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KyotoKyotoUniversity University Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 29, No, 2, September 1991 Martial Law and the Realignment of Political Panies 1972-February 1986): in the Philippines(September VVitha Case intheProvinceof Batangas Masataka KIMuRA' The of martial imposition law3) by President Marcos in September 1972 I Introduction shattered Phi!ippine democracy. The the Philippines country was under Marcos' au- Since its independence, placed revolution of had been called the showcase of democracy thoritarian control until the in Asia, having acquired American political February 1986 which restored democracy. institutions, Similar to the United States, At the same time, the two-party system collapsed. it had a two-party system. The two The traditional politicalforces of martial major parties, namely, the Nacionalista lay dormant in the early years rule when no elections were held. When Party (NP) and the Liberal Party (LP),i> in 1978, a had alternately captured state power elections were resumed single called Kilusang Bagong through elections, while other political dominant party parties had hardly played significant roles Lipunan (KBL) emerged as an admin- in shaping the political course of the istration party under Marcos, while the COuntry.2) traditional oppesition was fragmented which saw the proliferation of regional parties. * 7IcNS4, Asian Center, University Df the Meantime, different non-traditional forces Philippines, Diliman, City, Metre Manila, Quezon such as those that operated underground the Philippines and those that the protest movement, 1) The leadership of the two panies was composed joined mainly of wealthy politicians from traditional which later snewballed after the Aquino elite families that had been entrenched in assassination in August 1983, emerged as provinces. The parties in each province were significant actors especially in structured based on vast networks of patron- political client type relationships between individuals opposition to Marcos. cutting across social classes. This kind of The period from September 1972 to as traditional parties are hereinafter referred to February 1986 when the special partles. presidential major challenge system as 2) One to the political it was effectiyely suppressed by the such was the Hukbong Magpapalaya ng Bayan gevernment (HMB) or the National Liberation Army, a by the mid 1950s. army in Central and Southern Luzon, 3> For discussions on the circumstances under peasant rebellion under the leader- which manial law was declaredand the reasons which staged armed ng why it was declared, see, for exarnple, Brillantes, ship ef the Panido Komunista Pilipinas and Daroy (PKP) against the government in 1949. But Jr. [1987] [1988]. 205 NII-Electronic Library Service KyotoKyotoUniversity University Mta7Y7Hve eeg2e election was held that triggered off the on the national level, even factual infor- revolution is politically a very interesting rnation about what happened at the local period. This is so not only because various level has not yet been systematically political forces, including those that had provided. hardly been significant actors before martial In view of this, what follows is an attempt law, came into play but also because they to give an account of how different political interacted with one another in a complicated forces, especially political parties, developed way. They did so sometimes as allies and and interacted with one another in the at other times as adversaries both above- and period in question. It first inquires into underground leading to the overthrow of the development at the national level and ' Marcos' authoritarian regime. then focuses in relation to it on the province Many scholars have studied the develop- of Batangas as a case at the lecal level.6) ment of these various political forces and their interaction. Many studies were II TheNationalScene published in a competing manner shortly before and after the revolution. They have Upon the imposition of martial law, presented various viewpoints, interesting Marcos arrested rnany of his political interpretations and insightfuI analyses.4) enemies of dfferent persuasions and his However, although their studies are based suppressed political activities against on fairly abundant data, there still is room governrnent. He abolished the Congress for fdrther fact-searching to make significant and suspended elections for several years. scholarly contributions. This is because While the people were silenced with fear the details have not always been documented or acquiesced with a hope for social reform suMciently and have sornetimes been mis- and economic development, he established represented especially regarding the under- his martial law regime. Under his strong ground social democrats.5) In addition, infiuence, a new constitution was promul- since their studies have concentrated mostly gated in 1973. Its transitory provisions and subsequent amendments virtually gave 4) The most comprehensive works on this topic him dictatorial powers for an indefinite will be Wurfe1 [1988] and De Dios et aL [1988]. "interim'' Marcos consolidated his Those from the leftist viewpoint include Malay, period. Jr. [1988] and Avinales [1988], Others include control over the military. He attacked the Nemenzo [1985], LandE [1986] and Thompson economic bases of powerfu1 political families [1988]. 