It’s Sept 21 again. Time to remember Sept 21, 1972 when Marcos supposedly signed Proclamation 1081 to start his 14-year Martial Law reign. Technically, Martial Law was lifted in 1980, but only in name. The country was still under a de facto Martial Law. It was a Romualdez-Marcos Conjugal Dictatorship.
The Filipinos finally rose against the Conjugal Dictatorship under the combined leadership of Cory Aquino, Doy Laurel, Cardinal Sin and the Marcos mutineers – Defense Secretary Juan Ponce-Enrile and Philippine Constabulary Chief Fidel V. Ramos in February 1986.
But the Filipinos never learned.
When action star Erap Estrada became president, he ran the country like a drunkard actor, with dictatorial tendencies and revived the kleptocratic activities of the Marcos regime. The Congressional hearings brought to fore the blatant thievery done in jueteng or illegal numbers game, and the people were told of the millions of pesos regularly brought to Malacanang. An EDSA DOS removed Erap.
But Macapagal-Arroyo was greedy, too She told the people she would not run for President, but she did. “Hello, Garci” call to the Comelec Chair characterized the election which saw a very popular movie star, the King of Philippine movies himself lost the elections to Ms. Arroyo. A feat that was simply impossible without blatant cheating. And then the ZTE deal erupted which showed the people how the government officials cheat the people out of billions of dollars. “Moderate the Greed” was the meme of the day.
Oh, and Arroyo actually declared Martial Law or Proclamation 1017. Fortunately, the Senators at that time, at least a majority of them, still had some backbone and questioned the proclamation.
When Cory Aquino died, the Corystas turned Cory’s death into a groundswell of support for Noynoy’s presidential candidacy. And history repeated itself when Presidential Candidate Mar Roxas withdrew in favor of Noynoy, just as Laurel withdrew in favor of Cory.
The Hyatt 10 plus the close friends of Noynoy controlled the government. The Luneta hijacking and the Mamasapano revealed Noynoy’s incompetence. Controlling the Presidency and both Houses of Congress was not enough for the new rulers. They wanted complete control, thus, SC Chief Justice was impeached upon the flimsiest grounds and a whole lot of Fake News, courtesy of the Media. As then Sen. Joker Arroyo said, Noynoy did not have to declare Martial Law anymore because he already fully controlled the government and had de facto Martial Law powers.
Then came Mr. Duterte. His populist approach attracted the masses while his Strongman tactics scared the Opposition. The Opposition led by a widow, cowered in fear while Duterte made killing by his policemen of poor people an everyday event. And Congress gave in to Duterte’s every whim. Imitating Noynoy, he dismissed the SC Chief Justice, this time without even being impeached. The Covid pandemic gave his administration huge opportunities to steal from the country’s coffers. And the people were just shocked when the Pharmally affair broke through the news. And Mr. Duterte destroyed the center of Marawi – bombed it for five months — and declared Martial Law in Mindanao for the duration.
And once again, we have a Romualdez and a Marcos at the top. The Conjugal Dictatorship of Araneta-Marcos is joined by Speaker of the House, Cong. Romualdez. A menage a trois. And this time, the public is being shown the spectacle of congressmen jumpstarting their net worth by Billions of Pesos in a matter of one and half years, and government engineers and private contractors getting billions of pesos for ghost projects.
The spectacle includes a couple – children of OFWs – who became contractors and got billions of pesos, acquiring some 40 luxurious cars including a Lamborghini and a Rolls Royce. Oh yes, she said she bought the Rolls Royce because it came with a beautiful umbrella as a freebie.
And the Filipinos are back in the streets protesting this massive corruption.
Will President Marcos and his first cousin, Cong. Romualdez call on the powers of Martial Law again to protect presidential prerogatives?
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See M for Madness and Martial Law
Postprandial Musings, 2.0 