. Source: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 379. | ||
| 1972-09-22 20:00:00 | Ambush of Secretary of National Defense Enrile | The convoy of Juan Ponce Enrile is ambushed at Notre Dame Street, Wack Wack Village in San Juan, Metro Manila. The Secretary of National Defense is unharmed, having ridden in the security car. Enrile will describe the ambush in his memoir: My convoy drove out of Camp Aguinaldo through Gate 2 in front of Camp Crame [...] When my convoy was driving through Wack-Wack subdivision, a speeding car rushed and passed the escort car where I was riding. Suddenly it opened several bursts of gunfire toward my car and sped away. [...] Luckily, my driver and my military aide, Tirso Gador, who was seated beside the driver were not hurt [...]br> My convoy left my wrecked car on the road and returned to Camp Aguinaldo. Enrile will also say in his memoir that he did not know why President Marcos cited his ambush in justifying Martial Law. Raul Rodrigo will later write Oscar Lopez’ recollection of the Enrile ambush: You could say that the declaration of Martial Law began right in my backyard so to speak …. That night, I was with my children in the family hall of our house [Notre Dame Street, Wack Wack Village]. Then all of a sudden, we could hear a lot of shooting outside. We didn’t know what was happening. After the shooting died down, I went out. I took a peek at what was happening outside my fence and I saw this car riddled with bullets. Nobody was hurt; there was no blood. The car was empty. ... Our driver happened to be bringing our car into our driveway at around that time, so he saw the whole thing. He told me that there was a car that came and stopped beside a Meralco post. Some people got out of the car, and then there was another car that came by beside it and started riddling it with bullets to make it look like it was ambushed. But nobody got killed or anything like that. My driver saw this. He was describing it to me. Vergel Santos, in his biography on Chino Roces, will write a contrasting account of this ambush: Secretary of National Defense Juan Ponce Enrile was ambushed in a car that did not convey him at the time and his driver, the only rider escaped untouched by any of the numerous and closely bunched bullets that hit it. The car, a black, V8-powered LTD by Ford, an emblem of official and political power at that time, was left at the scene, on Notre Dame Street, in the old upper class enclave of Wack Wack … [...] Why inside a village and not on a public street, and why in that particular village? Possibly for easier stage-managing: the family of Enrile’s sister Irma and her husband, Dr. Victor Potenciano, lived there, in Fordham, the next street in the Potenciano home and got the story straight from him, as officially scripted. Primitivo Mijares will write that the ammunitions planted allegedly by the Presidential Guard Battalion in Digoyo Point and confiscated by the constabulary are used to tie up the said ambush with the alleged Communist terror attacks. According to Mijares, the Enrile ambush was fake as it was made as the final excuse for President Marcos to declare Martial Law. Click here to read President Marcos' diary entry for September 22, 1972. Enrile will admit in a 1986 press conference that the assassination was staged, and will retract it from his recent memoir. Sources: Juan Ponce Enrile, Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir (Quezon City, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc., 2012), p. 380; Raul Rodrigo, Phoenix: The Saga of the Lopez Family Volume 1: 1800 - 1972 (Manila: Eugenio Lopez Foundation, Inc., 2000), p. 377; Vergel O. Santos, Chino and His Time (Pasig: Anvil, 2010), p. 16; and Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 166. | ||
| 1972-09-22 20:00:00 | President Marcos orders General Fabian Ver to throw security cordon around Malacañan Palace | President Marcos asks Sgt. Arturo Boquiren to call General Fabian Ver. Then he tells him to throw security cordon around Malacañan. Accounts generally place President Marcos as giving instructions on security precautions, and attending to documents. Primitivo Mijares will later recall that President Marcos “was barking orders all over the place.” Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 403. | ||
| 1972-09-22 21:00:00 | President Marcos issues Proclamation No. 1081, putting the entire country under martial law | President Marcos signs Proclamation No. 1081, declaring that the Philippines is under the state of martial law. Because he is a superstitious man, President Marcos backdates the proclamation to September 21 to make it divisible by his favorite number 7. Note that the proclamation is not countersigned by Executive Secretary Alejandro Melchor, and Assistant Secretary Ronaldo Zamora is out of town. Source: Raul Rodrigo, Phoenix: The Saga of the Lopez Family Volume 1: 1800 - 1972 (Manila: Eugenio Lopez Foundation, Inc., 2007), p. 378; | ||
| 1972-09-22 21:00:00 | President Marcos issues General Order No. 1 | President Marcos signs General Order No. 1 where he, as Chief Executive, assumes both executive and legislative powers of government. It asserts that President Marcos will direct the operation of entire Government, including all agencies and instrumentalities. The order is directed at the Armed Forces of the Philippines. | ||
| 1972-09-22 21:00:00 | President Marcos issues General Order No. 2 | President Marcos, by virtue of General Order No. 2-A, authorizes the military to arrest list of personalities deemed part of a “conspiracy” to seize power. Approximately 8,000 individuals are to be arrested. Among the list of personalities are: Journalists: Joaquin “Chino” Roces and Max Soliven of the Manila Times, Teodoro M. Locsin Sr. of the Philippines Free Press, Hernando Abaya, Luis Mauricio of the Graphic, Luis Beltran of the Evening News, Amando Doronilla and Ernesto Granada of the Manila Chronicle. Senators: Ninoy Aquino, Jose Diokno, Ramon Mitra Jr., Francisco "Soc" Rodrigo. 1971 Constitutional Convention Delegates like Napoleon Rama, Enrique Voltaire Gazmin, and Jose Mari Velez. Others targeted for arrest: Veronica Yuyitung, Ninotchka Rosca, Alejandro Lichauco, Jose Concepcion, Jose Nolledo. President Marcos will amend the order four days later, by issuing General Order No. 2-A. | ||
| 1972-09-22 21:00:00 | President Marcos issues Letter of Instruction No. 1 | President Marcos issues Letter of Instruction No. 1, addressed to Press Secretary Francisco “Kit” Tatad and Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile. It authorizes the military to seize and shut down all private media (papers, magazines, radio-TV). The following media outlets are to be shut down: 7 Major English Dailies 3 Filipino Dailies 1 English-Filipino daily 11 English weekly magazines 1 Spanish daily 4 Chinese dailies 3 business publications 1 News Service 7 Television Stations 66 Community Newspapers 292 Radio Stations all over the country | ||
| 1972-09-22 21:00:00 | President Marcos issues Letter of Instruction No. 2 | President Marcos issues Letter of Instruction No. 2, addressed to Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, authorizing the military takeover of public utilities. These include the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO), the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA), the Philippine National Railways (PNR), the Philippine Airlines (PAL), Air Manila, Filipinas Orient Airways, and “such other public utilities which, in your sound judgment, you consider essential for the successful prosecution by the Government of its effort to contain, solve and end the present national emergency.” | ||
| 1972-09-22 21:00:00 | President Marcos issues more instructions covering all angles of resistance | President Marcos signs General Order No. 3, transferring all challenges to martial law to military courts. It says that all challenges to Proclamation No. 1081, General Orders, Letter of Instruction No. 1, etc. can not be brought to regular courts. General Order No. 4 is also issued, imposing a curfew from midnight to 4 am. | ||
| 1972-09-22 21:55:00 | President Marcos writes about the Enrile ambush | Shortly before signing the order for arrests, President Marcos takes a moment to scribble about Enrile ambush. He writes in his diary: Sec. Juan Ponce Enrile was ambushed near Wack-Wack at about 8:00 pm tonight. It was a good thing he was riding in his security car as a protective measure. His first car which he usually uses was the one riddled by bullets from a car parked in ambush. He is now at his DND office. I have advised him to stay there. And I have doubled the security of Imelda in the Nayon Pilipino where she is giving dinner to the UPI and AP as well as other wire services. This makes the martial law proclamation a necessity. | ||
| 1972-09-22 22:00:00 | Press dinner at the Philippine Village Hotel | First Lady Imelda Marcos arrives at the Philippine Village Hotel in Pasay City for a press dinner. The First Lady addresses the audience composed of local and foreign correspondents such as former Associated Press bureau chief John Nance; Keyes Beech of the Chicago Daily News; United Press International bureau chief Vic Maliwanag; Mike Marabut and Peter Richards of Reuters; Alice Colet Villadolid of the New York Times; and Pulitzer Prize winner Horst Faas. She unravels a “leftist plot to overthrow the government at the expense of the poor Filipino people.” Teddy Benigno, chief of the Agence France Presse, is one of the correspondents listening to Imelda at Phil. Vill. Hotel. He believes that Imelda intends to divert the media. Teddy Benigno will later recall the evening: What suckers we all turned out to be! … the First Lady held court for several hours before announcing the news that was supposed to shock all of us. She said her husband would step down from power very soon… [and] retire into the quiet simplicity of life. Sources: Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, Dateline Manila (Pasig: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2007), p. 5; and Vergel O. Santos, Chino and His Time (Pasig: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2010), p. 23. | ||
| 1972-09-22 22:00:00 | 1972-09-22 00:00:00 | Military troops begin operation | Military troops fan out across Metro Manila to implement President Marcos' orders. | |
| 1972-09-22 22:00:00 | Senators and congressmen meet at Manila Hilton | According to Senator Arturo Tolentino: Around this time, Ninoy Aquino, other senators, and representatives of bicameral conference are working on Tariff and Customs Code in a suite on the seventh floor of Manila Hilton. Senators Aquino and Tolentino are seated to each other on the Senate side of the table. Source: Arturo Tolentino, Voice of Dissent, (Quezon City: Phoenix Publishing House, 1990), p. 467 | ||
| 1972-09-22 23:00:00 | Senator Aquino receives warning calls for arrest | Senator Ninoy Aquino, accompanied by Senators Arturo Tolentino, Ambrosio Padilla, Lorenzo G. Teves, and John Osmeña; and House Majority Leader Marcelino Veloso, among others, starts receiving warning calls. Mijares account of Ninoy’s last hour of freedom: “There were not just one, but a series of calls, warning of looming arrest. tates momentary paleness on Ninoy’s face each time a call comes, which quickly passes.” Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 418. | ||
| 1972-09-22 23:30:00 | Imelda Marcos leaves press dinner | At almost midnight, the First Lady Imelda Marcos is approached by her personal photographer, Marcelino Roxas, and tells her that President Marcos wants her to return to Malacañang. Mrs. Marcos stands up and apologizes as she leaves. Source: Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, Dateline Manila (Pasig: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2007), p. 5. | ||
| 1972-09-22 23:35:00 | Imelda Marcos arrives at Malacañan Palace | Marcos continues writing in his diary: Imelda arrived at 11:35 PM in my Electra bullet proof car to be told that Johnny had been ambushed, it is all over the radio. | ||
| 1972-09-22 23:55:00 | Philippines Free Press is shut down | At 11:55 pm, a visiting officer slaps the phone off Teddy Boy Locsin’s hand in the Philippines Free Press office. The officer says that martial law has been declared. Military troops sweep out the place and order the shutdown of the Press. Some staff members save a few copies of the unreleased issues and give two copies to Locsin. In its unpublished editorial set to be released the next day: A dictatorship may promise security for its immediate beneficiaries for a certain period of time, but that security cannot last unless the people remain indefinitely submissive and do not rise in rebellion against their condition. The Filipino people did not submit willingly to the dictatorship of the Japanese invaders but fought, as President Marcos himself did, in unflagging resistance to it. He who would ride the tiger of dictatorship, and those who would go along with him, must be prepared to ride the tiger forever. But will the Filipino people allow them to do so till the end of time? The answer to dictatorship is revolution, with all the destruction of life and property that revolutions entail. How many are prepared to pay this price for whatever they may hope to gain from a Marcos dictatorship? Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 432. | ||
| 1972-09-22 23:58:00 | The Manila Chronicle is shut down | At the same time, Manila Chronicle, and other newspapers, are being shut down. Prior to the shutdown, some papers like Chronicle and Taliba, manage to come out with early editions. | ||
| 1972-09-23 00:00:00 | General Fabian Ver arrives at a party “elated” | According to Jose Zumel of the Presidential Security Command, General Fabian Ver arrives “elated” at his office where a party is taking place. Ver tells his officers that martial law has been proclaimed. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 417. | ||
| 1972-09-23 00:00:00 | Troops go to arrest Chino Roces, but he isn't home | Soldiers go to arrest Manila Times owner Joaquin “Chino” Roces, who isn’t home. Earlier, according to biographer Vergel Santos, Roces kept a transceiver and learned about the Enrile ambush and the troop deployments. Roces then quickly radioed his older son Joaquin Jr. to find his brother Ed and to stay indoors. At this time, Roces proceeds to EDSA on his way to the Diokno residence in Magallanes Village, Makati. Source: Vergel O. Santos, Chino and His Time, (Pasig: Anvil, 2010), p. 17-18. | ||
| 1972-09-23 00:10:00 | Senator Ninoy Aquino is arrested. | Opposition leader Senator Ninoy Aquino is arrested in Room 1701 at the Manila Hilton (now the Manila Pavilion in UN Avenue, Manila), the first in a series of political arrests. Senator Arturo Tolentino, who was there at the moment, will later recount: It was close to midnight when the telephone rang, and the clerk who answered it called for Sen. Aquino. Ninoy: “Yes… Who is this?... Oh, compadre...When?” (Ninoy listened for sometime at the other end of the line) Ninoy: “Ok, I will wait for you here.” Ninoy returns to his chair after hanging up the phone and he said: “Gentlemen, martial law has been declared and I am being arrested. Colonel Gatan is coming up to get me. He says he knows how many of my men are here, but he has a truckload of soldiers, so to spare lives of innocent people in the hotel he asked me not to make any move.” Colonel Romeo Gatan showed up at the open door of the suite, Senator Aquino meets him. They talked in low voices then afterwards, Senator Aquino returned to the room, says goodbye as he gathers his papers and leaves with the Colonel. Another account of the arrest comes from Primitivo Mijares: “The last call that Aquino got came at about 12:10 a.m. …. most of those inside the room noted Aquino shouting into the receiver: “Pumanhik ka!” Then Aquino motioned Sonny Osmeña to follow him to the bathroom where he declared: “Sonny, I think I am going to be arrested. Martial Law has been declared.” Emerging from the bathroom, Aquino addressed his colleagues: “Gentlemen, Marcos has just proclaimed Martial Law and I am being arrested. The arresting team is downstairs at the hotel lobby waiting for me. But, I told Col. Gatan to come up here and get me by himself. I promised him that my boys won’t fire at him… A dark chapter is inserting itself once more into our troubled history. I hope and pray that the dark night descending upon our beloved country would come to an early end. It’s been nice being with you , gentlemen.” Col. Gatan enters the suite and hands Aquino a brown envelope which contains a xerox copy of an “arrest and detain” order signed by Enrile. Aquino then demanded the original document before he would come with Col. Gatan, the PC commander - with his gun holster noticeably unhooked - declared that he had personal orders from President Marcos to arrest the Senator. Ninoy quickly shouts to his bodyguards: “Tahimik lang kayo mga bata!” then asks Col. Gatan: “Do I have any choice?” Col. Gatan answers: “Not any more sir. I am sorry sir.” Aquino shakes the hand of his colleagues as he went out peacefully. Sources: Arturo Tolentino, Voice of Dissent (Quezon City: Phoenix Publishing House, 1990), p. 64, 467. | ||
