Martial Law and the Realignment of Political Parties in the Philippines (September 1972-February 1986): with a Case in the Province of Batangas
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Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 29, No.2, September 1991 Martial Law and the Realignment of Political Parties in the Philippines (September 1972-February 1986): With a Case in the Province of Batangas Masataka KIMURA* The imposition of martial lawS) by President Marcos In September 1972 I Introduction shattered Philippine democracy. The Since its independence, the Philippines country was placed under Marcos' au had been called the showcase of democracy thoritarian control until the revolution of 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 it had a two-party system. The two collapsed. The traditional political forces major parties, namely, the N acionalista lay dormant in the early years of martial Party (NP) and the Liberal Party (LP),1) rule when no elections were held. When had alternately captured state power elections were resumed in 1978, a single through elections, while other political dominant party called Kilusang Bagong 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 opposition was fragmented which saw the proliferation of regional parties. * *MI§;q:, Asian Center, University of the Meantime, different non-traditional forces Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila, such as those that operated underground the Philippines 1) The leadership of the two parties was composed and those that joined the protest movement, mainly of wealthy politicians from traditional which later snowballed after the Aquino elite families that had been entrenched in assassination in August 1983, emerged as provinces. The parties in each province were structured based on vast networks of patron significant political actors especially In client type relationships between individuals opposition to Marcos. cutting across social classes. This kind of The period from September 1972 to parties are hereinafter referred to as traditional parties. February 1986 when the special presidential 2) One major challenge to the political system as such was the Hukbong Magpapalaya ng Bayan it was effectively suppressed by the government (HMB) or the National Liberation Army, a by the mid 1950s. peasant army in Central and Southern Luzon, 3) For discussions on the circumstances under which staged armed rebellion under the leader which martial law was declared and the reasons ship of the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas why it was declared, see, for example, Brillantes, (PKP) against the government in 1949. But Jr. [1987] and Daroy [1988]. 205 election was held that triggered off the on the national level, even factual infor revolution is politically a very interesting mation 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 othertimes 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 local level. 6) ment of these various political forces and their interaction. Many studies were II The National Scene 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 many of his political interpretations and insightful analyses. 4) enemies of different persuasions and However, although their studies are based suppressed political activities against his on fairly abundant data, there still is room government. He abolished the Congress for further 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 sufficiently and have sometimes 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, influence, 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 Wurfel [1988] and De Dios et al. [1988]. Those from the leftist viewpoint include Malay, "interim" period. Marcos consolidated his Jr. [1988] and Avinales [1988]. Others include control over the military. He attacked the Nemenzo [1985], Lande [1986] and Thompson [1988]. economic bases of powerful political families 5) The reasons why the development of the under that he called oligarchs to be taken over ground social democrats under the Marcos by his close associates or cronies. He regime has not been documented sufficiently will be that it had been very difficult to have elevated technocrats to key government access to data and that their force was relatively positions including cabinet ministers which small so that they did not draw so 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 should deserve more of the author's Ph.D. dissertation [Kimura attention. 1990: 87-121]. 206 M. KIMURA: Martial Law and the Realignment of Political 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 forces such as the NP and the LP arm, the New People's Army (NPA).8) 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 libertarians and human rights Mindanao [Umali Undated as quoted in advocates, and certain segments of the Nemenzo 1985: 57]. religious sector. (The Moro National Under martial law, the NPA grew Liberation Front (MNLF) is excluded from 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 founded on December 26, underground to join the CPP-NPA. They 19687) by Jose Ma. Sison who was then in turn contributed greatly to its rural leading the Kabataang Makabayan (KM) orgamzmg. As of 1983, the NPA had at or the Patriotic Youth League. Affiliated least 12,000 full-time guerrillas and 35,000 with the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas part-time militias. It was operating in (PKP) for some time, he split with it in 1967 56 out of 72 provinces, and in 400 out of because of irreconcilable differences with 1,500 municipalities. It was argued that its old leadership. Influenced by Mao at least 20 percent of the barangays were Zedong thought, the CPP committed itself controlled or infiltrated by the NPA to the revolution by means of a protracted, [Nemenzo 1985: 57]. In addition, the rural based "people's war." In January Cpp initiated the formation 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 Magpapalaya ng Bayan (HMB) or the called the "US-Marcos dictatorship." National Liberation Army m the With the NPA as one of its component organizations, the NDF has since become 7) However, Gregg Jones suggests that the founding congress was delayed and started on a countrywide apparatus having branches January 3, 1969 and that the founding members in all provinces and cities [Nemenzo agreed that the official date would be recorded as December 26, 1968 (the seventy-fifth anni versary of Mao Zedong's birthday) [Jones 8) For an excellent account of the establishment of 1989: 17]. the CPP, see Nemenzo [1984] and Jones [1989]. 207 Undated: 21]. became its chairman, vice-chairman and While many radicalized activists joined secretary-general respectively. (NPDSP the CPP-NPA-NDF, others with a social was renamed PDSP in 1980.) democratic orientation kept a distance from In the early years of martial law, their them and continued their own anti-Marcos force was so small that they did not draw struggle. There emerged two significant the attention of the government. In organizations of social democrats, namely, December 1977, the NPDSP along with the Partido Demokratiko-Sosyalista ng some anti-Marcos politicians, most of whom Pilipinas (PDSP) or the Philippine Demo 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 referendum in The PDSP has its origin in different that month. The NPDSP provided the groups organized by the activists at the mass base for the politicians whose political turn ofthe decade.