DeCal: Intro to Philippine History

1) what was the impact of the press on the destabilization of the Marcos DIcatatorship?

2) what was the relationship between the political work/movement and the mass mobilization?

3) what was the political participation of a regular philipino like during the dictatorship?

4) what was the US presence — politically, economically, militarily — before, during, and after the dictatorship?

5) Besides the death of Aquino, what other social factors played a role in the disintegration of the dictatorship?

—aurora

           Part 8 of the Batar Militar focuses on the staged elections that occurred during the Marcos regime.  Ninoy Aquino was imprisoned for allegations regarding murder, illegal possession of firearms, and subversion.  During his imprisonment, he launched candidacy for presidency but could not campaign outside of his cell.  He could only run for president.  Aquino would begin by attacking and challenging the Marcos regime and Martial Law.  In addition, Aquino headed the opposition alliance called Laban, meaning fight. 

            The power of the people was portrayed through the noise barrage assembled in result of the votes for the opposition not counting.  The noise barrage was significant because it illustrated a manifestation of “people power”.   It was also supposed to last 10 minutes but ended up lasting longer until dawn.  They wanted to make a statement to attempt to end the violence caused by Martial Law.

            After the counting of the votes, most of the votes went towards all candidates of the New Social Movement regime.  Aquino was beaten by ambiguous candidates and was the result of blatant cheating in 1978.  After the election, a radicalization of traditional politicians, and moderate activists. 

            Doris Baffrey was a government employee and a secret member of the April 6 movement.  She smuggled a bomb to a meeting in Manila at the American Society of agents.  In result, the Marcos regime was embarrassed because the bomb exploded during Marcos’ speech.  Baffrey ended up serving 5 years in a military prison.

            In 1981, Marcos was forced to loosen his grip on the country and also lift Martial Law.  But the practices of Martial Law were  still implemented into society and Marcos still took advantage of his power.  For his third election, he funded his opponent to portray a genuine and free election.  He ended up winning again.  Aquino also needed heart bypass surgery, so Marcos released him so he would not be blamed for his death if he were to die in prison.  During this time, Aquino was living in the US.  In the US he was still attacking the dictatorship of Marcos.  After 3 years in the US Aquino would return to the Philippines. 

 -Josh 

This section of the video talks further about the alliance the Philippines and Marcos was able to make with the United States. The narrator points out that even if there are these established alliances, there are still personal interests that drive people to pursue what they want. In the beginning, the US (through Richard Nixon) was able to support the Philippines but towards the end released this support. 

Some of the things that Marcos did was centralized military with the police force under the same general umbrella. This creates no checks and balances and puts it under Marcos and his government. He also puts Ilokanos and his “people” in intelligence work and spying work. This is a transition from democratic to authoritative power. By the numbers, there were 7000 people jailed, 34000 tortured and 3240 dead during the Marcos era. They were punished through water torture, burned, or imprisoned. There were also families that were broken and fathers jailed and punished. They were thought to be part of the communist party. 

It was interesting to see how former President Ramos (then general) was the head of the intelligence that had the most count of human rights violations. They arrested certain individuals without warrant because it is Martial Law. Still in this day, the Marcos family still deny their involvement in these deaths, etc. People of the Philippines would still like to see the Marcos jailed and experience what they had people go through. 

-Glendie

This film portrayed the legacy of Ninoy Aquino in Philippines history. Living under a power hungry dictator, the potential for a democracy or any kind of people led government became heavily repressed. Aquino was convinced that a democratic government that represented the people would bring about change in the Philippines. Even though Aquino attempted to participate democratically in the Philippines government, the political situation under the Marco’s Dictatorship turned more hostile towards any kind of activity that challenge the status quo. Nevertheless, Aquino did no give up in his struggle to bring democracy to his country. Aquino’s convictions for a democratic society challenged the dictatorship and eventually led to his detention. Aquino’s requests for a democracy during a Cold War period in international politics gave him the label of “communist.” The political and personal life of Aqunio shows a man who is committed to the national liberation of his country, labeling his nationalistic aspirations as communists gave the green light to his arrest. Aquino became one of many that faced detention without due process for the crime of speaking out for a democratic society and ideals. Aquino’s work did not violently threaten the dictator, nevertheless, proved to be instilling in people a desire for change that proved to be the real weapon that destroyed Marco’s dictatorship. The film highlighted the contributions that Aquino gave to the Philippines; the ideas that he contributed were put into action through massive uprisings across the country. Aquino’s death took place in the middle of a turmoil caused by the massive repression and violence that had been building up in the Philippines. With the ouster of Marcos, the Philippines was able to practice democratic elections and at least participate in the political life without the threat of violence. Aquino became an example of resistance through non-violent means for nationalistic ideals.

aurora castellanos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nac47nIz5Y&annotation_id=annotation_396139&feature=iv

This second section begins by describing how the Communist movement in the Philippines was often scapegoated for the troubles going on in the country. It then continues and talks about Marcos’s plans for martial law. Marcos called for a constitutional convention in 1971, not to make the social and economic reforms that the country needed, but to instead change the system of government from presidential to parliamentarian. To get this change to pass, Marcos and his wife bribed many delegates to sign and most did. 

By passing this legislation, the constitutional convention gave all legislative and executive power to Marcos. Marcos’s plans for martial law were not a secret to the public. Benigno Aquino Jr. exposed Oplan Sagittarius as Marcos’s blueprint for martial law while Marcos denied such plans. Oplan Sagittarius, Marcos and his men claimed that it was nothing more than an emergency plan to deal with Luzon and Mindanao. 

Marcos’s team was known as the Rolex Twelve because it was said that Marcos gave each of them a gold rolex watch. They weren’t all informed of all the details of Oplan Sagittarius, but they each took an important role in putting it into play. Many of them were military men and only two were civilians. The Rolex Twelve included the cousin of Benigno Aquino, Jr. who was said to have been in charge of keeping the peace and order in Tarlac, Aquino’s home area. As commander-in-chief, Marcos faced very few challenges by military officers. Those who did speak up commonly had their positions in the forces compromised. 

Kamille

Part Four of “Batas Militar” highlighted some of Marcos’ blunders during his second and third terms. For instance, the film, “Maharlika” further elaborated on Marcos’ exaggerated war heroics. Dovie Beams, a Hollywood star commissioned to appear in the film, alleged that she had an affair with Marcos. She went as far as presenting a cassette tape recording of her affairs with Marcos to a press conference.

The build-up of the opposition to the Marcos regime started in the fraudulent and expensive 1969 elections that triggered public frustration towards the government. Then, in 1971 the Plaza Miranda bombing roused the populace to vote for liberal party candidates in the 1972 elections. 

In 1972, opposition leaders - including Ninoy Aquino - were rounded up and imprisoned. These imprisonments were not reported in the news, as Marcos had seized control of newspapers, radio, and TV stations. While fundamental freedoms were being disturbed, Marcos engaged in initial measures that provided an aura of societal improvement relative to previous years. He disbanded private armies, confiscated unlicensed weapons, and fired 6,000 employees who were allegedly engaged in graft and corruption. 

As a lawyer, Marcos sought to justify his dictatorship under a cloak of legality. In his efforts to revolutionize the government, he called for a Constitutional Convention that aimed to review his proposed changes. Since all opposition leaders were already imprisoned at this time, nobody stood in his way.

-Bianca