Senator Panfilo Lacson | Inquirer.net File Photo
MANILA, Philippines — “Martial law was declared for many good reasons. I saw it firsthand during the first 6 months, at least from the peace and order perspective,” Sen. Panfilo Lacson said in a tweet on Saturday, 47 years after President Ferdinand Marcos made that drastic shift in government.
“Everything that followed was wrong. Greed and abuse took over,” Lacson lamented.
The document declaring martial — Proclamation No. 1081 — was dated Sept. 21, 1972. But then-Press Secretary Francisco Tatad announced its declaration on television two days after, on the afternoon of Sept. 23, with Marcos himself explaining the proclamation later in the evening.
In a statement on Saturday, Vice President Leni Robredo said that under the Marcos regime, 70,000 individuals were jailed, 30,000 were tortured, over 3,000 were killed, and hundreds of others vanished and were never found.
READ: Ensure dictators have no place in free country, Robredo urges Filipinos
Marcos was ousted on Feb. 25, 1986, following a four-day People Power uprising centered at Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa).
“Since 1986, it has been the same all over again. When will we ever learn?” Lacson said. /atm