| 1972-09-23 00:15:00 | Radio transmissions cease | Journalist Lorenzo Cruz is with Joe Cantada and Florentino Dauzat at a casino in Roxas Boulevard. Shortly after midnight, the pit-boss whispers to Cruz, “There’s nothing on radio, it’s strange.” Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 417. | ||
| 1972-09-23 00:30:00 | MERALCO is taken over. | 51st Army Engineering Brigade takes over Manila Electric Company (MERALCO). Company officials are told by General Amado Santiago and Colonel Francisco Gatmaitan that they are there to guard Meralco against sabotage. According to Raul Rodrigo, the “actual motives were, of course, nowhere as benevolent.” Source: Raul Rodrigo, Phoenix: The Saga of the Lopez Family Volume 1: 1800 - 1972 (Manila: The Eugenio Lopez Foundation, Inc., 2000), p. 378 | ||
| 1972-09-23 00:30:00 | PLDT is taken over. | Military takes over the Philippine Long Distance Telecommunications Company (PLDT). Long distance lines overseas are shut down. No international calls were allowed. Source: Raul Rodrigo, Phoenix: The Saga of the Lopez Family Volume 1: 1800 - 1972 (Manila: The Eugenio Lopez Foundation, Inc., 2000), p. 379 | ||
| 1972-09-23 00:55:00 | Senator Jovito Salonga calls up Letty Shahani to ask if he will be arrested | Senator Jovito Salonga calls up Letty Shahani, younger sister of PC Chief Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, to ask her if martial law has been declared. Letty Shahani says, “Yes …. martial law has been declared but you are not on the list.” Sources: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 203; and Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 425. | ||
| 1972-09-23 01:00:00 | Senator Jose Diokno is arrested | Senator Jose Diokno is arrested at his residence along Roxas Boulevard, Manila. Other accounts say he was arrested at 3:00 a.m. Sources: Jose Mari Velez on Ninoy Aquino, and Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I, (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 78. | ||
| 1972-09-23 01:00:00 | ABS-CBN is shut down | Army Captain Rolando Abadilla and his troops arrive at ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center on Mother Ignacia Street in Quezon City to shut it down. It will not broadcast again for 14 years. Raul Rodrigo, Phoenix: The Saga of the Lopez Family Volume I: 1800’s - 1972 (Manila: Eugenio Lopez Foundation Inc., 2000), p. 378. | ||
| 1972-09-23 02:00:00 | DZHP radio station is shut down | Ronnie Nathanielsz is waiting in DZHP radio station to announce that Aquino has been arrested. However, Metrocom troops arrive and close down the station. Source: The Explainer: The Nuts and Bolts of Martial Law. | ||
| 1972-09-23 02:00:00 | Tony Zumel evades arrest | Journalist Antonio “Tony” Zumel, brother of Jose Zumel of the PSG, evades arrest by jumping into Pasig River from the National Press Club. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 423. | ||
| 1972-09-23 02:00:00 | Luis Mauricio of the Graphic is arrested | Around this time, Luis Mauricio, editor of Graphic Magazine is arrested. Some activists on the wanted list, including Satur Ocampo, manage to evade arrest. Source: Raul Rodrigo, The Power and the Glory: The Story of the Manila Chronicle 1945-1998 (Pasig City: Eugenio Lopez Foundation, Inc., 2007), p. 260. | ||
| 1972-09-23 02:00:00 | Charito Planas is warned. | Charito Planas, a speaker at rallies on electoral reform, receives a phone call from a friend, “You better hide, martial law has been declared.” She doesn’t act on it. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 425. | ||
| 1972-09-23 02:30:00 | Hernando J. Abaya is arrested. | A PC-Metrocom raiding team arrests veteran journalist Hernando Abaya. Abaya’s eldest daughter tries to call their family lawyer only to find out that a trooper had cut the phone wires. Source: Hernando Abaya, The Making of a Subversive: A Memoir (Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1984), p. 5. | ||
| 1972-09-23 03:00:00 | Some wires get the martial law story out abroad. | Gil H. A. Santos, who strings for Time-Life, files his story through his teletypes at home, since the AP is still effectively on line. Source: Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, Dateline Manila, (Pasig: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2007), p.6 | ||
| 1972-09-23 03:00:00 | Manila Times is shut down. | According to Gil H. A. Santos, a “company of troops in full battle gear” surrounds Manila Times Publishing Corporation, at Port Area, Manila. Sources: Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, Dateline Manila (Pasig: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2007), p.6; and Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 336. | ||
| 1972-09-23 03:00:00 | Journalist Luis Teodoro Jr. evades arrest | Soldiers arrive to arrest Luis Teodoro Jr. His father answers the door. When soldiers say the warrant doesn't say Jr., they take away his father. The son escapes. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 420. | ||
| 1972-09-23 03:00:00 | Senator Soc Rodrigo is arrested | Senator Francisco “Soc” Rodrigo is arrested at his residence in New Manila. Source: Jose Mari Velez on Ninoy Aquino | ||
| 1972-09-23 03:00:00 | Senator Jovito Salonga is informed that Senators Aquino, Diokno and Rodrigo were arrested | Judy Araneta Roxas calls up Jovito Salonga and says Ninoy Aquino, Jose “Pepe” Diokno and Soc Rodrigo have been arrested. Judy Roxas tells Sen. Salonga that Sen. Gerry Roxas has gone to Camp Crame to see what can be done to help. Source: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 203. | ||
| 1972-09-23 03:00:00 | 1972-09-23 03:30:00 | Philippine Constabulary battles Iglesia ni Cristo guards | PC-Metrocom arrives at the Iglesia ni Cristo compound along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, to shut down Eagle Broadcasting Network. INC guards refuse and a battle ensues. Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, from Camp Aguinaldo, goes to the compound, and using a bullhorn, tells the INC guards to stand down as martial law has been declared. There are 12 casualties. Sources: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 65-67; and Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 421. | |
| 1972-09-23 03:15:00 | Chino Roces gives himself up to the military | Chino Roces, after learning from the Dioknos about the arrests, goes home, packs his things, and sends word he will submit to arrest. Source: Vergel O. Santos, Chino and His Time (Pasig: Anvil, 2010), p. 19. | ||
| 1972-09-23 04:00:00 | Delegate Jose Mari Velez is arrested | Delegate Jose Mari Velez of the 1971 Constitutional Convention is arrested. Source: Jose Mari Velez on Ninoy Aquino | ||
| 1972-09-23 05:00:00 | Teodoro M. Locsin is arrested | Teodoro M. Locsin Sr., editor of the Philippines Free Press, is arrested. Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr. says to his father, “Dad, they’re taking our country away from us.” Locsin pats Teddy Boy’s head and says, “It was a civil war, we lost.” Click here to read more about Teodoro Locsin's view of Ninoy Aquino. | ||
| 1972-09-23 05:00:00 | Lorenzo Cruz learns of martial law | Journalist Lorenzo Cruz, still in a casino along Roxas Boulevard with Joe Cantada and writer Florentino Dauz, receives a call from his father, asking him to go home as “Enrile’s car was ambushed” and President Marcos has declared martial law. Cruz recounts the story: How did he know? I asked, if there was nothing on radio. One newspaper--Taliba--apparently had hit the streets minutes before the soldiers arrived to padlock the newspaper offices…. As I drove home, I visualized tanks and combat soldiers blocking my way. In fact, the streets were empty. Not a uniformed man was in sight. Not even a policeman. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 417. | ||
| 1972-09-23 06:00:00 | Mass arrest of Marcos' political opponents and detention in Camp Crame | Marcos' political opponents are rounded up in Camp Crame. Among those arrested are Senators Jose Diokno and Ramon Mitra, Jr., Manila Times publisher "Joaquin Chino" Roces, Cipriano Cid, Luis Mauricio, Jose Mari Velez, Cavite Governor Lino Bocalan, and other prominent journalists, businessmen, lawyers, and politicians. The oldest detainee in Camp Crame is Baltazar Cuyugan, who is 72 years old. The detainees number to approximately 8,000 individuals. | ||
| 1972-09-23 06:00:00 | Ronaldo Zamora, assistant Executive Secretary to President Marcos, learns of martial law. | Assistant Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora returns to Malacañang upon learning that Martial Law had been declared. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 318. | ||
| 1972-09-23 07:00:00 | Eugenio Lopez Jr. wakes up and finds out that martial law is on | Eugenio “Geny” Lopez Jr., heir to the Lopez holdings, wakes up in Matabungkay, Batangas, and tries to tune in to Manila radio only to be greeted by static. Geny will later recall: We had another radio on the boat, the SSB, the single-side band radio used by ABS-CBN. So i turned that one on, and we heard all of our ABS-CBN stations reporting in that they were all closed. That was how we found out that there was Martial Law. Source: Raul Rodrigo, Phoenix: The Saga of the Lopez Family Volume 1: 1800 - 1972 (Manila: The Eugenio Lopez Foundation, Inc., 2000), p. 379. | ||
| 1972-09-23 00:00:00 | President Marcos is exultant | In the morning, President Marcos writes in his diary that he is tired, wants to sleep but is exultant. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 428. | ||
| 1972-09-23 00:00:00 | Executive Secretary Alejandro Melchor assures the U.S. that American interests will be protected under martial law | Sometime in the morning, local time, Executive Secretary Alejandro Melchor arrives in Washington, D.C.. He goes to the Pentagon and meets with Admiral Thomas Moorer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Melchor brings assuarances to the U.S. Government that American business interests will not be affected by martial law. Melchor also talks to John Holdridge of the National Security Council, Senate Majority Leader Michael Mansfield, and William Fulbright of the Foreign Relations Committee. Source: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 212. | ||
| 1972-09-23 09:00:00 | Martial Law announcement on live television scheduled at noon | Imelda convinces President Marcos to broadcast a live message on martial law instead of a pre-taped one. The President prefers to have Francisco “Kit” Tatad simply read Proclamation No. 1081 on TV. Imelda, however, insists he broadcast live. Marcos instructs for a speech to be prepared and schedules to go on air at noon. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 428. | ||
| 1972-09-23 10:00:00 | Rumors spread that President Marcos is being held hostage by the military | Most recollections of this time are of people waking up and seeing/hearing nothing on TV and radio. Rumors sweeping Manila at this time include “Marcos held prisoner by military in Malacañan.” Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 427. | ||
| 1972-09-23 10:00:00 | Channel 9 begins airing cartoons all day | Roberto Benedicto’s Channel 9 is the only one allowed to broadcast, but only airs cartoons. The station however, promises an “important announcement later in the day.” Muzak music also plays on the radio all day. Source: Raul Rodrigo, Phoenix: The Saga of the Lopez Family Volume 1: 1800 - 1972 (Manila: The Eugenio Lopez Foundation, Inc., 2000), p. 380. | ||
| 1972-09-23 10:00:00 | Delegate Augusto Espiritu learns martial law is in effect | Delegate Augusto Caesar Espiritu phones fellow Con-Con delegate Sotero Laurel, who confirms martial law is in effect. Laurel tells Espiritu that Jose Mari Velez and Napoleon Rama are among the Con-Con delegates who were arrested. Raul Roco, who is also on the list of arrest, is in hiding. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), pp. 426-427. | ||
| 1972-09-23 10:30:00 | Delegate Augusto Espiritu goes to the Constitutional Convention | Delegate Augusto Caesar Espiritu recounts in his diary: I went to the Convention Hall. The streets were almost deserted. By late morning there were still no newspapers, no radio broadcasts. In Quezon City, I saw two cars of soldiers with one civilian on the front seat in each of the cars—obviously taken into custody. There were some soldiers at the checkpoint near the Quezon Memorial Circle, but the soldiers didn’t molest anyone. At the Convention Hall, there was a note of hushed excitement, frustration and resignation. Now the reality is sinking into our consciousness. Martial law has been proclaimed! Rumors were rife that our most outspoken activist delegates, Voltaire Garcia, Joe Mari Velez, Nap Rama, Ding Lichauco and Sonny Alvarez have been arrested. I met Convention Sec. Pepe Abueva and he informed me that this was what he had also heard. The whole day, practically, was spent by us tensely waiting for some news. All sorts of rumors were floating around. | ||
| 1972-09-23 11:00:00 | Panic and frustration at the Constitutional Convention | Delegate Augusto Caesar Espiritu goes to the Con-Con at the Quezon City Hall. He tells Conrado de Quiros: Everyone was hoping to get word on what was happening but no one really seemed to know. Everyone felt oppressed and frustrated. Malacañang was impenetrable. Nothing was issuing out of its depths, except a notice that Marcos would appear on TV soon to make an important announcement. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 427. | ||
| 1972-09-23 11:30:00 | Detainees at Camp Crame, now numbering at around 8,000, are fingerprinted and photographed | Teodoro M. Locsin Sr. writes: “We were fingerprinted” and photographed with numbers on their chests “like common criminals.” Hernando Abaya writes that all detainees are kept at the Camp Crame gym, and 150 detainees are sharing 6 toilets, of which half didn't flush. Sources: Teodoro Locsin Sr. on Ninoy Aquino; Hernando Abaya, The Making of a Subversive: A Memoir (Quezon City: New Day Publishers), p. 8. | ||
| 1972-09-23 12:00:00 | Martial law broadcast is delayed | Announcement that President Marcos’ broadcast will be delayed “due to technical difficulties” is made by Vero Perfecto, the official government radio announcer. The real reason behind "technical difficulty" is that President Marcos’ speech is not yet ready. Con-Con delegate Augusto Caesar Espiritu, from the Constitutional Convention Hall, writes in his diary: It was repeatedly announced that President Marcos was going to give an important message at 12:00 noon. Twelve o’clock came and went, and there was no news; there was only an announcement that this was going to be made later. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), pp. 429. | ||
| 1972-09-23 12:00:00 | Charito Planas is “invited” to Camp Crame | Military shows up again at the National Press Club to make additional “invitations” to journalists. Charito Planas, who is visiting the NPC, is "invited" by the military. She is questioned, then allowed to go home from Camp Crame when it is “almost dark.” Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), pp. 426, 428. | ||
| 1972-09-23 14:00:00 | Rumors spread that movie star Joseph Estrada has been assassinated | Cecille Guidote is in tears when she tells Augusto Caesar Espiritu of the rumor that Joseph Estrada has been assassinated. Guidote is to appear with Estada in a TV show that day. Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 427. | ||
| 1972-09-23 14:30:00 | Martial law announcement scheduled at 3:30 pm | Delegate Augusto Caesar Espiritu writes in his diary: At 2:30 p.m., a new announcement came: this would be done at 3:30 p.m. | ||
| 1972-09-23 15:30:00 | Martial law announcement moved to 6:30 - 7:00 pm | Delegate Augusto Caesar Espiritu writes in his diary: Then it was announced that due to the fact that documents were still being looked over by the President and that TV sets were still being installed at Malacañang, the message of the President was going to be later, between 6:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. | ||
| 1972-09-23 19:15:00 | Declaration of martial law | At 7:15 pm, President Marcos goes live on national television and announces that he has placed the entire Philippines under a state of Martial Law by virtue of Proclamation No. 1081, s. 1972. . President Marcos repeatedly says: The proclamation of martial law is not a military takeover. It had to be done to protect the Philippines and our democracy… I repeat, this is not a military takeover… the Government of the Republic of the Philippines which was established by our people in 1946 continues. Again, I repeat. This is the same Government that you and the people established in 1946 under the Constitution of the Philippines. Sources: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 205; Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 429. Read more on the event: Declaration of Martial Law | ||
| 1972-09-23 19:30:00 | Press Secretary Tatad reads Proclamation No. 1081 | After President Marcos' speech, Press Secretary Francisco “Kit” Tatad reads Proclamation No. 1081, s. 1972 in full. An exhausted Tatad absently keeps scratching his leg while reading Proclamation No. 1081, earning him the moniker “Kamot.” Source: Conrado de Quiros, Dead Aim: How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (Pasig City: Foundation for Worldwide People's Power, Inc., 1997), p. 429-430. | ||
