Stayin’ alive in the Martial Law years—students, yuppies recall the times

Listening to acid rock under the influence of psychedelic smoke—this was a memory Rhio Rubio (not his real name) remembers about Martial Law, which then President Ferdinand Marcos declared in the country 40 years ago. He was in second year college in UP Diliman when martial law was declared. “I was at home very angry. SDK was my org, a Marxist Leninist leaning group," he said. Rubio was among the many students and yuppies whose lives were affected during the imposition of Martial Law in 1972. GMA News Online asked Rubio and some of his peers about this period in Philippine history. Were you still a student then or working by then? Where were you on Sept. 21, 1972? Mon Ignacio, semi-retired, former government officer and business consultant: Residing in Makati. I was a student in second year college at UP Diliman. There was a TV blackout during that day. No news—not even radio broadcast. At about 10 a.m. Channel 4 [commenced] its broadcast and [Francisco] Tatad was announcing with Marcos Proclamation 1081. "By virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution as the President and commander in chief of the AFP, I hereby declare martial law." Rhio Rubio (not real name): I was in second year college in UP Diliman. When martial law was declared I was at home, very angry. SDK was my org. Marxist Leninist leaning group. Jake Solon, FM DJ: I was still a student or was trying to stay in school. Campus demonstration school activism was the scene on the street, campus teach in, rock concert, drugs were easy to get, politicians were killing each other, Plaza Miranda bombing. Fresh from the Philippine Military Academy, Lt Victor Corpuz defected and joined the NPA. Manila was quite an exciting and a chaotic place to be in that time. Jev Ramos, ad executive: high school student, Ateneo How did you react to Martial Law? How did you spend the 1970s? Did your lifestyle change because of it? Ignacio: The reaction was that of fear due to the previous acts of the military during the past years and the experience during the Diliman Commune. I spent the 70's—normal lang except that ‘di na pwedeng uminom ng lagas [up to] 12 midnight because of curfew. I was then the President of the UP Pol Sci Club so we had to tone down our stance on various political issues. Besides, many of our officers and members were rich: Consunji, Dimayuga, dela Rama, Jacinto, etc. ‘Di na ako natakot after I stopped my KM activities than naging tropa ko mga Metrocom because of my cousin who was with Metrocom in Crame with Capt. Leandro Mendoza (he later on became secretary of DOTC), plus General Ver's daughter Faida was a close friend. Rubio: Spent the 70's planning my career in broadcasting, advertising and business. Generally confused since UP student protests were limited to classroom discussions. Solon: The morning of September 21, 1972, I was on West Avenue in Quezon City where we live, woke up early, I remember, went to turn on my radio. Nothing, there was no radio on air. So I tried the TV. Nothing, not even a test pattern. No Manila Times diyaryo. Then Marcos went on air on radio and TV saying he proclaimed Martial Law because of the student unrest, the communist NPA, and Juan Ponce Enrile, the Secretary of Defense, got ambushed, blah! blah! blah! The country was in danger. (Interesting, Marcos used Enrile's ambush as one of the reasons he declared Martial Law, and Enrile and Ramos led the People Power that kicked Marcos out of power. hahaha!) Senator Benigno Aquino warned the public and the media. He knew Martial Law was on Marcos’ agenda to stay in power. Ramos: Apprehensive. No TV, no radio, no newspapers, only to be replaced by media that kept praising Marcos and Company. Trying to stay out of trouble. Stayed in school, concentrated on extra-curricular activities. Partied on weekends. Did the stay-in thing. Were you optimistic or pessimistic during Marcos' heyday in the 70s? Ignacio: Lifestyle did not change much except I veered away from leftist orientation to normal. The first years of Martial Law were good. Discipline was imposed and that was good. What I did not like was how Enrile carried himself—grabe, talagang abusado mga bata niya. Just the sight of them was really scary. I was supposed to proceed to the College of Law in UP but gutom mga abogado noon. So I decided to take up MBA. Abogado na sana ako kung ‘di nag-martial law. Ako nga ang nagpapainom sa mga new law grads ng UP noon dahil wala silang kita—walang mga kaso and useless mga abogado. Rubio: It opened my eyes to social issues and the power of the government to suppress activities of the masses while abuses of the then First Family were published in underground school papers. Solon: My first reaction to Martial Law [was fear]. I was/we were scared because for the first time everybody realized that your freedom and rights to free speech and expression were taken away. The military rule suddenly was the reality in the country. Men in uniform and in civilian clothes can arrest anyone, and the civil courts did not exist; writ of habeas corpus was suspended. Curfew was