REACTION PAPER on Martial Law Marcos Days (True Story 2021) Now is the time to

listen and be open minded

On September 23, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos announced and signed and put the
Philippines under martial law. This has ended after the 14-year term of Marcos as a president in
the Philippines. He was expelled in 1984 when President Cory Aquino run for president. Her
main goal to be one with Filipino and to expel Marcos as a president.

Many Filipinos had died under President Marco’s terminology. People are forced to
follow the President’s order or else they will be killed. At those time, a lot had suffered from
trauma and fear of death. But beside all of this, Marcos really is a great leader that some of us
wished to be under his care still. Unless, based on the video, that if the Karagatan incident was
successful, the history of the Philippines will change. If the military soldiers didn’t win at that
battle, Marcos will be unstoppable because the main goal of Karagatan incident was to
encourage Marcos more on using violence.

Negative Effects of Leadership of Marcos and the Martial Law

● During the 1990s, Filipinos were suffering because of Marcos' debts

● Unemployment also rose during the Marcos era. In 1970 unemployment was 6.30% but
by 1985 it was 27.65% unemployment

● In 1983 unemployment and commodity prices rose. It rarely happens and that was the
only time it happened in the entire history of the Philippines under the rule of Marcos

● The progress of the Philippines during Marcos' rule was an illusion. Especially in
architecture, of course it is state sponsored, but it is a debt.

● No public bidding and transparency have taken place in Marcos' projects.

● Most of the Imelda Marcos impact projects have been used and taken advantage of by her
relatives
● There is a scenario where Imelda Marcos wants to show off to George Hamilton, so she
did a scuff folding to show off but one day it collapsed and until now it is not known how
many died.

● Most of the infrastructures built by Marcos were taken from the war damage
rehabilitation fund

● Marcos enforced martial law to reduce the NPA. The NPA reached 2000 in 1972 but by
1985 it had grown to 20,000. This means that martial law is not effective in suppressing
NPAs

● Marcos is the number 1 recruiter of the NPAs

● Marcos only enforced martial law to extend his term as president

● Many human rights were violated during the martial law era

● Many were imprisoned and tortured during martial law

● Many student leaders were killed during the martial law era

● The Philippine military lost discipline during the martial law era because of the absolute
power given to it

● The architectures during the Marcos regime were raw concrete or better known as
brutalism

● Marcos' talent is only personal and not yet patriotic because he is in debt and steals.

● The worst thing that the Marcos dictatorship has done is the spread of impunity

● Only friends and family were promoted to the government during the Marcos era

● He uses the power of the state to keep checking the oligarchs who can fight him

● Even in the production of architecture, it was dictatorial

● Martial law helped to discipline the Filipino people

● Martial law was enforced because there was an emerging rebellion against the
government, and it needed to be stopped

● For the safety of the people, martial law was implemented

● Criminality was lessened

In conclusion, for me martial law helped to discipline the Filipino people but there are
also laws and rights that have been violated. Yes, Marcos is intelligent, has a good leadership
and has developed our country a lot, but aside from those, many people have also been beaten,
have died, and tortured. It has only been proven that Marcos violated human rights. Martial Law
has done something right and something wrong but for me the negative impact is dominant than
the positive impact of martial law. Because we're talking about the lives of the victims, lives are
more precious than silver and gold. We need to bring justice to the victims of martial law.

Martial Law is the dark chapter in the history of the Philippines. According to the
Amnesty International:

● 70,000 people were imprisoned

● 34,000 tortured

● 3,240 were killed from 1972 to 1981

Marcos also killed students with valedictorian award and promising leaders of the
Philippines who express only their opinion on how Marcos dominating the Philippines. That’s
why now we are poor in choosing the right candidate for senator, vice president and president
that's because Marcos killed them all. Its very pity to see the Filipino people suffering from the
hands of the dictator. Never Again to Martial Law, yes Marcos is one the best President for what
he do to the Philippines from more than 20 years, I’ll give him the credit and salute him but I
will never acknowledge him for breaking the law of human rights, killing people and stealing
money. Many years will come but the victim of martial law is unforgettable.