Proclamation № 1081 | |
---|---|
Proclaiming a State of Martial Law in the Philippines | |
Territorial extent | Philippines |
Enacted by | Ferdinand Marcos |
Date enacted | September 21, 1972 |
Date signed | September 23, 1972 |
Keywords | |
politics, law | |
Status: Repealed |
Proclamation № 1081 was the proclamation of Martial Law in the Philippines by President Ferdinand E. Marcos. It was announced to the public on 23 September 1972, and was formally lifted on 17 January 1981.
At the height of armed communist insurgency in the Philippines, Philippine Military Academy instructor Lt Victor Corpuz led New People's Army rebels in a raid on the PMA armory, capturing rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, a bazooka and thousands of rounds of ammunition in 1970. In 1972, China, which was then actively supporting and arming communist insurgencies in Asia as part of Mao Zedong's People's War Doctrine, transported 1,200 M-14 and AK-47 rifles for the NPA to speed up NPA's campaign to defeat the government. Prior to the 1975, the Philippine government maintained a close relationship with the Kuomintang-ruled Chinese government which fled to Taiwan (Republic of China), despite the Chinese Communist Victory in 1949, and saw the People's Republic of China as a security threat due to its financial and military support of Communist rebels in the country.
Citing an intensifying Communist insurgency, a series of bombings, and the controversialassassination attempt on then-Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, President Marcos enacted the Proclamation which enabled him to rule by military power.