$ UHIUHVKHU

FORTY-FIVE year ago, on this day, President Ferdinand E. Marcos placed the country under martial law. The capital was wracked by violence for a month in the lead-up to the proclamation, culminating in the staged assassination attempt on Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile. “Staged” because Enrile, right after turning his back on Marcos during the Edsa Revolution, admitted that it was all part of a ruse to justify the call for military rule. Then years later, in his memoir, he took it back.

“I drafted and prepared the documents that President Marcos used to declare martial law. I checked the facts contained in those documents. I had no doubt of their authenticity, veracity, and sufficiency to support and justify the declaration of martial law. Those facts were more than enough to justify the declaration of martial law,” Enrile wrote.

Lawlessness and chaos had blanketed the capital with more than 15 bombing incidents of public facilities that were attributed to the Communists. Marcos used the situation as a pretext to grab and consolidate power. So what did he do? Not only did he suspend the writ of habeas corpus and the 1935 Constitution, he also dissolved Congress and padlocked the doors to the Batasang Pambansa. He then assumed both legislative and executive powers.

The whole nation didn’t know what hit them until 7:30 p.m. of Sept. 23, when formal announcement of Proclamation 1081 was made.

Interestingly enough, Marcos had actually signed the proclamation on Sept. 17, even though it was dated on the 17th.

(It know it sounds confusing, as confusing as Malacañang’s announcement that government work and public classes are suspended but no, it’s not a holiday.)

The move was criticized as a “planned precursor” to extend Marcos’s term in office, which was then limited to two terms of four years each or eight years in total. And guess what? He ended up staying in power for two decades, ruling as a dictator from 1972 up to 1981.

The majority went about their daily lives under the Bagong Lipunan (New Society). But for members of the opposition and student activists, their nightmare was just beginning. Critics of the Marcos regime were not immune.

Many were arrested. Many were tortured. Many disappeared, never to be seen again. Many lost their lives.

Here in our neck of the woods, I don’t expect any protests. A trickle of demonstrators might take to the streets, but I doubt they understand why they’re doing it.

If they do, then they can give themselves a pat on the back. If they don’t, well, they should talk to some martial law survivors.