When martial law was declared that September day, I had only a vague idea what the implications would be and how it would affect our lives.
We’d moved to the Philippines the previous September, and I’d spent the year getting acquainted with one new thing after another. Now I was about to find out what it was like to live under martial law.
Soldiers with Guns
Driving from our house to the bank, traffic looked a little lighter than usual. Other than that, the gleaming high rise buildings that lined Ayala Avenue in Makati’s financial district looked normal. It had been only a few days since the declaration of martial law. The transition from a democratically elected government to a de facto dictatorship had occurred without bloodshed, without tanks in the street.
So what’s to worry about?
I parked and walked around to the front of the bank building. Oh-oh, I thought, sucking in my breath. There on either side of the entrance stood two soldiers with assault rifles. I plucked up my courage and scurried between them and through the door, careful not to meet their eyes or brush up against their elbows.
In the following months, I encountered armed soldiers in other unexpected places. I got used to it. Almost.
The exception was the day I took our three young daughters to Rizal Park. We walked around and then settled in the children’s section of the park. They ran to monkey bars and I turned my attention to the soldier with an M-16 who didn’t look old enough to drive a car. Though I was uneasy, I let the children continue playing until the soldier handed his assault rifle to a child who couldn’t have been more than nine years old. Predictably, the boy immediately pointed the rifle this way and that, pretending to shoot people.
That’s when we left.
A Curfew
One aspect of martial law that applied to absolutely everyone was the curfew. The proclamation of martial law stated:
People outside their homes from 12mn to 4am will be summarily arrested and held in the nearest military camp overnight.
The next morning, authorities would decide whether or not to throw them in prison.
The dinner parties we attended usually started at 7:30 with drinks, snacks, and conversation. Dinner itself was leisurely, followed by after-dinner drinks. We should have been able to make it home by midnight. And yet, sometimes we found ourselves rushing to beat the curfew. Fortunately we never were caught out on the highways after midnight.
The Media
Before the declaration, we were able to choose between 7 TV stations, 16 daily papers, 11 weekly magazines, and hundreds of radio stations. After September 23, 1972, the only outlets allowed to operate were those associated with one Marcos crony.
We subscribed to that one approved newspaper for a while. But a steady diet of propaganda will rot your brain. Besides, it was deadly boring.
We did our best to find ways around the media shutdown. My husband and his colleagues brought news and newspapers home from their travels, and we read Stars and Stripes, the US military paper.
The Real Cost of Martial Law
Ordinary people and expatriates could adjust to all these things. We could find ways to carry on with our regular lives.
Not so for the country itself and for thousands of Filipinos.
Congress was disbanded. And after Marcos disposed of his opponents, a new constitution was written by his supporters.
Human rights abuses during Marcos’ 14-year-dictatorship have been documented. According to historians:
the Marcos’ dictatorship was marked by 3,257 known extrajudicial killings, 35,000 documented tortures, 77 ‘disappeared’, and 70,000 incarcerations.
During the time of Marcos’ presidency, poverty grew from 41% to 59%.
Nicki, the ‘almost’ in one of your sentences is most telling – ‘I got used to it. Almost.’ Although the normal life continued, it was just a muffled version of your former freedom. The dinner parties must have been coloured by the knowledge of having to leave at a certain time. As you mention, the ramifications for the population as a whole was massive.
BTW. just wanted to let you know I’ve got hold of Dream of the Red Chamber you mentioned and can’t wait to read it!
I read Dream of the Red Chamber a long time ago. It’s a love story, but I remember thinking at the time that it was a strange love story. Not only was it a different place, but it was a different time. All the background material was really interesting. I’m glad you found a copy.
We lived under martial law in the Philippines for almost fifteen years, so I suppose in a way we did get used to it. But we never forgot that it was a form of authoritarian rule, and we were glad things were different back in our own country.
Very interesting account. Now with the internet it is hard to imagine how it would be to rely only on a propaganda-filled newspaper to get all the news.
It’s hard to remember what it was like before we had such wide access to the news.
Human beings have not evolved as intended ~ in fact, we may be in the midst of a devolution. 😯
I think we are in the midst of a devolution. Peace and love, Nancy.
Thanks for that, Nicki.
What goes down must come up, right? Soon . . . peace, love, and understanding will be the norm!
Yes, I’d rather not think about the current statistics of places I’ve lived or am currently living in. The curfew thing, yeah, no joke. It was so stressful to try to get home on time after work. Sometimes it’s hard to believe it’s 2019.
Wow! You must have worked late or had an early curfew. I do remember hearing about lots of military coups in Thailand. After Marcos left, there were about seven coup attempts in the Philippines against Cory Aquino, but they all failed.
We had an early curfew and yes, I work when most people finish school or work, so yeah. If I wanted to grab dinner or food b/f heading home it was a race against the clock.
After a tiring day at work, that must have been stressful.
Sounds terrible and I wonder how I would have dealt with such situation. Living in Germany/ Finland I can’t even really imagine how it must have been even with your account.
Only in Helsinki I had it few times that I encountered out of nowhere squads of soldiers right in the city center at night but they were only doing some military training
Once in a while we pass military vehicles on the highway going somewhere for training. It’s always sobering.
I still remember the shock when armed police began to appear at London’s terminal stations and airports – and we knew they were there for our protection.
Our police were armed much earlier than yours. Still, seeing close-up someone with a gun, can feel shocking.
It’s amazing how quickly people can get used to propaganda and dictatorships when they aren’t directly affected.
Was there any sort of underground resistance that you and Eugene were aware of?
There was a lot of complaining. Occasionally an article would come out in a foreign magazine with some juicy gossip. I remember one about Marcos having inflated his past military prowess. And there continued to be problems with Muslim rebels in the south and communist groups in the north. But basically, I don’t think there was much of an underground. People just went along for almost 14 years. Then Marcos’ health started failing. And when a popular opposition leader, Benigno Aquino, returned from exile and was shot as he stepped off the plane, finally people were angry. They demonstrated, and in doing so, realized their power.
The closest I came to anything like that was when I flew into Athens airport many decades ago. Something was going on (and I don’t remember exactly what) but there was armed military all over. This was before 9/11 here so it was very jarring to someone who has never seen such military presence. Can’t imagine living with this. Even the perception of wrong doing can kill you.
Like you, I grew up in a peaceful place. The only guns I ever saw were on the news or in the movies. Once after we moved back to the US, a policeman came to our house. (Our foster daughter had run away after her mother threatened her.) The policeman inside the house with all his gear looked big and scary. He seemed incongruous with my peaceful furniture. We’re so lucky not to have guns and war part of our normal lives.
Yes we are.
Such a chilling account, Nicki. How did your children react at that time? How frightening for everyone!
Our children were young enough that they accepted the situation as normal. They never seemed frightened. That’s kids for you.