5) The reasons why the development of the under- that he called oligarchs to be taken over social under the ground democrats Marcos by his close associates or cronies. He regime has not been documented sufficiently elevated technocrats to key governrnent will be that it had been very diMcult to have access to data and that their force was relatively positions including cabinet ministers which small so that they did nQt draw se much atten- tion as the CPP-NDF-NPA. But their role in 6) This paper is a slightly revised version of a part the anti-Marcos struggle sheuld deserve more of the author's Ph.D. dissertation [Kimura ･ attentlon. 1990:8r121]. 206 i NII-Electronic Library Service KyotoKyotoUniversity University M. KIMuRA: MaTtial Law and the Realignment of Politieal Parties in the Philippines had previously been given to politicians. Pampanga-Tarlac area,joined the CPP and Faced with the situation, traditional in March of that year formed its military political fbrces such as the NP and the LP arm, the New People's Army (NPA).S> whose primary activity was to gain power The NPA started as a small army in Tarlac and patronage through electoral contests with twenty automatic rifles and fifteen became inactive. They were reactivated handguns. By the time martial law was only in 1978 when elections were resumed. declared, its armory had increased to In contrast, non-traditional political forces 350 high-powered weapons. Its opera- came to play significant roles as opposition tional zone had already extended to the to Marcos. The most important of all was Cagayan Valley in Northern Luzon, and it the Communist Party of the Philippines had a few armed propaganda units in Bicol, (CPP). Others included the social demo- Southern Luzon, Western Visayas and crats, civil Hbertarians and human rights Mindanao [Umali Undated as quoted in advocates, and certain segments of the Nemenzo 1985: 57]. religious seetor. (The Moro National Under manial law, the NPA grew Liberation Front (MNLF) is excluded frorn rapidly despite military repression. Op- the discussion here on the ground that it is pression radicalized many activists, most limited to Muslim Mindanao.) of whom were students, and drove them The CPP was fbunded on December 26, undergroundtojointheCPP-NPA. They 19687) by Jose Ma. Sison who was then in turn contributed greatly to its rural leading the Kabataang Makabayan (KM) organizing. As of 1983, the NPA had at or the Patriotic Youth League. Afiliated ieast 12,OOO fu11-time guerrillas and 35,OOO with the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas part-time militias. It was operating in time, he (PKP) for some split with it in !967 56 out of 72 provinces, and in 400 out of because of irreconcilable differences with 1,500 municipalities. It was argued that its old readership. Influenced Mao by at least 20 percent of the barangays were Zedong thought, the CPP committed itself controlled or infiltrated by the NPA to revolution means the by of a protracted, [Nemenzo 1985: 5Z. In addition, the "people's rural based war." In January CPP initiated the fbrmation of the National 1969, Bernabe Buscayno and his men, who Democratic Front (NDF) in 1973 in order had been with remnants of the Hukbong to bring together all forces hostile to what it ``US-Marcos Magpapalaya ng Bayan (HMB) or the called the dictatorship," National Liberation Army in the With the NPA as one of its component organizations, the NDF has since become 7) However, Gregg Jones suggests that the a countrywide apparatus founding congress was delayed and started on having branches 3, 1969 and that the founding members January in ali provinces and cities [Nemenzo agreed that the oMcial date would be recorded as December 26, 1968 (the seventy-fifth anni- versary of Mao Zedong's birthday) [Jones 8) For an excellent aceount of the establishment of 1989:17]. the CPP, see Nemenzo [1984] and Jones [1989]. 207 NII-Electronic Library Service KyotoKyotoUniversity University ptpt7Y7-za asig2g Undated: 21]. became its chairman, vice-chairinan and While many radicalized activists joined secretary-general respectively. (NPDSP the CPP-NPA-NDF, others with a social was renarned PDSP in 1980.) democratic orientation kept a distance from In the early years of martial law, their them and continued their own anti-Marcos fbrce was so small that they did not draw struggle. There emerged two significant the attention of the government. In organizations of social democrats, narnely, December 1977, the NPDSP along with the Partido Demokratiko-Sosyalista ng some anti-Marcos politicians, most of whom Pilipinas (PDSP) or the Philippine Derno- were LP leaders, created an alliance called cratic Socialist Party and the Katipunan Katipunan ng Bayan para sa Kalayaan ng mga Sandigan ng Pilipino (KASAPI). (KABAKA) to boycott the referendurn in The PDSP has its origin in different that month.