More articles about: Martial Law

It has been said that there are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen. For the Philippines, January to March 1970, the First Quarter Storm, was the latter.Those who were there when it happened can attest to how ...

Mahalaga at napapanahon ang kursong pang-GE na magpapamalay sa kabataan sa kasamaan ng Batas Militar o ang paghaharing nakabatay sa dahas at pananakot, at ng diktadura, o ang paghaharing hindi nahahahanggahan ng batas.(Roughly, “The GE course that will educate the youth on ...

When Ferdinand Marcos placed the entire country under Martial Law, he went to great lengths to celebrate it as the start of "The New Society." As far as descriptions go, it’s right on the money. He didn’t say better, or even simply ...

Thirty-three years have already passed since the Filipino people gathered together for the monumental overthrowing of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.As we celebrate the anniversary of the restoration of the country’s civil liberties and democracy, here’s a look at how the popular ...

When the Soviet Union fell, citizens of Moscow toppled a monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the KGB. After Saddam Hussein was killed, a bronze statue of the dictator in Baghdad was dismantled by an angry mob. In 1776, the year the ...

The Nutribun of the 1970s was a bread borne out of good intentions. Nutribun was designed as a convenient “ready-to-eat complete meal” for public elementary school feeding programs to combat child malnutrition in the Philippines. Schools in economically depressed areas where children ...

The president has signed General Order No. 4, making it a jailable offense to be outside of your home after midnight.Citing "terroristic activities, assassination of innocent citizens and leaders of our society, arsons and deliberate destructions of public and private property...lootings and ...

When we talk about political songs, we mostly remember protest songs, because it's in the nature of art and artists to fight against The Man and the oppression he brings.On the other hand, politicians have always known how to use music for ...

One version of this story has us begin in 1973, a year after Proclamation 1081 was announced, placing the entire country under martial law, to the relief of citizens desperate for discipline. Crime was on the wane; peace was prime. Manila mornings ...

NERI COLMENARESFormer congressman, human rights lawyerIf you're in a position of power or wealth, never abuse and never be arrogant.The second lesson my father told me: "Kung tama ka naman, tindigan mo. Pero kung mali ka, dapat aminin mo." That’s why I could ...

Everyone knows 1972 as the year President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law over the land. But he was a busy guy, and while his legacy will forever be tainted by the bloody era that followed, Marcos was responsible for a lot of ...

In the years leading up to Ferdinand Marcos’ declaration of Martial Law, The Philippines Free Press was one among a handful of publications that were unrelenting in their critique of his administration. The Free Press published articles about social, political, and economic ...

Martial Law can be a pretty thorny topic to introduce to your children. You don't want to give them nightmares, but you also want to pass on the hard lessons of history so that they may not repeat it. Children’s books have always ...

Tell me if this is strange, but I find joy in my once-a-year meeting with my accountants and financial advisors. It's not at all a serious meeting about the IPOs and acquisitions of our humble company, but just a midweek brunch, usually ...

It’s probably one of the most iconic photos in Philippine history: Ninoy Aquino all in white, lying lifeless on the tarmac, his alleged assassin’s body just a few inches away as soldiers scramble to get Aquino into a military van. Aquino’s assassination was ...

I was a child when Marcos fell, but I was old enough to perceive evil. I knew he was the reason my father became a guerilla commander for the New People’s Army and had a bullet lodged in his left thigh. Why ...

Editor's Note: This is a repost of Mr. Pete Lacaba's September 1995 column for the Philippine Graphic. Mr. Lacaba is a journalist, scriptwriter, poet, and editor. He is a University of the Philippines Gawad Plaridel awardee, and has received a Carlos Palanca ...

Martial Law was born six months before I was. So if we were both students, in that proverbial hypothetical world, we would probably have ended up as batchmates. However, as much as I would like to think I know who I am ...

Forty-five years ago, the Philippines was put under martial law by Ferdinand Marcos. From 1972 to 1981, Marcos’ military rule resulted in 3,257 extrajudicial killings, 35,000 individual tortures, and 70,000 were incarcerations, and at least 737 Filipino Desaparecidos or the Disappeared Ones. ...

IT WAS NOT SEPTEMBER 21, but September 22, 1972, that signaled the actual start of Ferdinand Marcos’ martial law regime. To be exact, 9:11 p.m. on that day 17 years ago— a Friday, as is the 22nd of this the first “Marcos ...