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<img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-2/defense-enrile-1970-sm.webp" alt="Enrile" />
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(Enrile in 1972)
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Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, now in retirement, recalled the events surrounding Martial Law at a recent speech. 


Enrile was first appointed as undersecretary at the Finance Department, tasked to supervise the revenue-raising activities of the government. He was also named chairman of the Philippine National Bank. Concurrently he was also acting commissioner of Insurance and of Customs.


Enrile stayed there until December 1968. He then moved to the Justice Ministry. There he became acquainted with the law and order problem in the country, specifically the ideological activities of the militant groups.


In 1969, <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/595/today-in-philippine-history-september-11-1917-ferdinand-e-marcos-was-born-in-sarrat-ilocos-norte" class="news_link">Marcos</a> won a second term as President. Around this time, political opposition, activists, Leftists and plain opportunists exploited every event and issue to bring down Marcos.


Communism and a lot of other "isms" were the wave of the future.


Another incident triggered by the so-called "Parliament of the Streets" was the Agrifina Circle incident. Agrifina Circle today is the space between the old building of the Department of Agriculture that the Department of Tourism and the old building of the Department of Finance


Enrile recalled that at this time, he first encountered the machinations, the ire and the arrogance of street parliamentarians:

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"It was there where I at first encountered the machination, the ire, and the arrogance of "street parliamentarians" - the Marats, the Dantons, the Robespierres, and the Madame Rolands of Philippine society at that time. It was there where I initially pitted my mind and will against people who espoused the isms that caused so much personal and social pain, bloodshed, destruction, and suffering in the world and in our country.


"The members of the crowd that sequestered Agrifina Circle summoned Cabinet members and other government functionaries at their whims. They were extremely rude, vicious, cruel, and offensive. Every public officer that appeared before them was pilloried, demeaned, and shamed. They booed and yelled at their hapless victims and banged tables with wooden truncheons in front of them. This caused terrible fright to their preys. A lady member of the Cabinet was so terrified when she appeared before the Agrifina crowd that she broke down hysterically.


"When my turn came to meet with that crowd, I did not go. The crowd was enraged. Imperiously, the members demanded my personal presence. I declined and refused their repeated calls. The leaders vowed publicly that they would compel the President to kick me out of the Cabinet.


"About five o'clock in the afternoon of September 23, 1969, the Agrifina Circle demonstrators marched to Malacañang. They armed themselves with wooden truncheons. Forcibly, they opened one of the perimeter gates of the palace and rushed through the palace grounds. They stormed the Maharlika Hall - the annex to the palace facing the flagpole before the guardhouse.


"Rampaging, they climbed the stairway to the second floor. President Marcos and the leaders of the Nacionalista Party were having a political caucus there. When the demonstrators reached the second floor, they grew more unruly. They shouted loudly; they overturned tables; they threw chairs into the air; and they turned the whole place in disarray. President Marcos and the leaders with him watched calmly. They allowed the intruders to do their worst. None of them uttered a word or took any action."

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Marcos and Enrile were the real targets in the Agrifina incident.


Another incident was the massacre on October 8, 1963 on a deserted road between Capas, Tarlac and the US naval radio station at Camp O'Donnell in Pampanga. The victims were civilian security guards, and the Liberals blamed the military. The following day, <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/778/today-in-philippine-history-november-27-1932-benigno-aquino-jr-was-born-in-concepcion-tarlac" class="news_link">Ninoy Aquino</a> demanded the arrest of Geronimo Foronda, who was allegedly responsible for flagging down the massacre victims.


Enrile eventually became Defense Minister. Marcos asked him to study the limits of his power under the 1935 Constitution. Marcos had foreseen the escalation of violence and disorder. "The study must be done discreetly and confidentially," Marcos supposedly told Enrile, and allowed the latter to enlist whomever he needed.


The next day, Enrile asked Efren Plana, his brilliant assistant at the Justice Ministry, to help him. Plana also suggested they ask Minerva Gonzaga Reyes to help them. Plana and Reyes were both magna cum laude from the UP College of Law.


Only one copy of the research was prepared.


Soon, Enrile was called to the Palace. Marcos them asked him to draft the necessary implementing documents to install martial law.


Enrile recalls he had to work alone, mostly at night and at home. "The only one who joined me, with the knowledge and consent of the President, was Simplicio Taguiam, my private secretary."


At that time, law and order had completely deteriorated. Local police forces were overstretched. The capacity of government was just 60,000 men - most of whom were deployed in Central Luzon to fight communist insurgents. Communists have infiltrated not only Congress but media, the academe, labor, the Church.


Another incident took place in Congress, when Marcos was set to deliver his State-of-the-Nation Address. Members of the so-called Parliament of the Street threw a cardboard coffin at the President.


Indeed violence was so widespread, in Metro Manila and elsewhere.


In effect, the government was waging battle on two fronts: The communists and the Muslim rebels.


And then there was the <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/2770/the-bombing-of-the-liberal-party-rally-in-manilas-plaza-miranda" class="news_link">Plaza Miranda bombing</a>.


But what broke the camel's back was when ammunition came from China. This was discovered by government forces in a deserted ship. Marcos was alarmed at the entry of war material into the country. The subversives had succeeded in opening a supply line!


Marcos then called a command conference where he said he would not allow the problem tp get out of hand. "I will nip it in the bud," he said. Enrile said: "The thought in my mind was that Martial Law was nigh."


Anarchy became a daily experience. In Mindanao, violence among Muslims, Christians and indigenous tribes rose to a high.


Thus, Marcos proclaimed Martial Law.


Martial Law broke the back of the communist insurgency. No wonder the communists hate Marcos and Enrile.


The rest is history.



Sources: 

<ol class="article-sources">
<li>
Why Martial Law was declared by Emil Jurado, March 2, 2017, <a href="https://goo.gl/fDSt0c" target="_blank" class="news_link" title="Source">Manila Standard</a>
</li>
<li>
Speech of former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile before The Wednesday Forum at the Cosmopolitan Church by Juan Ponce Enrile, February 15, 2017, <a href="https://goo.gl/5HHycL" target="_blank" class="news_link" title="Source">http://www.juanponceenrile.net</a>
</li>
</ol>

The events that triggered the imposition of Martial Law by President Marcos: Enrile's recollection