Martial Law

Danica P. Cuesta March 03,2014

BSEd—MAPE Political Science

1. Why did Pres. Marcos declare Martial Law?

* Marcos declared Martial Law because of Ninoy Aquino.

Ninoy Aquino was the new political superstar of the time.  In all likelihood, he was going to be the next President.  But Ninoy was perceived rightly or wrongly as a communist, or at least sympathetic to the communist movement that was leading the social unrest threatening to engulf the country.

The constitutional option for Marcos had run out.  The explosive bribing scandal that exposed his attempts to influence the delegates to the  Constitutional Convention of 1972  to allow him to run again killed that alternative.

* Also, President Marcos thought that Martial law would have great opportunities beckoned.

2. Describe the relationship of Pres. Marcos and Sen. Benigno Aquino. Why did Pres. Marcos arrested and imprisoned Sen. Aquino?

President Marcos arrested and imprisoned Senator Aquino because way back then, President Marcos and Senator Ninoy Aquino are on the same party, both of them wants to win as a government official but since Marcos felt that Aquino would be the biggest threat for him to win, he decided to arrest and imprisoned Senator Aquino. Some of the cause of his imprisonment is the face of trumped-up charges of murder, subversion, and illegal possession of firearms.

3. Who assassinated (or ordered the assassination of) Sen. Aquino?

The Marcos Government claimed that Galman was the trigger man in Aquino’s assassination.

The brief history about it:

Aquino was assassinated on August 21, 1983, when he was shot in the head after returning to the country. At the time, bodyguards were assigned to him by the Marcos government. A subsequent investigation produced controversy but with no definitive results. After Marcos government was overthrown, another investigation found sixteen defendants guilty. They were all sentenced to life in prison. Some were...