| 1972-09-23 19:00:00 | Con-Con delegates watch on TV as martial law is announced: “Big Brother is watching us!” | Delegate Augusto Caesar Espiritu, from the Convention Hall of the Con-Con, writes in his diary: The people could hardly wait. At 7:00 p.m., over the radio, during dinner with the ALDEC seminar participants, we heard President Marcos explaining the grounds for declaring martial law as well as the general orders given to the secretary of national defense, Juan Ponce Enrile, and to Press Sec. Francisco (Kit) Tatad. Tatad’s big face popped out on TV. He read for more than an hour, in what seemed to us sinister monotone, the full text of the presidential proclamation. “Big Brother is watching us,” exclaimed one of the participants while looking at Tatad’s face which filled the TV frame. But this is not 1984! George Orwell showed up too early in the Philippines. Tatad was continuously pouring out words that seemed to seal the fate of our people. We sat there and listened in mingled fear and confusion. Sadly and fearfully, we speculated on the possible fate of our militant friends who had spoken at the ALDEC seminar, yesterday and day before yesterday. They must have been taken into military custody already. Ding Lichauco must surely have been arrested, we conjectured, and Dante Simbulan, likewise. Possibly also Dodong Nemenzo, we thought. The Korean, Moonkyoo, tried to cheer us up. He has a tape of Ding Lichauco’s lecture and he said he would tell everyone that he has the last lecture of Lichauco before he was arrested. | ||
| 1972-09-23 20:15:00 | 11 detainees are placed on bus to an undisclosed location. | The 11 detainees (Senators Ninoy Aquino, Jose Diokno, and Ramon Mitra, Chino Roces, Teodoro M. Locsin, Enrique Voltaire Garcia III, Napoleon Rama, Vicente Rafael, former Senator Francisco Rodrigo, Max Soliven, and Jose Mari Velez) are placed on bus not told where they are being brought, or why. As they leave Camp Crame, Ninoy tells Hernando Abaya, “Magtatagal ito, Hernan, seguro sa Malinta ang tungo ko.” They are about to be transferred from Camp Crame to Fort Bonifacio. Source: Hernando J. Abaya, The Making of a Subversive: A Memoir (Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1984), p. 7. | ||
| 1972-09-23 20:30:00 | Ninoy Aquino thinks he and his co-detainees are about to be executed. | Vergel Santos quotes Ninoy Aquino as the bus from Camp Crame travels south on EDSA: “If we turn right on Buendia ... it’s Luneta [execution] for us.” Eventually the bus ends up at Fort Bonidacio. They will be allowed one-hour family visits almost daily. Interaction with other prisoners is from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm daily. Source: Vergel O. Santos, Chino and His Time (Pasig: Anvil, 2010), p. 32. | ||
| 1972-09-23 23:55:00 | Unpublished editorial of the Philippines Free Press | A dictatorship may promise security for its immediate beneficiaries for a certain period of time, but that security cannot last unless the people remain indefinitely submissive and do not rise in rebellion against their condition. The Filipino people did not submit willingly to the dictatorship of the Japanese invaders but fought, as President Marcos himself did, in unflagging resistance to it. He who would ride the tiger of dictatorship, and those who would go along with him, must be prepared to ride the tiger forever. But will the Filipino people allow them to do so till the end of time? The answer to dictatorship is revolution, with all the destruction of life and property that revolutions entail. How many are prepared to pay this price for whatever they may hope to gain from a Marcos dictatorship?. Editorial, dated September 23, 1972. Due to the media closure, this never makes it to the press. | ||
| 1972-09-23 00:20:00 | President Marcos highlights his “achievements” in his diary | President Marcos writes down a brief summary of the previous day's achievements: Things have moved according to plan although out of the total 200 target personalities in the plan only 52 have been arrested, including the three senators, Aquino, Diokno and Mitra and Chino Roces and Teddy Locsin. At 7:15 PM I finally appeared on a nationwide TV and Radio broadcast to announce the proclamation of martial law, the general orders and instructions. I place them in Envelope XXXV-C. I was supposed to broadcast at 12:00AM but technical difficulties prevented it. We had closed all TV stations. We had to clear KBS which broadcast it live. VOP and PBS broadcast it by radio nationwide. The broadcast turned out rather well and Mons. Gaviola as well as the [illegible] friends liked it. But my most exacting critic, Imelda, found it impressing. I watched the replay at 9:00 PM. I have amended curfew from 8-6 to 12-4. Arms bearing outside residence without permit punishable by death. | ||
| 1972-09-24 00:00:00 | Presidential Decree No. 1, s. 1972 | President Marcos issues Presidential Decree No. 1, which reorganizes the government. This is his first exercise of the legislative (lawmaking) power he assumed by virtue of General Order No. 1. | ||
| 1972-09-24 00:00:00 | Some senators get a copy of Proclamation No. 1081 and General Order No. 1 | Senator Emmanuel Pelaez goes to Malacañan and obtained a copy of Proclamation No. 1081 and General Order No. 1. Later, in a meeting at the office of Senator Jose Roy, Senator Arturo Tolentino reacts: “This is a coup d’etat!” Source: Arturo M. Tolentino, Voice of Dissent (Quezon City: Phoenix Press, Inc., 1990), p. 541. | ||
| 1972-09-24 00:00:00 | Liberal Party leader Gerardo Roxas convenes a party meeting | Senator Gerry Roxas calls for a meeting of the Liberal Party at his Bahay na Puti residence. Jovito Salonga notices that those who said they would oppose martial law are no longer sure about what to do. Salonga also notices the “Marcos Liberals” are unusually quiet. Gerry Roxas then talks to Jovito Salonga about his visit to Ninoy Aquino in prison. Roxas tells Salonga that Ninoy, angry and resentful, shouted at him. Ninoy felt that he [Gerry], as a friend and as head of the Liberal Party, had not done enough for him and other members of the opposition now behind bars. Salonga tells Gerry to keep his cool and adds, “The time may come… when we may join the underground.” Source: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 207. | ||
| 1972-09-25 00:00:00 | DPI begins censorship of all media | The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) issues two orders. Order No. 1 stipulates that all publications must have DPI clearance and prohibits the publication of editorial comment and seditious content. Order No. 2 prohibits the production of any form of mass media without permission from the DPI. Source: Rosalinda Pineda-Ofreneo, The Manipulated Press: A History of Philippine Journalism Since 1945 (Mandaluyong: Cacho Hermanos, 1984), p. 135-136. | ||
| 1972-09-25 00:00:00 | President Marcos meets Supreme Court justices and threatens to abolish SC if they hear the petitions of detainees for the writ of habeas corpus | Marcos writes in his diary: Diokno, Chino Roces, Max Soliven etc. have filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus before the Supreme Court. I asked Justices Claudio Teehangkee, Antonio Barredo, Felix Macasiar and Felix Antonio to see us. They insisted that the government should submit to the Supreme Court for the Court to review the constitutionality of the proclamation of martial law, Proclamation No. 1081. So I told them in the presence of Secs. Ponce Enrile and Vicente Abad Santos as well as Sol. Gen. Estelito Mendoza that if necessary I would formally declare the establishment of a revolutionary government so that I can formally disregard the actions of the Supreme Court. They insisted that we retain a color of constitutionality for everything that we do. But I feel that they are still image-building and do not understand that a new day has dawned. While they claim to be for a reformed society, they are not too motivated but are too bound by technical legalism. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1972-09-26 00:15:00 | President Marcos remarks that martial law is “successful” | Marcos writes in his diary: “The public reaction throughout the Philippines is a welcome to martial law because of the smooth, peaceful reestablishment of peace and order and the hope of a reformed society. In fact most everyone now says, this should have been done earlier. It is indeed gratifying that everyone now finds or discovers I am some kind of a hero! There is nothing as successful as success!" Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries, (New York: Little Brown, 1993). | ||
| 1972-09-26 00:00:00 | President Marcos amends General Order No. 2. | President Marcos amends General Order No. 2, by issuing General Order No. 2-A, detailing the criteria on who to arrest. | ||
| 1972-09-26 00:00:00 | More arrests are being made | Espiritu recalls his day at the Constitutional Convention session hall: Sig Siguion-Reyna came to me and whispered that he was with Defense Minister Johnny Enrile, his brother-in-law, last night. These people mean business, he said. While he was with Enrile, they talked about a news item that Roquito Ablan was seen at Forbes Park. Sig said that Enrile himself ordered his soldiers: “Well, let’s put him immediately in the stockade, otherwise the people might say we are playing favorites with these people. We must get him in immediately. Likewise, when he was with Enrile, there was a phone call from President Marcos asking Enrile whether Mrs. Gordon, the mother of delegate Dick Gordon, was in the list. Enrile answered that she was in the first list but that he had already taken out her name. Enrile told Marcos he didn’t know why she was arrested by the military in spite of the fact that her name had already been taken out of the list. | ||
| 1972-09-27 00:00:00 | William Mitchell of American Chamber of Commerce commends President Marcos | William Mitchell, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, telegrams Marcos, wishing him “success in [his] endeavors to restore peace and order, business confidence, economic growth, and the well-being of the Filipino people and nation” and assuring him of their “confidence and cooperation in achieving these objectives.” Source: Daniel B. Schirmer and Stephen Rosskamm Shalom, The Philippines Reader: A History of Colonialism, Neocolonialism, Dictatorship, and Resistance (Quezon City: KEN, Incorporated, 1987), p. 229-230. | ||
| 1972-09-27 00:00:00 | President Marcos justifies the harsh treatment to Philippine media | President Marcos, in his address at Malacañan Palace Reception Hall, says: The enemy uses the weapons of modern revolution, the media - newspapers, television and radio -to promote anything that assaults and destroys the foundation of society. Therefore, the commander-in-chief must meet this threat not only with modern artillery, tanks, bullets and rifles, but with the most sophisticated weapons of preventive operations, of even media. This is the rationale for the arrest of some in media who consciously the printing, publication, dissemination, and spreading of stories to undermine the system in which we live; strengthened the morale, or give aid and comfort to the enemy. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 328. | ||
| 1972-09-29 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino a week after his arrest | |||
| 1972-09-29 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino a week after his arrest | |||
| 1972-09-30 00:00:00 | This is the cover of the September 30, 1972 issue of Philippines Free Press. Due to Marcos shutting down the media, this never hit the newsstands. | |||
| 1972-10-01 00:00:00 | Electrical power rates are slashed | President Marcos slashes electric power rates to the delight of the public. This is interpreted as a well-aimed blow to the Lopezes, the managers and controlling shareholders of Meralco. Source: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 212. | ||
| 1972-10-03 00:00:00 | Two weeks after martial law, more of Marcos' political opponents are detained | Among those detained are: Amando Doronilla, Luis Beltran, Bobby Ordoñez, Roque Ablan, Jr., Luis Taruc, Alfredo Saulo, Ernie Granada, Luis Teodoro, Angel Baking, and Sammy Rodriguez. | ||
| 1972-10-03 00:00:00 | President Marcos is interviewed by NBC's Meet the Press | During a satellite interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, President Marcos addresses questions regarding Martial Law. NBC’s Carl Rowan asks the President, “we get reports out of Manila that you may keep Martial Law in effect of two years. How long do you anticipate keeping these extraordinary powers?” Pres. Marcos answers,”It is my hope that I will be able to lift Martial Law within my term as President, that is, before the end of 1973. However, I cannot guarantee this. Probably, the Communists can answer this question though.” Rowan follows up, “Mr. President, under the present Constitution, you are not able to succeed yourself as President. Will you state categorically that you will relinquish power at the end of your term?” President Marcos says, “It is my intention to do so and I so state categorically.” Source: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 212. | ||
| 1972-10-05 00:00:00 | Con-Con plans to finish a draft of the new Constitution quickly | Espiritu writes in his diary: President Macapagal later told us that in the Planning and Administrative Review Committee a decision has been made to create a group that is smaller than the Plenary Committee but large enough to be democratic and to ensure support by the plenary. Such a body, he said, will be composed of the executive officers of the Convention, namely, the president, the president pro tempore, the vice-presidents, the chairman and members of the Steering Council, the chairman and members of the Sponsorship Council and the floor leaders. This would amount to something like 126 people. These people would go over or write entirely the draft of the New Constitution, using as bases (1) the drafts already approved on second reading, (2) the consolidated provisions, such as the provisions on the national economy adopted by the chairman and officers of the 12 committees under Ramon (Monet) Tirol, and (3) those provisions which shall have been written out by the Steering Council based on the committee reports, after such reports shall have been harmonized. There seems to be merit in what Macapagal is proposing. This would probably enable the Convention to finish its task by January 13, 1973. He has a valid point when he said that all of the delegates, irrespective of their individual views and convictions, are interested in finishing a good Constitution as soon as possible so that the Constitution can be presented before the Convention fizzles out. In the evening, I went over President Marcos’ book, Today’s Revolution: Democracy. I had read the first two chapters last year but, in the light of present developments, there is a need to read the book again, particularly the more practical chapters in the middle portion and the last chapter entitled “The New Society.” | ||
| 1972-10-06 00:00:00 | Con-Con Delegate Aquilino Pimentel confronts the Supreme Court | Con-Con delegate Aquilino Pimentel goes to the Supreme Court. The next day, fellow delegate Augusto Caesar Espirtu writes in his diary: Pimentel had appeared at the Supreme Court yesterday. “It was quite beautiful the way the thing had proceeded.” He was almost ecstatic. He had told the judges point-blank that if the Supreme Court did not do its duty now, they may find themselves in the same predicament as Chief Justice Taney in Ex Parte Merryman during the U.S. civil war. Taney had pitifully bewailed the illegality of Lincoln’s suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and his (Taney’s) own inability to release those arrested. He said that the conditions did not warrant the declaration of martial law. To begin with, the bombings could not be used as an excuse. For example, Pimentel warmed up, who were caught after the grenade bombing of Plaza Miranda a year ago? There were some convicts among them, but there was absolutely no proof that the NPAs have really done it. Again, who bombed Joe’s store at Carriedo? A PC trooper, not NPAs. Who was suspected of bombing the Con-Con? Two men dressed in PC uniforms were seen running away; in fact, it was probably because he was yelling and telling everyone that he saw two soldiers coming out of the toilet (which was the epicenter of the bombing) that Pepito Nolledo was later arrested. Nene told the Supreme Court that it was their historic duty to do something to avert disaster. He apologized for speaking that way, but he was before a court of justice and if he could not speak there, he would not be able to speak anywhere else. Nene said that he had discerned from the interrogations that Chief Justice Concepcion and Justices Fernando and Teehankee and possibly Fred Ruiz Castro were probably sympathetic. It’s too bad, I said, that JBL Reyes is no longer in the Supreme Court. According to him, the responses to the interrogation of the solicitor general, Titong Mendoza by Chief Justice Roberto Concepcion, showed that Titong himself was quite skeptical about the government’s actions. The CEPO meeting I attended afterwards was held at the Army & Navy Club. When Tavi Tavanlar came in, he informed us that there was a think tank that was helping President Marcos formulate economic policies. Among the regular members that he had seen in these meetings of the group were Armand Fabella, Gerry Sicat, Ting Paterno, Bong Tanco and a few other guys. Tavanlar suggested that CEPO should formulate certain economic policies for presentation to this think tank. What? Actively collaborate with the man primarily responsible for the loss of our freedoms—and the arbitrary arrests and even tortures? What a preposterous idea! | ||
