Commemoration of the Declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines Date in the current year: September 21, 2024

Throughout Philippine history, there were several periods of martial law wherein the head of state placed the country or its regions under the control of the armed forces. Martial law in the Philippines has been enacted by Ramon Blanco (from 1896 to 1898), Emilio Aguinaldo (for a month in 1898), Jose P. Laurel (from 1944 to 1945), Ferdinand Marcos (from 1972 to 1981), Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (for about a week in 2009), and Rodrigo Duterte (commenced in May 2017 and not lifted as of September 2018).

The proclamation of martial law by Ferdinand Marcos was in fact the beginning of Maros’s dictatorship that was infamous for its brutality and corruption. Marcos was inaugurated as the 10th president of the Philippines in 1965, imposed martial law in 1972, lifted it in 1981, and was removed from power during the People Power Revolution of 1986.

The Commemoration of the Declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines was established in order to emphasize that the horrors of Marcos’s regime must never be repeated. When President Duterte proclaimed martial law in 2017, the opposition marks the day with protests.