21/09/2026
Fifty-four (54) years have passed, yet the stories and memories of Martial Law remain alive.
This September 21, the Philippine Normal University โ Students and Educators for ASEAN joins in commemorating the declaration of Martial Law by the dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Former President Marcos Sr. signed Proclamation No. 1081 on September 21, 1972, which placed the entire Philippines under Martial Law. What followed became one of the nationโs darkest chapters, as the Marcos Sr. regime imposed civilian control through grave human rights violationsโincluding torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Filipinos.
Under the 1935 Philippine Constitution, a President may serve only two consecutive four-year terms. Marcos was elected in 1965 and reelected in 1969. Obviously, he was not allowed to run for President in 1973. That is why declaring martial law became a necessity for Marcos Sr.โto remain in power, continue to plunder the Philippine economy, and suppress the growing opposition to his rule.
In a blink of an eye, Marcos Sr. set up a one-man authoritarian regime. He abolished Congress, dissolved the vice presidency, canceled the 1973 presidential election, shut down mass media, and jailed critics of his administration, including senators, congressmen, print and broadcast journalists, labor leaders, church leaders, and student activists (Pangilinan, 2022).
The Martial Law period remains tied to documented human rights violations (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2022):
โข ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ณ,๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฌ: Primary victims of human rights violations during martial law
โข ๐ณ๐ฌ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ people arrested, mostly arbitrarily without warrants of arrests
โข ๐ฏ๐ฐ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ people tortured
โข ๐ฏ,๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฌ killed by the military and the police
โข ๐ญ๐ญ,๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฏ: Victims of rights violations with approved claims for compensation from the Human Rights Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013, per the Human Rights Violations Victimsโ Memorial Commission464: Closed media outlets after declaration of martial law
Apart from this, Marcos Sr.โs reign was characterized by an economic crisis brought about by gross economic mismanagement and corruption (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2022):
โข $๐ฒ๐ด๐ฏ ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: Marcos assets in Swiss banks declared as ill-gotten in a July 2003 Supreme Court ruling
โข $๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป-๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: Estimated ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses during two decades in Malacaรฑang
โข $๐ฎ๐ด.๐ฎ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: The countryโs foreign debt by the end of Marcosโ rule, from $360 million in 1961
โข โฑ๐ฏ๐ฌ: Daily income of agricultural workers in 1986, from โฑ42 in 1962. It went as low as โฑ23 in 1974, right after the declaration of martial law
โข โฑ๐ฏ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ โฑ๐ฎ๐ฏ: Daily income of skilled workers and workers without school training in 1986, respectively, a sharp fall from โฑ127 and โฑ89 in 1962
โข ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฌ: Families who were poor by the end of the Marcos era, from 4 out of 10 who were poor before he took office
On the commemoration of the 54th anniversary of the declaration of martial law PNU-SEA stands to call for justice. This period must not be reduced to a chapter in a textbook nor restricted to commemorating September 21 alone. To remember Martial Law is to defend truth, to uphold human rights, to protect press freedom, and to insist on accountability. ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐ก. ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐๐ง.
PNU-SEA joins the call: ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ ๐ก๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข! ๐ก๐ข ๐ง๐ข ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ข๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ !
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ:
Pangilinan, N. (2022, September 19). Why did Marcos declare martial law? Asian American Writersโ Workshop. https://aaww.org/why-did-marcos-declare-martial-law/
Philippine Canadian Inquirer. (2026, September 21). Philippines marks 54th anniversary of Martial Law declaration. Philippine Canadian Inquirer. https://canadianinquirer.net/2026/09/21/philippines-marks-54th-anniversary-of-martial-law-declaration/
Philippine Daily Inquirer. (2022, February 23). Fast facts on martial law. Inquirer News. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1558472/fast-facts-on-martial-law