| 1972-10-08 00:00:00 | Military ransacks what they think is Francisco Nemenzo's desk | Delegate Augusto Espiritu writes in his diary about UP professor Francisco Nemenzo. He writes: Strolling at the Rizal Park this evening, I met Prof. Fred Morales. He told me how the military had burst into the Political Science Department of the UP and ransacked what they thought was the desk of Prof. Francisco (Dodong) Nemenzo. The papers were all over the place. Apparently, however, they searched the wrong desk; the desk was that of Prof. Emy Arcellana’s. | ||
| 1972-10-09 00:00:00 | Delegate Espiritu confirms Malacañan bribe on Con-Con to approve the current draft of the Constitution | Espiritu writes in his diary: The other information that I conveyed to Barbara (Howell, a Christian journalist based in Singapore) was the possibility that there will be a transition government, that is to say, there will be no elections in 1973 but simply extension of offices of the president, vice president and the members of Congress until 1975. Apparently, from all indications, this would jibe with the growing expectations that there would be no election in 1975. George Borromeo of Camiguin was in a joyous mood when I arrived at the session hall. The assumption, he said, is that if the transition provision is approved immediately after approval of the new Constitution in a plebiscite, we shall be sitting in as assemblymen. This, apparently, is the word from Malacañang. So, when George sponsored an amendment saying that the members of the National Assembly shall receive ₱5,000 a month each, with allowance including equipment, transportation, travel and technical staff also amounting to ₱5,000, he was in effect giving Noli Aguilar (who was sitting beside him) and the other delegates a lot of salary starting upon the approval of the Constitution. And it will be approved, he prophesied. I was speechless at this outburst of jubilation. “What are we in power for?” I still recall how much, in our youth, we had condemned Senator Avelino who had uttered those immoral words. | ||
| 1972-10-10 00:00:00 | More news on the 11 Con-Con delegates detained by the military | Delegate Augusto Espiritu writes in his diary: There are now 11 delegates to the Convention who have been taken into custody. Of the 11, the two who have been released are Voltaire Garcia and George Viterbo. The nine others who are still inside are: Nap Rama, Joe Man Velez, Bren Guiao, Natalio (Talio) Bacalzo, JoeCon, Ernie Rondon, Pepito Nolledo, Tito Guingona and Ding Lichauco. Possibly, six or seven more are in the list of wanted delegates. These are Raul Manglapus, who was able to get out of the country before martial law was proclaimed; Antonio (Tonypet) Araneta, over whom there was no reliable information as to whether he is inside or outside the country; Bonifacio (Boni) Gillego, Sonny Alvarez, Romy Capulong and Raul Roco, all of whom are in hiding; and possibly Pepe Calderon, whose house was raided by the military the other day. | ||
| 1972-10-12 00:00:00 | Non-detainee Con-Con delegates plan to fast-track the voting for the transitory provision of the new constitution supported by President Marcos | Delegate Augusto Caesar Espiritu writes about his conversation with Representative Nicanor Yñiguez: Aying also confided to us that, according to Bebet Duavit, President Marcos supports wholeheartedly the transitory provision of the new Constitution (a rather great understatement!). Aying then asked my help in getting a unanimous vote. “But Aying, I might be out of the country when this happens,” I demurred. Aying was not convinced. “You will still be here because this thing will be taken up next week already. You cannot possibly be out of the country then—even if you wanted to.” Next week? This is hard to believe. The transitory provision would be taken up next week? Marcos would like a grateful nation to crown him next week? Certainly not! This should be taken up, if at all, next year! It will be next year, I convinced myself before I went to bed. | ||
| 1972-10-14 00:00:00 | Delegate Espiritu learns that the draft constitution will make President Marcos as both Prime Minister and President in the Interim Assembly. | Espiritu recounts his conversation with Delegate Goding Ramos the day before: Delegate Goding Ramos told me yesterday that Marcos will exercise the powers of the presidency under the 1935 Constitution and will, in addition, be made prime minister and president in the interim assembly under the New Constitution. The draft provision also provides that all decrees, special orders and all the letters of instruction made by the President of the Philippines “are hereby confirmed and ratified” and therefore are made legal and binding as part of the law of the land. The National Assembly may consider the question of the lifting or non-lifting of martial law, but then, the National Assembly can be called only at the discretion of the prime minister. This is a little too much. We are really being made rubber stamps of the people in power, Ramos complained. He said that the only reason he was in rapport with the majority, until this time, was because of his desire to push through a parliamentary form of government for the country. Manong Tony Raquiza, an old fox who has been an ally of Marcos for years, agreed with this observation. This was not necessary; the President’s power can be sustained by us constitutionally without having to put the words “are hereby confirmed and ratified.” What will future generations say if this were approved? Even Raquiza—bless his rotten soul!—promised to work for the removal of the objectionable features. | ||
| 1972-10-15 00:00:00 | More Con-Con delegates ordered arrested, placed under surveillance | Two lists are made, classifying Constitutional Convention delegates to be arrested. Primary: Napoleon Rama, Joe Mari Velez, Ding Lichauco (already apprehended), Sonny Alvarez, Boni Gillego, Romy Capulong, Raul Roco (at large), Raul Manglapus, and Tonypet Araneta (abroad) Secondary: Pepito Nolledo, Natalio Bacalzo, Tito Guingona, Joe Concepcion, and George Viterbo (already arrested) Other delegates are put under surveillance: Augusto Caesar and Rebeck Espiritu, Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, Naning Kalaw, Erning Amatong, and Lilia Delima. | ||
| 1972-10-20 00:00:00 | 1972-11-29 00:00:00 | Constitutional Convention votes for transitory provision of the new constitution. | The Constitutional Convention decides to suspend the rules and immediately put Marcos' powers to a vote, with 264 voting “yes” and 14 voting “no.” On October 23, Con-Con President Macapagal asks the Convention to suspend its rules and form a smaller body to draft a completely new charter. The 166-man Special Committee convenes on October 24. On November 29, 273 out of 320 delegates vote to approve the new Constitution. | |
| 1972-10-23 00:00:00 | Aquino, Rodrigo, Rama, Rafael, Soliven, Dionlo, Mitra, Locsin and Roces are detained in one building partitioned by plywoods. | Delegate Jose Mari Velez recounts: By the second month of our detention we [Ninoy, Rodrigo, Nap Rama, Vicente Rafael, Max Soliven, Senator Diokno, Senator Mitra, Teddy Locsin, and Chino Roces] were all placed in one building and we just had these plywood partitions and that was when we were all together. For one thing we were actually isolated from the rest of the world in the sense that there were no newspapers, no magazines, no radio [...] | ||
| 1972-10-25 00:00:00 | Steering Council takes over the Con-Con, setting aside the draft of the delegates and creating a new draft constitution. | Espiritu writes in his diary about the agenda of the convention earlier: The discussion was on a resolution filed by Toto de la Cruz that the 166-man body designated (by who else?) to write the Constitution should authorize the Steering Council, as its ad-hoc committee, to prepare the first draft. And what about the rest of the delegates? Placed in the ice box! During the interpellations, Toto said the meaning is that, hereafter, the whole Constitution would be written by the Steering Council, to be submitted to the 166-man body for ratification. Also, the Steering Council and this body may change any provision already approved in plenary session on second reading. It was made plain during the interpellation that this would mean that we would be in the situation where we were during our pre-Convention meetings. In other words, the Con-Con, through the Steering Council of the 166-man body, would start all over again. All our work of the last 16 months in the Con-Con would be set aside—although they would be “taken into consideration.” All our efforts and all the expenses of the government were for naught. [...] I may now have to cross swords with Toto. Still, it would be difficult to come out strongly against his proposal—an outrageous proposal foreordained to pass because of numbers. What a pity! This was clearly a conspiracy. It was unbelievable, but true. Oka Leviste said there was no choice. But I could not vote for this deliberate frustration of our will—the unceremonious junking of the decisions taken by us in the last 16 months. This was one of our darkest hours in the Convention. I went out of the session hall during the voting without casting my vote. I was informed later that only 12 people voted against the outrageous resolution for the body to surrender all powers to the Steering Council. There was some lame opposition to the resolution from Julian Locsin and Ikeng Corpuz. The surprising thing was that it seemed that the Sponsorship Council has been decimated. It is supposed to be the largest body in the Convention. What about the committee chairmen and vice chairmen? Why did they not utter any word of protest? This could not be true, I told some friends. But Oka Leviste said this was true. Once more, he said that the Constitution has already been drafted in Malacañang. | ||
| 1972-10-28 00:00:00 | President Marcos seizes Jacinto companies | According to Primitivo Mijares, President Marcos directs Secretary of National Defense Juan Ponce Enrile “to take over and control the assets” of the corporations owned by Fernando Jacinto, a critic of the Marcos administration. The government seizes Jacinto Steel Inc., Jacinto Iron and Sheets Corporation, J&P Shipping Corporation, Beatriz Marketing and Trading Corporation, and Ferro Products Inc. The order also covers the seizure of a newspaper printing plant and two radio stations. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 192. | ||
| 1972-11-01 00:00:00 | Imelda Marcos praises Guillermo De Vega for manipulating the Con-Con | Sometime in November, according to Primitivo Mijares, in a conference between the President and the military leaders, the First Lady recognizes the accomplishment of Presidential Assistant Guillermo De Vega's mission to manipulate the Constitutional Convention. Mrs. Marcos allegedly says: Pasalamat kayo at mayroong Gimo De Vega. Kung hindi siya nag-maniobra sa Con-Con upang matalo ang ‘ban-Marcos’ resolution, wala tayong “1081” ngayon. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 162. | ||
| 1972-11-02 00:00:00 | More people are arrested. | A mixed group of new “guests” (which includes a labor leader, a college professor, several politicians, two foreign priests, newspapermen, and an obvious “plant”) are taken in by the Non-Resident Institute, a low structure used as a lecture hall for officer trainees, cramping up the once orderly quarters housing Hernando J. Abaya and others. Source: Hernando J. Abaya, The Making of a Subversive: A Memoir (Quezon City: H.J. Abaya and New Day Publishers), p. 10-11 | ||
| 1972-11-06 00:00:00 | Amendments made by the Con-Con delegates on the draft constitution by the Steering Committee are set aside, as they are "passe." | Espiritu writes in his diary about the developments of the Constitutional Convention Steering Council: The 166-man body met this afternoon but the session lasted only for ten minutes. We were given until Wednesday, two days from now, to file our amendments to the new draft prepared by the Steering Council. This is outrageous. To begin with, we were forced to submit amendments last Friday. Now we were informed that this is already passe ; they were amendments to a draft Constitution that, in the meantime, had been revised by the Steering Council. [...] The fire of enthusiasm is gone from many delegates. What a pity that we have an assembly of talents but only a mediocre Constitution—at best—will, in the end, be framed. Mediocre? Hopefully—and not worse—a reactionary constitution for a dictator. | ||
| 1972-11-07 00:00:00 | All Philippine media is placed under the control of the Mass Media Council. | President Marcos issues Presidential Decree No. 36 s. 1972 placing sll media under the control of the Mass Media Council. | ||
| 1972-11-07 00:00:00 | Con-Con delegates are bothered by the new constitution drafted by the Steering Council, which they called "very, very rightist." | Espiritu writes in his diary about the frustration of some delegates of the Constitutional Convention regarding the actions of the Steering Council: Gary Teves was depressed. “This is a rightist Constitution that the Steering Council has produced,” he complained. Ben Campomanes commented that only one provision—that of central monetary authority—was included from his committee report. But even that, Gary said, was meaningless because the other important provisions on the economy were not there. Besides, what was important on the central monetary authority was the constitutional officers. Their fears have a basis. There is a decisive relationship between economic development and democracy. Daunting economic problems, highlighted by mediocre economic growth, have brought down some elitist and facade democracies in Latin America, which had reeled from the weight of tremendous inequalities in wealth and political power. “There is no improvement over the 1935 Constitution. We are trying to change the system,” Gary lamented, “and the only thing that the Steering Council has contributed is the transitory provision, which is very, very rightist.” A climate of frustration and resignation is spreading among the delegates over what the Steering Council has been doing. It seems that all hopes have been given up of forging a Constitution that shall really be reformist in character. Erning Amatong sadly said that the tragedy was that each time we gave in a little, the majority would grab more and more. I felt sorry, too. Erning is one of the straight guys who was wavering on how he would vote in the transitory provision. He had voted “Yes” on the understanding that we might all hide when the time for the signing of the Constitution comes. “We are just saving ourselves from being arrested now,” I had assured him. “And we shall never take the oath (of office as members of the Marcos-controlled Assembly). | ||
| 1972-11-09 00:00:00 | Grievance on Marcos: human rights violations of dissenters and spreading fear | Espiritu writes in his diary about his grievances against President Marcos: My fundamental grievance against Marcos has to do with the violations of the human rights of dissenters and the creation of a climate of fear all over the land. Froilan Bacungan defended the action of the President last Sunday, telling me that if we can forget our personal interests and think only in terms of society and the country, then the deprivation of our freedom is well worth it. In other words, instead of being bitter, Ninoy Aquino should just think of his incarceration as the sacrifice he is making for his country? And this should go for all others in the stockades, including ourselves, if we were arrested? Does this really make sense? But the other problem that really bothers me is the fact that the President has practically staged a coup in the Convention. He has literally dictated some provisions of the new Constitution. This is indecent, immoral. And was it necessary? We have already given him—under duress—all that he wanted in terms of political power. Was it still necessary for him to impose his will on the other provisions? Unbelievable as it may seem, we now believe that it is, indeed, true that he has gone over the whole draft of the Constitution, provision by provision, and made corrections in them in his own handwriting. [...] [Don Fernando Sison] also informed us that many delegates in the Convention, from the time we were discussing the form of government we should adopt, were receiving ₱1,000 each per attendance to make sure that the provision on parliamentary form of government would win. Really? I never knew this! Don Fernando said there was so much publicity about people being dismissed from the government for malversing the calamity funds—but these are the small fry. Some people have been dismissed for malversing ₱10 million but the government has malversed nearly half a billion. “How do you account for the funds? The President has not made any accounting. That is the reason why before martial law Senator Tolentino and others were asking that Malacañang make an accounting.” “So you see,” he continued, “it is easy enough for the delegates to be paid. There are enough funds.” | ||
