The specter of Martial Law

September 21, 1972  –  the Filipino people woke up with chilling news that President Ferdinand Marcos had issued Presidential Proclamation No. 1081. The decree placed the entire country under the state of Martial Law. No reason was given except to say that order should be restored due to "escalation of violence in the streets and lawlessness and dissidence in the countryside."

While every sector of society cowered in submission, it was the rank of students in the universities who stood their ground, defied and resisted martial rule. They held rallies and demonstrations in the streets to denounce the Marcos dictatorship.

"Ibagsak ang Imperyalismo, Piyudalismo, at Burukratang Kapitalismo!" read the streamer of the student activists, written in big, bold red letters. "Makibaka! H'wag matakot!" shouted the demonstrators while marching down the streets. "Marcos! Hitler! Diktador! Tuta!" the marchers would agitate the crowd and broke into heckling. A team of activists painted the wall and concrete fences with revolutionary slogans such as "Down with the US-Marcos Dictatorship!" in what they termed as OP (Operasyon Pintal). There were also demonstrators who were pasting posters on the walls in what the activists called OD (Operasyon Dikit).

Truncheon-wielding cops would attack the students, the students would retreat, the students counter-attacked with stones and Molotov cocktails, the cops retreated. It was a seesaw battle that often lasted late in the evening. After the smoke cleared, hundreds of victims were rushed to the hospital for treatment, cops and activists alike.   The Embassy of the United States of America, the bastion of US imperialism in the country, was not spared from the students' wrath. After each demonstration, some radical elements of the student activists would proceed to the embassy to deliver their message to Uncle Sam. The message was contained in pillbox and Molotov cocktail and delivered in their hallowed grounds.

Of course the Yankees were not cowed into fear and submission what with their battle-scarred Marines standing guard to watch over them. But they knew they were no longer safe in the country on the verge of revolution.

The University of the Philippines, a premier state university, was barricaded by its students and turned it into a 'Diliman Commune.' No police or military personnel were allowed to enter the conquered territory. A young senator, Benigno Aquino Jr., dared to break the barrier and asked the students what they want and why they are fighting the government. The resounding reply was instead, "Give us arms!" It was an ominous call. Some of the brightest UP scholars were the first to pack up, leave their comfort zones and take to the hills to fight the government in an armed struggle.

The Philippine College of Commerce was raided by the police and arrested its student leaders. Also found during the raid were weapons of mass destruction: pillboxes, Molotov cocktails, handguns and slingshots with arrowheads. The student later claimed that these weapons were planted by the police to justify the raid. Even some teachers and school officials who were suspected of being subversives were invited to Camp Crame for tactical interrogation.

But the most violent demonstration occurred at the Lyceum of the Philippines in Intramuros, Manila. Some students were trapped inside the building when a note was passed that some students were held hostage, the trouble began. During the confrontation, an overzealous guard, apparently trying to appease his boss, fired a shotgun in the air. Then, all hell broke loose. Already agitated, the students outside the building rained the schools with stones and debris from the nearby Walls of Intramuros.

The historic wall was in the process of restoration, part of the First Lady's beautification project. Thus, the construction materials scattered everywhere provided the students with ample ammunition to fight back. The students also destroyed the newly refurbished wall as a sign of protest against the First Lady's profligacy while the vast majority of the Filipino people continued to wallow in extreme poverty and deprivation.

So, whenever I recalled the events that happened during those darkest nights of Martial Law, I remembered those young and idealistic students who had fallen during the night of struggle, the thousands of desaparecidos (disappeared) who disappeared without a trace and buried in unmarked graves and the painful memories from the families they had left behind. 

The families and relatives of the victims will always be haunted by the specter of Martial Law.

Rene F. Antiga, Argao, Cebu