first set at 11 p.m. to 5 or 6 a.m. Nobody, not a car was on the street. The Metrocom ruled Manila. I was very optimistic that Marcos would end Martial Law. He was trying to impress the people with his roads and bridges, cultural, agricultural achievement, miracle rice, the Green Revolution, buildings. But still a lot of Filipinos lost their lives or disappeared and were never heard of again because of their fight to bring back democracy. People inside Marcos’ circle became powerful and rich. Ramos: Optimistic at first. Seemed to be doing the right thing. Tough on crime, getting infrastructure done. Then got bothered by all the warrantless arrests, hearing of acquaintances disappearing, abuses, etc. What were your memorable images of the Martial Law period? Ignacio: The impact of Martial Law was good. It removed the oligarchy and the monopoly of the few clans. The economy was very good. Dollar was 1:7.5 pesos. ‘Yung sweldong P800 per month sa DFA (my first job) went a long way until I was receiving P3300 in DTI in 1978—bongga, mayaman na kami noon. I could afford a lot of goodtime, booze, chicks, lahat. The only negative I saw during the Martial Law was the abuse of the military. The civilian government—takot sila lahat magnakaw at mahuling incompetent. Marcos appointed the best people in the government, the likes of Paterno, Virata, Laya, Corpus, Salas, Velasco, Escudero, etc. None of the Presidents after Macoy had. Solon: Memorable images of Martial Law: drug lord Lim Seng execution by firing squad, the creation of the National Artist Award by Presidential Proclamation. In 1976 the OPM started, [radios were required to play] one OPM song per hour. If you get caught not playing an OPM, [you will be meted out] suspension and fine. [There was also] the Metropop, the Metro Manila Popular Music Festival. Ramos: Kit Tatad on TV almost every day delivering propaganda, simulcast over all TV and radio stations, interrupting favorite programs. Propaganda ads. Marcoses all over the place with the media praising their every move. Movie posters where guns, cleavage, outfits that revealed more of an actor's or actress's body were crudely shaded with marking pen. How would you characterize the impact of Martial Law on the economy, music, arts and culture? Was there a lasting positive effect, or all negative? Ignacio: The positive side of Martial law has been overshadowed by the distortion of history by Cory fanatics who hated Marcos so much of their greed to oust Marcos for them to takeover and succeed. Rubio: Curfew only made these issues major topics of rumors while listening to "acid rock" music under the influence of psychedelic smoke. Martial law's lasting effect is for people born during that era to continually question the establishment and be critical of any government activities. Solon: I believe it changed a lot of lives including mine because you understood the power of a one-man rule. You tend to be more careful and behave like a good citizen. You wish that the wind of change will come, and Martial Law will end ... and it did! I would say it did bring a lot of new changes in music—the OPM influence and change in radio playlist, and it changed the Pilipino music industry and talents. They built the Folk Arts Theater, the Manila Film Center, Nayong Pilipino. Pit Senor or the Sinulog—they started that big during Martial Law, to name a few, Marcos was doing his own cultural revolution, same as the Chinese cultural revolution experience during Mao Zedong’s [time]. Marcos even visited the Chairman in China. The lasting effect of Martial Law, the Filipinos have learned, is never to allow a one-man rule again. We have learned how to use our rights and fight. We understand that as long as we are united and one in our cause, Filipinos can bring a positive and a prosperous change in the Philippines. Ramos: Liked some of the nationalistic songs. Pinoy rock came about. Weng-weng became a star. Go figure. Artists and musicians tried to push the envelope almost to the point where they'd be branded "subversive." But in the end censorship prevailed; anyone who wanted to survive had to tow the line. More negative than positive. And they're still haunting us to this very day. How was the party scene? Solon: The party days of Martial Law were fun kasi stay-in was the thing. Nobody was allowed on the streets. Curfew was 11 p.m., then they moved it to 12 midnight till about 5 a.m. Discos, beer houses, clubs, and massage parlors were happy because customer found a good alibi not to go home kasi curfew na, so stay-in na lang. Baka ma-Camp Crame pa at magbunot ng damo. Some parties held in private homes for either college or high school students were also stay-in. It made a lot of teenagers happy; the girls and boys have all night to party. Ramos: Just as wild as pre-Martial Law. We still got our hands on certain outlawed substances, but since we were holed up in discos or private homes, there was no way the authorities could find out, unless there was an informer in the group. But the snitches were more concerned with perceived enemies of Marcos and his ilk rather than other "minor" concerns. – KG, GMA News