| 1972-11-14 00:00:00 | The changing of the country's name to "Maharlika" is said to be "snowballing" in the Con-Con. | Espiritu writes in his diary his thoughts on a proposal to change the name of the Philippines: The Daily Express reported this morning that a move to change the name of the Philippines to the “Republic of Maharlika” is snowballing among the 166-man body of the Special Committee of the Constitutional Convention. Of course, it is not true that it is snowballing; most delegates have never heard of this move. Nevertheless, I have a strange feeling about this. [...] I remember that even the annual Rizal lecture two years ago by Renato Constantino at Fort Santiago dwelt on this. In any case “Maharlika” is a beautiful word except that Marcos has prostituted it. It now symbolizes not only Marcos’ guerrilla outfit during the war but his authoritarian rule as well. | ||
| 1972-11-16 00:00:00 | Yñiguez is beginning to have doubts on the draft of the new constitution. | Espiritu writes in his diary about his conversation with Nicanor "Aying" Yñiguez regarding the new form of government proposed in the Con-Con: Aying Yñiguez had batted strongly for a parliamentary form of government but now he was saying he cannot defend it. “I will approve it, I will sign it, but I cannot defend it,” he admitted. “In fact, this is theoretically indefensible,” he added. “Aying, why should a respectable guy like you, who is close to Marcos, not go to him and tell him: ‘Here in the transitory provision, we give you all the powers that you need. The rest of the Constitution shall, however, be rational with the great principle of checks and balances institutionalized.'” He replied that this cannot be done anymore because there is really a cordon sanitaire around the President. Not even his father, Congressman Yñiguez, could penetrate this ring to see the President. I asked him how the Americans look at this. He said that the Americans now approve of this—until such time as Marcos should blunder. He added that the government is really now embarking on a policy that would suit the needs of Americans. Aying affirmed that the military is as strong as ever. He sensed, however, there is now a division in the ranks of the military between the old and the young. The old composing the leadership in the military, of course, fully support President Marcos. But this cannot be said of young military officers. And the President is aware of this. | ||
| 1972-11-27 00:00:00 | Lopez and Osmeña III are arrested | Presidential security forces separately arrest Eugenio Lopez Jr. and Sergio Osmeña III. They are imprisoned at Fort Bonifacio. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 305. | ||
| 1972-11-27 00:00:00 | Delegate Espiritu: "We now have a brand new Constitution. A Marcos Constitution. Authoritarianism has been institutionalized." | Espiritu writes in his diary about the events in the Constitutional Convention: We went through the whole ritual of having one amendment after another presented to the body refused by the committee, and overwhelmingly disapproved or withdrawn by the proponents. Whenever it was an amendment which would be quite difficult, a recess would be called by the committee members—Tony Tupaz, Tony de Guzman, Peps Bengzon, etc.—and then they would talk to the proponents. It was almost unbelievable—the way this would be followed by withdrawals of amendments by the proponents. I started swapping jokes with my neighbors, “Madali palang magpa-withdraw.” “How?” “Two words are uttered by the committee people: ‘Isusumbong kita.'” “Maybe it is not only ‘isusumbong kita,’ maybe it is ‘ipapa-stockade kita.'” We laughed. Our laughter was tinged with sadness. [...] Before I could think through my dilemma or banish my fears, voting was called. Those who were voting “No” were asked to stand up. I found myself instinctively standing up—to join the “No” voters. In half a second, Joe Feria joined me. But before we could fully straighten up, a sudden loud roar of approval burst out. The overwhelming majority of the delegates had obviously voted for the approval of the Constitution! We now have a brand new Constitution. A Marcos Constitution. Authoritarianism has been institutionalized. The lapdogs of the dictator were delirious with joy. [...] Many delegates started asking what had happened. All in one minute. But (Vice President) Abe (Sarmiento) was already far away on another item in the agenda. The railroad team had worked so efficiently. There was no discussion, no explanation. Our Independent-Progressive coalition likes Abe but many delegates get exasperated when at times he becomes too cooperative with the establishment. What is the meaning of the latest action? The clear meaning is that now it is not only the judge who may issue a warrant of arrest as provided for in the present Bill of Rights. It may be such other responsible officers as may be authorized by law. And law may be a decree. Which means, by a decree the President can ask any colonel or major or any other government officer, say, a chief-of-police, to arrest anyone. It was not until some 15 minutes later that the full impact of the most recent action of the Convention was realized by most delegates. But by then everything was finished. | ||
| 1972-11-28 00:00:00 | Con-Con exonerates those involved in the Quintero Expose. | Espiritu recounts events in the Con-Con session hall: “The session was about to adjourn when I returned. There were fireworks because Ambassador Quintero was going to speak. Tony Sison, chairman, explained the action taken by the Committee on Privileges with respect to the investigation of the famous Quintero expose of Marcos payola in May 1972. He reported that his Committee had found “no scintilla of evidence to prove the charges of Delegate Quintero.” (Quintero had charged that he kept on being sent money in envelopes by Marcos to vote along certain lines.) Sison then moved that all the persons mentioned in the expose, including the first lady, Imelda Marcos, be exonerated of the charges against them and that the case be deemed terminated. The motion was approved overwhelmingly. This is, indeed, the world of the absurd! Quintero tried to stand up. He was very angry. But he was not allowed to speak. By then partisanship was running so high. The delegates had lost their reason. The session ended almost in an uproar. Delegates Bongbong and Jaime Opinion were very angry too—at Quintero. Do executioners really get angry with innocent victims? “They had very guilty feelings,” Rebeck commented.” | ||
| 1972-11-30 00:00:00 | 1972-12-01 00:00:00 | Con-Con submits draft of Constitution to President Marcos | The 1971 Constitutional Convention submits a draft Constitution to President Marcos. The next day, he issues Presidential Decree No. 73, submitting the document to the people for ratification through a plebiscite. Macapagal formally submits the proposed new Constitution to President Marcos - “by this act, Macapagal legally terminated the convention.” President Marcos approves the revised draft of the Constitution providing transitory provisions confirming the legitimacy of all presidential orders and decrees. Senator Arturo Tolentino claims in his memoirs that the transitory provisions (Article XVII) of the 1973 Constitution were drafted under Pres. Marcos’ “guidance” as some provisions were even made by Pres. Marcos himself then passed to a “working group”. The source of Sen. Tolentino’s claim was former Sen. Estanislao Fernandez, a member of the said “working group” that finished the transitory provisions in Malacañang. Sen. Tolentino then describes Con-Con President Diosdado Macapagal on his memoirs as a “willing participant in the setting up of a Marcos dictatorship by means of the Constitution.” Former Sen. Estanislao Fernandez also claims that: “Macapagal agreed the Transitory Provisions because of an arrangement entered into among him, Pres. Marcos and Speaker Cornelio Villareal. The arrangement was that Marcos would be the interim Prime Minister, Macapagal the interim President and Villareal the Speaker of the interim National Assembly.” Sources: Tolentino, Arturo, Voice of Dissent, (Quezon City: Phoenix Publishing, 1990), p. 537 - 540; David Wurfel, Filipino Politics: Development and Decay, (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila Press), p. 115. | |
| 1972-12-01 03:00:00 | The Constitutional Convention ends. | Espiritu reflects on the day of the signing of the Constitution: Our hearts went out to our colleagues as the soldiers came forward; they were to be returned to the stockades. “Do not lose hope!” Joe Feria, Naning Kalaw and I chorused as we waved at them. Not lose hope? Did we really mean what we said? But today, the 30th of November, 1972, did we not really lose hope ourselves? On this day of infamy, did we not bury our dreams? The Con-Con is over. Finished. “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith,” Paul had written to Timothy. But as for us, did we fight the good fight, really, or did we simply capitulate? The Constitution has been bastardized. Authoritarianism has been legalized—but surely not legitimized! Where is that acceptance by the population of rulers imbued with superior moral, intellectual and political capabilities which Antonio Gramsci says, is the hallmark of legitimacy? | ||
| 1972-12-01 00:00:00 | Eugenio Lopez allegedly the mastermind of a planned Marcos assassination | Sometime in December, the Philippine government provides information to a Washington Star-News reporter claiming that the mastermind for the alleged assassination attempt against President Marcos is Eugenio Lopez Sr. The Philippine government adds that the said information was provided by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. This news is widely circulated in the United States. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976), p. 311. | ||
| 1972-12-01 00:00:00 | First batch of detainees released | President Marcos orders the release of the first batch of detainees with full media coverage. Among those released are Senator Ramon Mitra; Convention delegates Jose Concepcion, Teofisto Guingona Jr., Alejandro Lichauco, Napoleon Rama, Jose Nolledo, Ernesto Rondon, and Jose Mari Velez; and media personalities Joaquin Roces, Teodoro Locsin Sr., Maximo Soliven, Juan Mercado, Benedicto David, Celso Carunungan, and Ruben Cusipag. Only Senators Ninoy Aquino and Jose W. Diokno, the likeliest rivals of Marcos in a free election, remain in the Maximum Security Unit of Fort Bonifacio. Sources: Hernando Abaya, The Making of a Subversive: A Memoir (Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1984), p. 15; Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 217. | ||
| 1972-12-02 00:00:00 | Opposition solons file petition to nullify the January 15 plebiscite. | The Daily Express reports that President Marcos told the military “to allow free and open discussions of the Charter draft.” Opposition senators, congressmen, and convention delegates file a petition to nullify the plebiscite set for January 15, 1973. Source: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 2, 217. | ||
| 1972-12-04 00:00:00 | Second batch of detainees release | Most media personalities and journalists and two Con-Con delegates are released. | ||
| 1972-12-07 00:00:00 | Assassination attempt on First Lady Imelda Marcos | A televised open air meeting of First Lady Imelda Marcos is disrupted as an assailant, later identified as Carlito Dimahilig, climbs the stage and tries to assassinate Mrs. Marcos by stabbing her with a bolo. Dimahilig was shot dead by the security detail of the First Lady. Sources: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 217. | ||
| 1972-12-07 00:00:00 | Assassination attempt on First Lady Imelda Marcos | |||
| 1972-12-10 00:00:00 | Senator Doy Laurel returns to the Philippines | Senator Salvador “Doy” Laurel returns from exile in New York. He is met by Defense Undersecretary Manny Salientes, who brings him an invitation to see President Marcos the next day. Laurel knows that he is only second on the list of targeted people to be arrested on the eve of martial law, the first being Senator Aquino. Source: Lewis E. Gleeck, Jr., President Marcos and the Philippine Political Culture (Manila: Loyal Printing, Inc., 1987), p. 120. | ||
| 1972-12-11 00:00:00 | President Marcos meets Senator Doy Laurel | Senator Laurel and President Marcos meet at the Palace. According to Laurel, the President pleads with him to accept martial law. Senator Laurel replies: “Mr. President, martial law, which you now hold in your hands, is a double-bladed weapon. It can be used to cut for good or evil. Use it only to cut for good, Mr. President, and you won’t have to worry about me.” Senator Laurel gives President Marcos the benefit of the doubt. He will later write: I had been away for three months. I didn’t know all the facts. So I told myself: Let’s see what the real score is. And I looked around. There was curfew: people were hurrying home before midnight. The public was using the pedestrian lanes. Private armies had been disbanded. There seemed to be a bit more peace and order. Our balance of trade had shown some improvement. But against this was the loss of basic liberties, the jailing of opportunists, the muzzling of the press. In line with the assassination attempt of Imelda Marcos, there were at least 85 persons who were alleged to be behind it --- including Sergio Osmena III, Eugenio Lopez, Jr., and Jesus Cabarrus. Sources: Lewis E. Gleeck, Jr., President Marcos and the Philippine Political Culture (Manila: Loyal Printing, Inc., 1987), p. 120; Nick Joaquin, Doy Laurel in Profile: A Philippine Political Odyssey (Makati: Makati Trade Times Publishing Company, 1985, 1985), p. 272. | ||
| 1972-12-17 00:00:00 | 1972-12-23 00:00:00 | President Marcos suspends martial law in the meantime. | Marcos issues an order temporarily suspending the effects of Proclamation No. 1081 to allow free and open debate on the proposed charter. | |
| 1972-12-18 00:00:00 | 1972-12-19 00:00:00 | Supreme Court hearings on halting the January 15 plebiscites begin | Supreme Court holds hearings on petitions that seek to prevent the holding of the plebiscite on the proposed Constitution. Senator Arturo Tolentino will later write: [...] just before Christmas, President Marcos held a conference in Malacañan with legislative leaders [...] I said the cases [...] might prosper. Through a written memorandum, he advises that Congress is best qualified to call for and schedule a plebiscite when it resumes session in January 1973. He argues that Congress can continue meeting under martial law. Congress has a duty to convene on January 22, 1973. Justice Secretary Vicente Abad Santos, in his own memorandum, says lawmaking power is vested in the President during martial law and that Congress is “incompatible with martial law.” Source: Arturo M. Tolentino, Voice of Dissent (Quezon City: Phoenix Press, Inc., 1990), p. 538. | |
| 1972-12-23 00:00:00 | President Marcos postpones plebiscite for the new constitution's ratification. | President Marcos announces that he was postponing the plebiscite for the ratification of the new Constitution. | ||
| 1972-12-29 00:00:00 | President Marcos "appeals" to the public not to provoke a "constitutional crisis." | The Daily Express reports on Marcos appealing “to diverse groups involved in a conspiracy to undermine… to desist from provoking a constitutional crisis… which might result in the exercise by me of authority I have not exercised.” Tolentino says this is clearly a threat aimed at legislators intent on convening Congress on January 22, 1973. A secret bipartisan caucus of Senate leaders decides to proceed with their session on the fourth Monday of January, 1973 (the 22nd). Source: Arturo M. Tolentino, Voice of Dissent (Quezon City: Phoenix Press, Inc., 1990), p. 538. | ||
| 1973-01-01 00:00:00 | President Marcos: Constitution will be ratified through “Citizen Assemblies,” not a plebiscite | On January 1, 1973, Marcos announces that ratification of the Constitution will be through “Citizen Assemblies” which would convene from February 19 to March 5, 1973, instead of a plebiscite. Claro C. Gloria, Martial Law in the Philippines: A Constitutional Revolution (Quezon City: Central Lawbook Publishing Company, 1974), p. 274. | ||
| 1973-01-05 00:00:00 | President Marcos signs a MOA granting Eduardo Cojuangco a vast tract of land in Palawan and Agusan del Sur | President Marcos signs a memorandum of agreement granting Eduardo Cojuangco a vast tract of land in Palawan (10.8 million hectares) and Agusan del Sur (5.2 million hectares) in exchange for 1.6 million hectares land in Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Antique, and Occidental Mindoro owned by Cojuangco. Source: Lewis E. Gleeck, Jr., President Marcos and the Philippine Political Culture (Manila: Loyal Printing, Inc., 1987), p. 118. | ||
| 1973-01-10 00:00:00 | 1973-01-15 00:00:00 | 1973 Constitutional Plebiscite | Citizen Assemblies, composed of citizens fifteen years old and older, are called to vote for the approval of the new constitution. The voting is viva voce and negative votes are often not recorded. Reports indicate that mayors and governors are given quotas for “yes” votes on the constitution. Source: David Wurfel, Filipino Politics: Development and Decay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila Press, 1988), p. 116. | |
