Revisiting martial law

There have been some mass protest actions, but for many Filipinos, the yearlong martial law in the entire Mindanao has largely gone unnoticed. This is thanks to the conduct of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in enforcing martial law.

There is renewed interest, however, even among millennials, on the conduct of the AFP and other state forces four decades ago, when they were the enforcers of martial law declared by dictator Ferdinand Marcos on Sept. 21, 1972.

Under Marcos’ military rule, the AFP and Philippine Constabulary, particularly the PC Metropolitan Command or Metrocom which operated in Manila and surrounding towns and cities, could barge into private homes and drag anyone to detention by virtue merely of a so-called Arrest, Search and Seizure Order that did not emanate from the courts. A number of individuals rounded up by virtue of an ASSO were tortured or executed. Others remain on the list of the country’s desaparecidos.

The PC and Metrocom have been disbanded, with Constabulary members absorbed into the Philippine National Police. But today, as the country remembers the 46th anniversary of the declaration of martial law, the objects of fear are PNP members who abuse state power and resort to extralegal means of fighting criminality.

The abuses have fueled renewed interest in the dark days of the dictatorship, and bolstered the resolve to blunt any attempt to restore authoritarian rule. If more people are commemorating the anniversary of martial law today, it is because they perceive dark clouds again forming in the horizon. Perhaps their eyes are merely playing tricks on them. But when it comes to protecting basic freedoms, it cannot be stressed enough that eternal vigilance is a small price to pay.