Martial Law Case Study

1404 Words6 Pages
1.1 Background of the study Martial law was formally announced by late President Ferdinand Marcos on the evening of September 23, 1972 (Francisco, 2016). The Martial law is the type of government in a specific country or region where controlled by the force of military authority (Merriam Webster, 2018). According to Klitgard (1972) martial law occurred at the darkest time in the Philippine history under President Marcos. People living in the country unite for one serious action. However, it seems that Martial Law was accepted by the majority of the Filipinos. He appeared on national television to declare that Philippines are now under on his implemented law (Francisco, 2016). The undesirable happenings during the reign of Ferdinand Marcos…show more content…
After that event the real reason of Marcos implemented that law revealed. It’s for Marcos own sake to extend his term as president. Under the 1935 constitution, it limits the term of the president to no more than eight consecutive years in governance. Marcos extended the period of Martial Law beyond the end of his term in 1973. Marcos described his martial law government as “constitutional authoritarianism”. Perhaps the constitution did not say that martial law will last, it is the president personal decision. Although the courts remained in the judiciary, the judges of all courts, from the Supreme Court down to the lowest courts, became "casuals". Their stay in office depended on the wishes of the dictator (Pacomios, n.d). According to GovPh (2017) The Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board (HRVCB) released the names of 4,000 approved claims for human rights violations during the martial law period. From 1972 to 1981 approximately almost 3,240 where killed. 70,000 people get imprisoned and 34,000 tortured based on the tally record of the Amnesty International. Martial law is considered as the dark chapter of the Philippines due to the thousands of people gets abuse their dignity and human rights. Tortures, electrocuted, beaten up, and strangled are some inhumane act of Marcos administration. Violence continuously arising as the victim burned with a flat iron or cigars, water poured through their throats and forced out by beating, and the worst is women stripped naked and

More about Martial Law Case Study

Open Document