| 1973-01-13 00:00:00 | President Marcos informs Speaker Villareal and Majority Floor Leader Veloso his plans for a new Constitution. | Marcos writes in his diary: …I also conferred with the Speaker and House Majority Floor Leader (Villareal and Veloso) informing them of my plan to push through a new constitution that may be different from the draft by the Concon. It would be unicameral with a definite period for an interim government; that we would have to retain powers to prevent a constitutional crisis but by virtue of the will and decision of the people, that we would have to adopt a unicameral legislature, that we would want on the morning of the 17th to make a final decision. And Delegate [Gilberto] Duavit that we would have to prepare a new constitution more acceptable to the people, perhaps writing several drafts or alternative proposals and asking the citizens assemblies to choose one… Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1973-01-15 06:00:00 | Execution of Lim Seng | Lim Seng, alias Gan Sou So, a convicted drug manufacturer and trafficker, is executed before an eight-man firing squad at Fort Bonifacio. Source: Official Gazette of the Philippine, “President’s Week in Review: January 12 – January 18, 1973”, accessed on September 18, 2015. | ||
| 1973-01-17 00:00:00 | President Marcos announces the ratification of the constitution | President Marcos announces the ratification of the constitution. Results report that 90% of the citizens have voted for the constitution even though some communities did not participate in the Citizens Assemblies. Source: David Wurfel, Filipino Politics: Development and Decay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila Press, 1988), p. 116. | ||
| 1973-01-17 00:00:00 | President Marcos declares 1973 Constitution ratified | President Marcos declares that the new Constitution has been ratified. He orders the padlocking of Congress. Source: David Wurfel, Filipino Politics: Development and Decay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila Press, 1988), p. 116. | ||
| 1973-01-22 00:00:00 | Liberal Party senators convene to open Congress | Second Regular Session of the 7th Congress is scheduled to open. This never happens because Congress was padlocked on January 17. Senators Salvador Laurel, Jovito Salonga, Ramon Mitra, Eva Estrada Kalaw, Ambrosio Padilla, and Gerry Roxas convene to open Congress pursuant to the Constitution. They are met by soldiers and are not allowed inside Congress. Source: Celia Diaz-Laurel, Doy Laurel (Makati: GA Printing, 2005), p. 103. | ||
| 1973-01-24 00:00:00 | Marcos prepares a position paper against the Gonzales petition | Marcos writes in his diary: … Prepared our position with Sec. Abad Santos and Ponce Enrile and Sol. Gen. Estelito Mendoza, on the Ramon Gonzales petition of prohibition and injunction against Decree 1102 on the ratification of the new constitution. This has caused us worry as it might push us to a revolutionary government… Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1973-01-24 12:15:00 | Marcos works on the orders implementing the new constitution | Marcos further writes: Had as usual only 6 hours sleep and seem to be tense because of the possible constitutional crisis that may come out of an adverse Supreme Court decision on the petition against the ratification of the new constitution. So I worked up to 12:00 am on the presentation of the problems we are facing and the absolute necessity of referring the matter to the citizens assemblies as well as the possible approaches and solutions. Then worked on the orders implementing the New Constitution. As I tentatively meet the members of the Supreme Court on Saturday or Monday evening. The Chief Justice called up Sol. Gen. Estelito Mendoza Monday morning Jan. 22nd, to tell him that the court was at the disposal of the President for dinner… Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1973-01-27 11:50:00 | President Marcos: Supreme Court Justices must be “[handled] [...] with finesse” | Marcos writes in his diary: Chief Justice Concepcion is sick in the hospital and may not be able to attend the dinner on Monday. It is apparent that the other justices are in favor of dismissing the petition questioning the validity of the ratification of the New Constitution. But they want to be assured of their continuance in office under the new constitution with new appointments [...] But everybody else has accepted the new constitution and as we put it in the dinner conference we held tonight, how do the justices expect us to “unscramble the eggs already scrambled”? We have to handle them with finesse as the Supreme Court might become the rallying point of the opponents of reform. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1973-01-30 00:00:00 | President Marcos has dinner with Supreme Court Justices | Marcos writes in his diary: [...] the dinner with the Justices without Chief Justice Concepcion who is sick in Sto. Tomas Hospital turned out well. Casually I turned into the problems the country was facing requiring an unquestioned position of leadership for negotiations. As Justice Fred Ruiz Castro said, “I get the message, Mr. President.” Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1973-02-13 00:00:00 | President Marcos: Martial law is a tool to create a New Society | President Marcos writes in his diary: … The dilemma of all the developing countries is still freedom in its traditional concept or survival. Perhaps too simplistic but true. In our case survival (physically) from the anarchy, violence, and chaos of actual rebellion… In our case, too, providentially, there was written into our constitution the power to proclaim martial law which would authorize not only an assurance of flexibility in eradicating the rebellion but of instituting reforms that would prevents its recurrence and create a new society… Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (New York: Little Brown, 1993). | ||
| 1973-03-01 00:00:00 | President Marcos and military gain high points in surveys | During the surveys of March 1973, President Marcos and the military receive favorable feedback. Jose T. Almonte and Marites Dañguilan Vitug, Endless Journey: A Memoir (Quezon City: Cleverheads Publishing, 2015), p. 78. | ||
| 1973-03-02 14:00:00 | President Marcos ponders on morality and leadership | Marcos writes in his diary: With the country and people moving forward steadily, investments coming in, confidence reinstated, people hopeful and achieving, there is pride for our Republic and nation. And many people are beginning to claim they had known all along that martial law was the only solution. Occasionally, however, some people feel that we are back in the Old Society and suggest I share in the profits and material rewards of the civil order I have been able to re-establish. Poor, deluded souls! They cannot seem to realize that to steer this country through these critical days, I have to be above the material attractions that have a tendency to claim you and enmesh you in petty and selfish interests. To keep the objectivity and wisdom of judgment that is necessary for leadership, I must stay away from these mundane considerations. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1973-03-12 00:00:00 | Aquino and Diokno are detained in Laur | Senators Ninoy Aquino and Jose W. Diokno are incarcerated in Fort Magsaysay, Laur, Nueva Ecija. Isabelo T. Crisostomo, Cory—Profile of a President: The Historic Rise to Power of Corazon Cojuangco Aquino (Selangor Darul Ehsan: Pelanduk Publications, 1987), p. 74. | ||
| 1973-03-31 00:00:00 | Supreme Court upholds 1973 Constitution | The Supreme Court upholds the 1973 Constitution through its decision in Javellana v. Executive Secretary The Supreme Court holds that the proposed Constitution was invalid according to the prevailing constitution. But the court also declares that there is no judicial obstacle for its application. Chief Justice Roberto Concepcion writes: Indeed, I cannot, in good conscience, declare that the proposed Constitution has been approved or adopted by the people in the citizen’s assemblies all over the Philippines when it is so, to my mind, a matter of judicial knowledge, that there have been no such citizen’s assemblies in many parts of the Philippines. Source: Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 222. | ||
| 1973-04-02 00:00:00 | Supreme Court votes in favor of 1973 Constitution | By a majority of six to four votes, the Supreme Court declares the constitution “had not been ratified in substantial compliance with applicable constitutional provisions”. But they also vote for the dismissal of the petition from opposition lawyers. David Wurfel, Filipino Politics: Development and Decay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila Press, 1988), p. 117. | ||
| 1973-04-02 00:00:00 | President Marcos lists the names of dissenting Justices | Marcos writes in his diary: …Dr. de Vega has just written me that the Supreme Court has resolved the pending suit in the New Constitution and as of this moment is distributing its decision in favor of our position – 6-4. The four dissenting Justices are: 1. Chief Justice Roberto Concepcion 2. Justice Calixto Zaldivar 3. Justice Enrique Fernando 4. Justice Claudio Teehankee Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1973-04-04 00:00:00 | Lili Hilao is arrested by the Philippine Constabulary | Liliosa Hilao, a student activist from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, is arrested by a raiding team of the Philippine Constabulary. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986). | ||
| 1973-04-07 00:00:00 | Lili Hilao dies in Camp Crame | Student activist Liliosa Hilao dies inside Camp Crame. The cause of her death according to the military is inconsistent with the medical findings. The military says she committed suicide by taking muriatic acid found inside a men’s room at Camp Crame, but the medical observations of V. Luna Hospital say that she underwent extreme torture. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 284. | ||
| 1973-04-11 00:00:00 | Aquino and Diomo are brought again to Fort Bonifacio | Senators Ninoy Aquino and Jose Diokno return to Fort Bonifacio. Far Eastern Economic Review (Volume 83, 1974), p. 174. | ||
| 1973-04-13 00:00:00 | FBI denies conducting the report pointing to Eugenio Lopez Sr. as mastermind of alleged Marcos assassination plot | FBI Acting Director L. Patrick Gray III denies that the FBI conducted any investigations concerning Eugenio Lopez, Sr., responding to an inquiry made by Lopez’s lawyer, Atty. Gerald N. Hill. Hill’s inquiry is in response to a report allegedly made by the FBI (supposedly received by President Marcos) that identifies Lopez as the mastermind behind an assassination attempt against the President. (see December 1, 1972) Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 311. | ||
| 1973-04-15 00:00:00 | Pres. Marcos recalls meeting with trusted military leaders | Marcos writes in his diary: … In the conference which I held with the “Originals” (with Col., the J-3 and Gen. Tamayo, Chief of Logistics included) at 4:00 pm, Saturday, April 14th, I informed them: 1. That I had written a Political Testament which I directed them to follow, indicating the successor to me in case of my death or disability; that this was necessary in view of the fact that even now there was rivalry among various leaders; that it was necessary to continue our policies even if I should not be capable or around to lead, otherwise our constitutional revolution would ultimately fail; that even Alexander’s empire had broken up because he had merely said, “To the strongest belongs his empire”; and that I assessed the various personalities aspiring for leadership. 2. There was need to review our pledge to our commitment because there is now apparent weakening of the elements of our revolution. A corruption and loss of ideals has set in… Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1973-04-16 00:00:00 | President Marcos: One cannot call God a subordinate | Marcos writes in his diary: ….One of my advisors wrote to me of spiritual retreats that I should not be in the company of my subordinates. I must tell him when I see him one cannot call God a subordinate! For that is the company I keep. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1973-05-05 00:00:00 | President Marcos plans the “normalizing” of the Country | Marcos writes in his diary: …We may have to hasten the process of normalizing by: 1. Conducting elections of an Advisory Legislative Council under the supervision of the Comelec by the Citizens Assemblies. 2. The old newspapers must be investigated formally and their closure directed after formal hearing. 3. The same for other media. The financiers and oligarchs who may finance further violence should now be neutralized. Formal charges have to be filed against Aquino, Diokno, Roxas, Mitra, Felipe, Manglapus even if the trials may be delayed. We must now reduce the number of detention prisoners. Continue the reorganization of the government. Push away the capitalists trying to get close to me." Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | ||
| 1973-05-11 00:00:00 | The Mass Media Advisory Council is created | The initial system of media censorship is replaced with a new system where the president issues media licenses, for six months at a time, consequently rendering the official media without credibility Source: David Wurfel, Filipino Politics: Development and Decay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila Press, 1988), p. 123. | ||
| 1973-06-08 00:00:00 | Military begins ABS-CBN turnover to Roberto Benedicto's KBS | The military begins the turnover of the Lopez-owned ABS-CBN outlets to the Kanlaon Broadcasting System (KBS), owned by Ambassador Roberto Benedicto, a close associate of President Marcos. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 199. | ||
| 1973-06-22 00:00:00 | President Marcos: There is no real emergency in the country today! | President Marcos proudly states the overall situation of the country nine months after the imposition of martial law. President Marcos says, “There is no real emergency in the country today.” Jovito Salonga, A Journey of Struggle and Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (Quezon City: U.P. Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy, 2001), p. 223 | ||
| 1973-07-05 00:00:00 | 1973-07-06 00:15:00 | President Marcos plans to keep emergency powers upon the discontinuance of Martial Law | Marcos writes in his diary: …Have been planning on the referendum and the development of a constitutional situation where the powers of martial law can be exercised without a proclamation or continuance of martial law… Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | |
| 1973-07-25 00:00:00 | 1973-07-26 00:00:00 | President Marcos: “Strange feeling to be able to win without any effort” | Marcos writes in his diary: This is the first election where I have not delivered a single speech or moved to campaign. And I may not even vote. Strange feeling--to be able to win without any effort. But I am busy on the actions I intend to take after the results of the referendum are released by Comelec. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | |
| 1973-07-27 00:00:00 | 1973-07-28 00:00:00 | 1973 Constitutional Plebiscite | A national plebescite voted for the following - ratification of the 1973 Constitution, suspension of the Interim National Assembly, and the continuation of Martial Law. | |
| 1973-07-27 00:00:00 | 1973-07-28 00:00:00 | President Marcos recalls on his diary the results of the referendum | Marcos writes in his diary: The referendum vote is overwhelmingly Yes. And a great percentage of those qualified registered and voted--about 80% to 95% registered and voted. A similar percentage may have voted yes. And Imelda was worried that the people may vote against me and my administration. This is the first time I have won a popular mandate without working for it. No campaigning. No speeches. No expenses. And no headaches. Source: William C. Rempel, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1993). | |
| 1973-08-23 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino's letter to his son, Noynoy | I have decided not to participate in the proceedings of the Military Commission assigned to try the charges filed against me by the army prosecution staff. As you know, I’ve been charged with illegal possession of firearms, violation of R.A. 1700, otherwise known as the “Anti-Subversion Act,” and murder. You are still too young to grasp the full impact of my decision. Briefly, by not participating in the proceedings, I will not be represented by counsel; the prosecution will present its witnesses without any cross examinations; I will not put up any defense; I will remain passive and quiet through the entire trial; and I will merely await the verdict. In as much as it will be a completely one-sided affair, I suppose it is reasonable to expect that the maximum penalty will be given to me. I expect to be sentenced to imprisonment the rest of my natural life, or possible be sent to stand before a firing squad. By adopting the course of action I decided upon this afternoon, I have literally decided to walk into the very jaws of death. You may ask: “Why did you do it?” Son, my decision is an act of conscience. It is an act of protest against the structures of injustice that have been imposed upon our hapless countrymen. Futile and puny as it will surely appear too many, it is my last act to defiance against tyranny and dictatorship. Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986). | ||
