page_title: History of the Philippines
section_title: Martial law
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Philippines / Marcos era / Martial law
caption_attribution_description: PCCLHS Banda Kawayan performing in 1970s
context_page_description: The history of the Philippines is believed to have begun with the arrival of the first humans using rafts or boats at least 709,000 years ago as suggested by the discovery of Pleistocene stone tools and butchered animal remains associated with hominin activity. Homo luzonensis, a species of archaic humans, was present on the island of Luzon at least 67,000 years ago. The earliest known modern human was from Tabon Cave in Palawan dating about 47,000 years. Negrito groups were the first inhabitants to settle in the prehistoric Philippines. After that, groups of Austronesians later migrated to the islands.
  Scholars generally believe that these social groups eventually developed into various settlements or polities with varying degrees of economic specialization, social stratification, and political organization. Some of these settlements achieved such a scale of social complexity that some scholars believe they should be considered early states.
context_section_description: Amidst the rising wave of lawlessness and the conveniently timed threat of a looming Communist insurgency under his administration, as well as the growing popularity of the opposition, Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972 by virtue of Proclamation No. 1081 to stifle dissent. Ruling by decree, Marcos curtailed press freedom and other civil liberties, abolished Congress, closed down major media establishments, ordered the arrest of opposition leaders and militant activists, including his staunchest critics: senators Benigno Aquino, Jr., Jovito Salonga and Jose Diokno. Crime rates plunged dramatically after a curfew was implemented. Many protesters, students, and political opponents were forced to go into exile, and a number were killed.
  A constitutional convention, which had been called for in 1970 to replace the colonial 1935 Constitution, continued the work of framing a new constitution after the declaration of martial law. The new constitution went into effect in early 1973, changing the form of government from presidential to parliamentary and allowing Marcos to stay in power beyond 1973. Marcos claimed that martial law was the prelude to creating a "New Society", which he would rule for more the two decades. The economy during the 1970s was robust, due to previous engagements by various administrations. However, the economy suffered after incurring massive debt and downgrading prospects of the Philippines under martial rule, while the wife of the president, Imelda Marcos, lived in high society.
  The human rights abuses under the dictatorship particularly targeted political opponents, student activists, journalists, religious workers, farmers, and others who fought back against the administration. Based on the documentation of Amnesty International, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, and similar human rights monitoring entities, the dictatorship was marked by 3,257 known extrajudicial killings, 35,000 documented tortures, 77 'disappeared', and 70,000 incarcerations.
  Some 2,520 of the 3,257 murder victims were tortured and mutilated before their bodies were dumped in various places for the public to discover - a tactic meant to sow fear among the public, which came to be known as "salvaging." Some bodies were even cannibalized.
caption: Banda Kawayan Pilipinas performing c. 1970's