It’s Sept. 23: Govt seeks to correct date for Martial Law commemoration

The late dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law on September 23, 1972 and not September 21 as traditionally believed.

The government sought to correct the date for the annual commemoration of the Martial Law declaration by publishing a detailed account of what took place in the days leading to Marcos' imposition of the military rule.

A feature posted on the Official Gazette (gov.ph) said “democracy was still functioning in the Philippines” on September 21, 1972.

In fact, according to the government feature, then-Senator Benigno Aquino Jr.—President Benigno Aquino III's father and Marcos' staunch critic—still delivered a privilege speech on that date over four decades ago.

The Official Gazette further cited Marcos' diary, which stated that he and his Cabinet only finished the preparation of Proclamation 1081 on the night of September 21.

On September 22, 1972, the convoy of then-Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile was ambushed, which the government website called a “pretext for Martial Law.”

Enrile, currently a senator detained on graft and plunder cases, maintained two years ago that the ambush was not staged, and denied that it was used to justify military rule.

The government gazette also set for the record that Marcos appeared on television at 7:15 p.m. on September 23, 1972 to announce that he had placed the Philippines under Martial Law.

International newspapers such as The New York Times also carried news on Martial Law in the Philippines on their September 24, 1972 issues—buttressing the fact that Marcos declared military rule the day before.

Former Senator Rene Saguisag also recalled that Martial Law was declared on September 23, 1972. In an article published on Business World, he even described the September 21 commemoration as a “superstition” and a “myth.”

The Martial Law years was a period marked by human rights abuses in the Philippines. Marcos eventually lifted military rule on January 17, 1981.

President Aquino's father, Benigno Jr., was assassinated in 1983 upon his arrival in Manila, a crime widely blamed on the Marcos presidency.

President Aquino's mother, Corazon, meanwhile replaced Marcos as president after the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986. —Andreo Calonzo/KBK, GMA News