| 1973-09-21 00:00:00 | President Marcos: Report to the Nation after One Year of Martial Law | One year ago today, I signed Proclamation No. 1081 placing the entire country under martial law. As President of the Republic, I saw it as my clear and inescapable duty to meet the rebellion against our duly constituted government, the anarchy in our social life, the paralysis of the economy, the disintegration of our bureaucracy. With God’s clear light and our people’s vigorous support, we involved the full powers of the Constitution to meet the threats to our Republic and build a new society. Man in his presumption has always claimed the advances we call civilization as his handiwork. Often we disregard the unknown intervention of God and the logic and consequence of history and events. This was time in the past. It is true now of what we proudly point to as the almost miraculous achievements we ascribe to the New Society. Many of the advances that we can list down are but the logical consequences of the decisive rupture from an old and stricken society. As soon as the moral and political decision was made, the rebirth followed. What we now see are the attributes of that rejection of our degrading past. Click here to read President Marcos' Eighth State of the Nation Address. | ||
| 1973-12-30 00:00:00 | Under the 1935 Constitution, President Marcos' term should end today | Under the 1935 Constitution, Marcos' second term as President is set to expire on this date. Albert F. Celoza, Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippines: The Political Economy of Authoritarianism (Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997), p. 31. | ||
| 1974-09-11 00:00:00 | Sen. Diokno is released | Senator Jose W. Diokno is released after almost two years in solitary confinement in Fort Magsaysay. No charges were filed against him; upon his release, he proceeded to oppose Marcos more openly. | ||
| 1974-09-17 00:00:00 | SC: Martial Law a political question beyond the Jurisdiction of the Court | The Supreme Court dismissed petitions for habeas corpus by ruling that Martial Law was a political question beyond the jurisdiction of the Court. | ||
| 1974-09-21 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Ninth State of the Nation Address | There is no fear of any economic crisis. There is no fear of any recession, provided we are dedicated. There is no fear of any external foe, of any rebel, of any secessionist, provided we are united. Provided, we don’t fall into the old error of our race, into factionalism, into personal ambition and personal interest raised above the national interest; provided, we do not again repeat the failure and the errors of the past; provided, we act as a nation, as a Filipino people, no danger, no threat, can weaken the Republic of the Philippines. And I trust that since the barangay has been strengthened as the basis and the foundation of our society, we will stand erect and strong, strong as the molave, upright even against the most severe storm and typhoon that may come from any part of the world. Click here to read President Marcos' Ninth State of the Nation Address. | ||
| 1973-09-22 00:00:00 | Marcos ponders on the elements of achievements | Marcos writes in his diary: I have often said achievement is but the meeting or congruence of preparation and opportunity. But Father Donalan told Imelda that in addition to this I have had luck…. I admit that I have had phenomenal luck in time of war as well as peace. And there must be a Guiding Hand above who has forgiven me my sins, of which I have had more than my mortal share, and led me to my destiny. Because all the well-nigh impossible accomplishments have seemed to be natural and fore ordained. And into the role of supposed hero in battle, top scholar, President I seemed to have gracefully moved into without the awkwardness of pushiness and over anxiety. | ||
| 1973-09-23 00:00:00 | Jose T. Almonte writes about matial law a year hence | More than a year after martial law, I could see, however, that this reformist sheen was giving way to the true nature of martial law. Once Marcos consolidated his political power, he did not use to build the nation. That was the start of the deterioration of martial law because abuses began to permeate the system. Apparently, the first lady, Imelda Romualdez-Marcos, and a wealthy businessman, Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, tightened their hold over the cronies of Marcos. Source: Jose T. Almonte and Marites Dañguilan Vitug, Endless Journey: A Memoir (Quezon City: Cleverheads Publishing, 2015), p. 79. | ||
| 1974-06-27 00:00:00 | Marsman Alvarez's dead body is found | The dead body of Marsman Alvarez, brother of Con-Con Delegate Heherson “Sonny” Alvarez, is found near the town’s church. Alvarez’s body was “mangled beyond recognition.” Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 287. | ||
| 1974-06-27 00:00:00 | Archbishop Sin leads a mass vigil prayer | Archbishop Jaime Sin leads a mass vigil prayer in protest of the brutal treatment of political prisoners. Around 5,000 people attended the vigil at Manila Cathedral. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 293. | ||
| 1974-09-11 00:00:00 | President Marcos grants executive clemency to Senator Diokno | On his 57th birthday, President Marcos grants Senator Jose W. Diokno executive clemency for his release. Sen. Diokno was incarcerated for two years. No cases were filed against him nor was he brought to trial. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986). p. 304. | ||
| 1974-09-20 00:00:00 | NBC interviews President Marcos | NBC correspondent Edwin Newman interviews President Marcos on the Today Show. Newman: “Mr. President, is it correct that there is still about 5,000 of your political opponents in prison?” Marcos: “Of course not. We have just released the last of the detention prisoners who are not facing criminal charges. If you will note, on my birthday - that was September 11 this year - I issued a directive to release those against whom no charges have been filed formally in court although there were charges against them in the investigating bodies. These included the opposition senator, Senator Diokno , and some others were involved in assassination or coup d’etat against the government." Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 306. | ||
| 1974-10-03 00:00:00 | NBC probes on the alleged political prisoners of President Marcos | NBC reporter Jim Hertz interviews Raul Manglapus on the Today Show. Hertz: “He (Marcos) said, too, that there were no political prisoners.” Manglapus: “Well, that, of course, certainly is not true. The fact remains that there are about 5,000 political prisoners now in the stockades in the Philippines. And this is not denied by the military authorities whenever they are interviewed by the Associated Press and other press agencies over there.” Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 306. | ||
| 1974-11-07 00:00:00 | Philippine government extends amnesty to all Filipino citizens living abroad | In Honolulu, First Lady Imelda Marcos announces that, “as of November 7, 1974, the Philippine government is extending amnesty to all Filipino citizens living abroad who may have committed political acts punishable under Philippine laws.” Political refugees will be allowed to return, “without fear of arrest, prosecution or molestation.” Source: Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 307. | ||
| 1974-11-09 00:00:00 | A Presidential Decree is issued regulating the ownership and operations of radio and television | Source: Presidential Decree No. 576, s. 1974 | ||
| 1974-11-18 00:00:00 | Eugenio Lopez Jr. begins his hunger strike | Eugenio "Geny"Lopez Jr. begins his hunger strike in protest of his detention. Lopez Jr. has been detained for two years, yet there are no charges pressed against him. The hunger strike becomes the subject of foreign press reports, resulting in increased pressure towards the Marcos administration. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I(New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 308- 310. | ||
| 1974-11-18 17:00:00 | Sergio Osmeña III begins his hunger strike | Sergio Osmeña III begins his hunger strike in protest of his detention, crimes committed by the military under martial law, the absence of free press and speech, and the absence of independence in the judiciary. The hunger strike becomes the subject of foreign press reports, resulting in increased pressure towards the Marcos administration. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 308- 310. | ||
| 1974-11-20 00:00:00 | Sergio Osmeña III and Eugenio Lopez Jr. are placed in isolation | A series of attempts to convince Osmeña and Lopez to break their fast follows. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 308. | ||
| 1974-11-22 00:00:00 | Archbishop Jaime Sin attacks martial law | Archbishop of Manila, Jaime Sin attacks various aspects of martial law. Archbishop Sin says, “We cannot jail a man indefinitely and still call ourselves Christian.” The Washington Post will report this statement on November 23, 1974. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 308. | ||
| 1974-11-25 00:00:00 | Perla Somonod is arrested by the Philippine Constabulary | Perla Somonod, a member of the New People’s Army, is arrested by the Philippine Constabulary in Sasa, Davao City. She undergoes extreme torture, which leads to her miscarriage. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 288. | ||
| 1974-11-27 00:00:00 | Juan Ponce Enrile visits the wives of Osmeña and Lopez to discuss their hunger strikes | The wives of Sergio Osmeña III and Eugenio Lopez Jr are visited by Secretary of National Defense Juan Ponce Enrile to discuss the terms to end Lopez and Osmeña’s hunger strike and their consequent release. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 308. | ||
| 1974-11-28 19:00:00 | Sergio Osmeña III and Eugenio Lopez Jr. end their hunger strike | Sergio Osmeña III and Eugenio Lopez Jr. announce that as of 7:00 p.m., they have ended their hunger strike. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 308. | ||
| 1974-12-08 00:00:00 | Eddie Ceneza and his companions are arrested | Eddie Ceneza and his companions are arrested and taken to a safe house in Baguio City. They are beaten up and tortured with electricity in different parts of their bodies. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 290. | ||
| 1974-12-10 00:00:00 | Eddie Ceneza dies | Eddie Ceneza’s body is flung from a second floor window of the safe house. A witness, Ofelia Castillo, escapes while military agents are distracted. Eddie Ceneza’s body is never found. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 291. | ||
| 1974-12-11 00:00:00 | President Marcos orders the release of 662 political prisoners | President Marcos announces on national television that he is ordering the release of 662 political prisoners. The President also announces that Eugenio Lopez Jr. and Sergio Osmeña III ended their hunger strike when they were presented with evidence against them. Marcos declares them guilty of abetting an assassination plot against him. He also accuses them of financing six unsuccessful assassination attempts. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 311. | ||
| 1974-12-10 00:00:00 | Fr. Ed De La Torre is arrested | Fr. Ed De La Torre, radical priest and member of the Society and Divine Word, is arrested by men in civilian clothes in Luisa and Son restaurant in Manila. He is brought to Camp Olivas in Pampanga and is charged with the illegal circulation of subversive materials. He is tactically interrogated and undergoes extreme torture. Primitivo Mijares, The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos I (New York: Union Square Publications, 1986), p. 295. | ||
| 1975-02-27 00:00:00 | 1975-02-28 00:00:00 | 1975 Plebiscite | ||
| 1975-02-27 00:00:00 | 1975-02-28 00:00:00 | 1975 Plebiscite | ||
| 1975-04-04 00:00:00 | 1975-05-13 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino's 40-day hunger strike | In protest of what he felt was a sham trial, Ninoy begins what he intends to be a death fast, subsisting only on salt tablets, sodium bicarbonate and amino acids, and two glasses of water. Despite this, the Military Tribunal forces Ninoy to be brought to the session hall everyday. From: Aquino vs. Marcos: The Grand Collision by Manuel F. Martinez | |
| 1975-09-21 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Tenth State of the Nation Address | "And today I come before you as the head of the political leadership of the Republic and pledge to you unswerving, unremitting and uncompromising pursuit of our lofty goals. To this, we commit our very lives, our name, our possessions, and most valuable of all, our honor." Click here to read President Marcos' Tenth State of the Nation Address | ||
| 1976-04-27 00:00:00 | "The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos" is published. | Primitivo Mijares was a former Marcos aide, former Chairman of the Media Advisory Council, and twice President of the National Press Club. In 1975, he testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on International Organizations on violations of human rights under the Marcos regime. His son was abducted and tortured, and he himself mysteriously disappeared soon after the publication of this book. Very few copies of the book remain, as it was systematically removed from public distribution. | ||
| 1976-09-10 00:00:00 | Batasang Bayan is created | By virtue of Presidential Decree No. 995, President Marcos creates the Batasang Bayan to serve as a legislative advisory council – a quasi-legislative machinery to normalize the legislative process for the eventual actualization of the 1973 Constitution. The Batasang Bayan will hold office in the Philippine International Convention Center (a modernist structure designed by National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin, within the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex – a pet project of First Lady Imelda R. Marcos). | ||
| 1976-09-21 00:00:00 | 1978-10-30 00:00:00 | Batasang Bayan | ||
| 1976-09-21 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Eleventh State of the Nation Address | Click here to read President Marcos' Eleventh State of the Nation Address | ||
| 1976-10-16 00:00:00 | 1976-10-17 00:00:00 | 1976 Constitutional Plebiscite | A plebiscite again votes to continue Martial Law and amend the 1973 Constitution, creating the Regular Batasang Pambansa to replace the Interim Batasang Pambansa. This plebiscite is an additional question attached to the ballot during a regular election. | |
| 1977-09-21 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos's Twelfth State of the Nation Address | "I have often thought in the past five years of the man who is the object of all our efforts in establishing the New Society. Because he is the average Filipino, he lives in the barrio and works at a farm. When all the programs we have launched and all the changes we have sought will reach him, and I am determined that this will be sooner rather than later, he will be able to lead a life of dignity without any unfulfilled basic wants. […] He can hope. More than that there is no limit to his achievements. The future ahead is bright." Click here to read President Marcos' Twelfth State of the Nation Address | ||
| 1977-11-10 00:00:00 | Communist leaders captured | Jose Ma. Sison and other important Communist leaders are captured, bringing the total number of captured members of the party's Central Committe to 20 out of 26. | ||
| 1977-11-17 00:00:00 | Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr. - "Ferdinand Marcos: A Discussion" | Marcos appears on Firing Line, an American public affairs television show, and discusses Philippine foreign policy. | ||
| 1977-11-25 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino sentenced to death | Military Commission No. 2 finds Aquino guilty of charges of subversion, murder & illegal possession of firearms. He is sentenced to death by firing squad. | ||
| 1977-12-16 00:00:00 | 1977-12-17 00:00:00 | 1977 Plebiscite | ||
| 1978-02-18 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino's manifesto for the Lakas ng Bayan (LABAN) campaign for the elections | |||
| 1978-03-05 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino's manifesto for the Lakas ng Bayan (LABAN) campaign for the elections | |||
| 1978-04-01 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino's appeal to teachers | |||
| 1978-04-06 00:00:00 | April 6 Noise Barrage | On the eve of elections for the Batasan Pambansa, supporters of LABAN stages an historic noise barrage in Metro Manila. | ||
| 1978-04-07 00:00:00 | Interim Batasang Pambansa elections | Elections to the Interim Batasang Pambansa result in an overwhelming victory for the administration party Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL). Click here to view a map of the Philippines showing the breakdown of votes. | ||
| 1978-04-08 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino's manifesto after the elections to the Interim Batasang Pambansa | |||
| 1978-06-11 00:00:00 | Signing of the National Security Code | National Security Code, is signed on June 11, 1978, amended by the inclusion of the Public Order Act in September, 1980 | ||
| 1978-06-12 00:00:00 | 1984-06-05 00:00:00 | Interim Batasang Pambansa | Click here to view a map of the Philippines showing the breakdown of votes. | |
| 1978-06-12 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Thirteenth State of the Nation Address | Click here to read President Marcos' Thirteenth State of the Nation Address | ||
| 1979-05-01 00:00:00 | 1979-09-01 00:00:00 | Light-a-Fire Terrorist Attacks begin | The “Light-a-Fire Movement” ushers in a period of urban terrorism - members of the group use small incendiary devises to put “symbolic targets” to the torch. Their most famous exploit will be the burning of the floating casino in Manila Bay. | |
| 1979-07-23 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Fourteenth State of the Nation Address | "History has invested a prophetic dimension to the unprecedented decision which we took seven years ago. This decision, as we know, was Proclamation 1081, which is the foundation, the legal basis of what we have since called the “New Society.” There can be no question now about the wisdom of that decision, nor of the orientation of the course that we have taken in the last seven years. The Republic has been saved and continues its vital existence notwithstanding the threat that sought to divide it, destroy it, and fragment it." Click here to read President Marcos' Fourteenth State of the Nation Address | ||
| 1980-01-01 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino leaves the country for the United States | Early in 1980, Ninoy, in need of a triple heart bypass operation, refused to be operated on by anyone other than his own doctors. Imelda Marcos herself offered to allow him to leave the country, on the conditions that he would not make political statements against the regime while abroad, and that he would return after he finished recuperating. Ninoy and his family left for Dallas, Texas within eight hours of Imelda's visit, and he underwent his operation on May 13, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. From: Aquino vs. Marcos: The Grand Collision by Manuel F. Martinez | ||
| 1980-04-17 00:00:00 | Oppositionists demand conditions from President Marcos for their participation in the 1981 Presidential election | Senators Ninoy Aquino, Lorenzo Tañada and Doy Laurel (head of the Laurel-wing of the Nacionalista Party, which had parted ways with Marcos in the late 70s) agreed to demand, as conditions for their participation in any election, "a minimum campaign period, a purging of the voters' lists, equal time and space for the opposition, and a reorganization of the COMELEC." Marcos refused to meet their conditions resulting in the opposition boycott of the 1981 Presidential election. | ||
| 1980-04-24 00:00:00 | UNIDO boycots the 1981 Presidential Election | The United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO), an umbrella group of opposition elements headed by Doy Laurel, supports the boycott of the 1981 Presidential election. | ||
| 1980-07-28 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Fifteenth State of the Nation Address | "The burden of national leadership in a time such as this is to provide vision in the midst of uncertainty; to hold out hope and confidence when threats and difficulties appear to mount, when danger confronts us in the face, and to clear a path through which the people may find refuge and security. Out of this profound challenge to national life today, we ought to emerge as we did in the crises of the past, stronger in our resolve, surer of ourselves, and clearer in our purposes. This is the historic charge of the party in which has been vested the mandate of the people: to provide direction, to give leadership, and to rally the nation to action." Click here to read President Marcos' Fifteenth State of the Nation Address | ||
| 1980-08-04 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino's speech at the Asia Society of New York | "Today, I would like to formally announce that I have no intention of seeking political asylum here in the United States or elsewhere and that I shall return to the Philippines. But I have decided to break the second covenant because of the dictates of higher national interest. Developments are moving so fast back home that I am now compelled to speak out and warn Mr. Marcos of a terrible gathering storm that may well turn the Philippines into the next flashpoint in Southeast Asia." | ||
| 1981-01-17 00:00:00 | Martial Law is officially lifted | After declaring on January 16 that he would lift Martial Law, Marcos issues Proclamation No. 2045, proclaiming the official termination of the state of Martial Law in the Philippines. | ||
| 1981-01-29 00:00:00 | Marcos announces his candidacy for re-election | Marcos declares he will seek re-election. By February 27, 1981 the amendments he required will be passed. | ||
| 1981-02-15 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino speaks in Los Angeles | |||
| 1981-04-07 00:00:00 | 1981 Plebiscite | |||
| 1981-04-07 00:00:00 | 1981 Plebiscite | |||
| 1981-06-16 00:00:00 | 1981 Presidential Elections | President Marcos expectedly wins re-election by landslide against former Defense Secretary Alejo Santos. Click here to view a map of the Philippines showing the provincial breakdown of votes. | ||
| 1981-06-16 00:00:00 | 1981 Constitutional Referendum | |||
| 1981-06-30 00:00:00 | President Marcos begins his third term as President | He takes his oath of office before Chief Justice Enrique Fernando at the Independence Grandstand. | ||
| 1981-06-30 00:00:00 | Handel's Messiah is played at the inauguration | Handel's "Alleluiah Chorus" was played at President Marcos' inauguration. | ||
| 1981-07-27 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Sixteenth State of the Nation Address | "A major part of this decisive turn in national life has already been written by the historic act of terminating the period of martial law and crisis government in our country, and by the subsequent acts of the nation to amend the Constitution and elect directly a President pursuant to the new amendments. On June 30 this year, when I was duly sworn in as the First President of the New Republic, I formally relinquished all powers and functions pertaining to the office of Prime Minister, which office we now ask the Batasan to fill." Click here to read President Marcos' Sixteenth State of the Nation Address | ||
| 1982-07-26 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Seventeenth State of the Nation Address | "We know we can never think alike amid the dilemmas and problems of our changing world, nor should we welcome the robot like acceptance of the thoughts coming from a single leader; that would be catastrophic and tragic. “Opinion striking against opinion,” it is said, “ignites the spark that kindles the lamp of truth.” If we honor this process of reasoned debate and contention, our differences will never destroy our underlying unity as a nation, and our disputes will not leave us embittered or unkind. But we also share, I believe, this common faith that we have weathered the storms before, and so will we again. And when I say “we,” I mean all of us, whether we belong to the majority or the opposition." Click here to read President Marcos' Seventeenth State of the Nation Address | ||
| 1982-09-16 00:00:00 | State Visit of U.S. President Ronald Reagan | |||
| 1982-09-20 00:00:00 | Student leader Edgar Jopson is killed in a military raid | |||
| 1983-01-17 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Eighteenth State of the Nation Address | "I say let us do away with these blinders on our perceptions of our national life. Let us see our conditions and our problems with our own eyes; for only in our self-knowledge can we begin to surmount the uncertainties of the times. [...] In this solemn hour of challenge to our country, let us rather listen to the chords of memory and experience, which remind us of how step by step, year after year, trial after trial, we have built the sinews of this New Republic." Click here to read President Marcos' Eighteenth State of the Nation Address | ||
| 1983-06-23 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino's speech at the U.S. House Subcommittee of Asian and Pacific Affairs | Ninoy reaffirms his decision to continue his fight through peaceful, non-violent means, instead of armed struggle. "I have chosen to return to work for a peaceful solution to our problems rather than go back triumphant to the blare of trumpets and cymbals seeking to drown the wailings and lamentations of mothers whose sons and daughters have been sacrificed to the god of revolution. Can the killers of today be the leaders of tomorrow? Must we destroy in order to build?" Soon after, Imelda Marcos flew to the U.S. to meet with Ninoy and dissuade him from returning. Her threats to Ninoy are now infamous: "If he comes back, he's dead." | ||
| 1983-08-12 00:00:00 | Radio Veritas trans-Pacific interview with Ninoy Aquino | Ninoy explains he is returning to the Philippines to share in the life and difficulties of his fellow countrymen. | ||
| 1983-08-21 00:00:00 | Tie A Yellow Ribbon | Tony Orlando's 'Tie A Yellow Ribbon' is the theme song for Ninoy's return, upon the suggesstion of former Senator Eva Estrada-Kalaw. It became the theme song of opposition rallies from 1983-1986 | ||
| 1983-08-21 00:00:00 | Assassination of Ninoy Aquino | Leading opposition figure Ninoy Aquino is gunned down in the Manila International Airport. The alleged assassin Rolando Galman was also killed. Filipinos flocked to Aquino's home on Times Street, Quezon City to pay their respects. | ||
| 1983-08-21 00:00:00 | Click here to read Ninoy Aquino's undelivered arrival speech upon his return from the U.S. Click here for the Filipino translation. | |||
| 1983-08-23 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino's funeral procession | |||
| 1983-08-23 00:00:00 | Ninoy Aquino's funeral procession | |||
| 1983-08-24 00:00:00 | President Marcos forms Fact-Finding Committee | President Marcos creates a fact-finding committee headed by Chief Justice Enrique Fernando | ||
| 1983-10-14 00:00:00 | Agrava Fact-Finding Board created | Presidential Decree No. 1886 creates a fact-finding board with plenary powers to investigate the Aquino-Galman double murder. Former Court of Appeals Justice Corazon J. Agrava was appointed its head. | ||
| 1984-01-07 00:00:00 | 1984-01-08 00:00:00 | Kongreso ng Mamamayang Pilipino (KOMPIL) convenes | Anti-Marcos and anti-dictatorship groups convene the Kongreso ng Mamamayang Pilipino (KOMPIL). | |
| 1984-01-10 00:00:00 | KOMPIL calls for Anti-Marcos non-violent campaign | KOMPIL leaders and former Senators Lorenzo Tañada and Jose W. Diokno make a call for a massive but non-violent campaign against the Marcos dictatorship. | ||
| 1984-01-27 00:00:00 | 1984 Plebiscite | |||
| 1984-01-27 00:00:00 | 1984 Plebiscite | |||
| 1984-07-23 00:00:00 | 1986-03-25 00:00:00 | Regular Batasang Pambansa | UNIDO and other opposition groups win one-third of the seats in the Batasang Pambansa, slashing KBL's parliamentary majority. Click here to view a map of the Philippines showing the provincial breakdown of votes. | |
| 1984-07-23 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Nineteenth State of the Nation Address | Click here to read President Marcos' Nineteentth State of the Nation Address | ||
| 1984-11-13 00:00:00 | "Manindigan!" opposition group is formed | "Manindigan!" a group composed of civic leaders and the "Convenor Group" composed of opposition personalities former Senator Tañada, Jaime Ongpin, and Cory Aquino met and drew up a list of "potential standard bearers": Agapito "Butz" Aquino brother of the slain Ninoy, former Senators Diokno, Eva Estrada-Kalaw, Doy Laurel, Raul Manglapus, Ramon Mitra, Jr. Ambrosio Padilla, and Jovito Salonga, Teofisto Guingona, Jr., Rafael Salas, and Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. | ||
| 1984-11-14 00:00:00 | Murder of Cesar Climaco | Cesar Climaco, an outspoken critic of the Marcos administration, member of the Liberal Party and former Mayor of Zamboanga City, is shot in the nape at point-blank range, in broad daylight. Though many suspect Marcos' involvement, the culprit is never convicted. | ||
| 1985-06-12 00:00:00 | UNIDO nominates Doy Laurel for the Presidency | In its National Convention at the Araneta Coliseum, 25,000 UNIDO delegates unanimously nominate former Assemblyman and Senator Doy Laurel as its Presidential standard bearer to face President Marcos in the 1987 elections. | ||
| 1985-07-22 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos' Twentieth State of the Nation Address | "At certain times in our history, the aspirations of our people and the course of events converge at a single time to shape a turning point in national life. So it was in 1896 when this land was rocked by the tremors of revolution. So it was in 1941 and 1972. So it is today. The crisis of the past two years and our efforts to surmount it have led us inexorably to this decisive turning point in our history when we either thrust our economy forward into full modernization or forever remain in the shallows; when we either stop once and for all the challenge of Communism in this country or be overrun by it; when we either attain the full promise of democracy or be led away into alternative routes toward the future." Click here to read President Marcos' Twentieth State of the Nation Address | ||
| 1985-09-14 00:00:00 | Interview of President Marcos by George M. Kahin | |||
| 1985-11-03 00:00:00 | Marcos calls for a snap presidential election | President Marcos, appearing on the American television show 'This Week with David Brinkley', announces his plan to hold a "snap" presidential election ahead of the scheduled 1987 polls. The Batasang Pambansa later sets February 7 as the date of the election. This comes amid widespread speculation that the United States is pressuring Marcos to hold elections due to increasing concern over the stability of his government. | ||
| 1985-12-02 00:00:00 | Ver is acquitted of Ninoy Aquino's murder | General Fabian C. Ver, Armed Forces Chief of Staff, and 25 others are acquitted of charges of conspiracy to murder opposition leader Ninoy Aquino. | ||
| 1985-12-03 00:00:00 | Cory Aquino declares she's running for President | Corazon C. Aquino, the widow of Senator Ninoy Aquino, declares her candidacy for President. She had set two conditions for running: early elections be called and that her supporters gather one million signatures on a "draft Cory" petition. | ||
| 1985-12-08 00:00:00 | Doy Laurel files his candidacy for President | Doy Laurel files his candidacy for President as the official candidate of UNIDO. | ||
| 1985-12-10 00:00:00 | Marcos-Tolentino ticket endorsed by KBL | KBL nominates President Marcos for re-election and Assemblyman and former Senate President Arturo Tolentino as Vice President for the snap elections. | ||
| 1985-12-12 00:00:00 | Opposition forces unite and endorse Aquino-Laurel tandem against KBL | Doy Laurel withdraws his candidacy for President and runs in tandem with Cory Aquino as her Vice President. The united opposition coalesced under UNIDO against the KBL. | ||
| 1986-02-07 00:00:00 | 1986 Snap Presidential Elections | Though the Marcos-Tolentino tandem were proclaimed by the Batasang Pambansa as the winners of the election, an independent quick count by election watchdog the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) showed the Aquino-Laurel winning. | ||
| 1986-02-07 00:00:00 | 1986 Snap Presidential Elections | Click here to view the image in detail, showing the regional breakdown of votes, and the tally of both COMELEC and NAMFREL. | ||
| 1986-02-11 00:00:00 | Murder of Evelio Javier | Former Antique governor and opposition stalwart Evelio Javier was shot in front of the Provincial Capitol. Batasang Pambansa majority floor leader and concurrent deputy Minister of Public Works Arturo Pacificador, whom Javier had challenged for a seat in the Batasang Pambansa, was charged for the murder. | ||
| 1986-02-22 00:00:00 | 1986-02-25 00:00:00 | EDSA People Power Revolution | ||
| 1986-02-25 00:00:00 | Salvador H. Laurel takes his oath as Vice President | He is inducted into office by Justice Vicente Abad Santos in Club Filipino, San Juan. | ||
| 1986-02-25 00:00:00 | Corazon C. Aquino takes her oath as President | She is inducted into office by Associate Justice Claudio Teehankee at Club Filipino, San Juan. | ||
| 1986-02-25 00:00:00 | Ferdinand E. Marcos takes his oath as President | In a private ceremony at the Ceremonial Hall, Malacañan Palace, Ferdinand E. Marcos takes his oath before Chief Justice Ramon Aquino. | ||
| 1986-03-25 00:00:00 | 1986 Freedom Constitution | President C. Aquino issues Presidential Proclamation No. 3, which declared a revolutionary government and suspended some provisions of the 1973 Constitution, promulgating a transitory constitution in its stead. Click here to read the 1986 Freedom Constitution. It also effectively abolished the Batasang Pambansa. |
You can also download the Excel file containing this timeline through this link.