Journalism during the Marcos dictatorship
[1][2][3] Hitherto considered the most prominent embodiment of press freedom in Asia,[3] various Philippine mass media were shut down very suddenly in the early hours of September 23, 1972 when Marcos’ forces began enforcing Martial Law.
[5] The most prominent television and newspaper reporters, publishers, columnists, and media owners were among the 400 people jailed in the first hours of Martial Law, with more arrested in Marcos’ dragnet in the succeeding days.
These non-government stations aired the appeal of Cardinal Jaime Sin, Archbishop of Manila, for Filipinos to go to Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) and prevent Marcos from killing the leaders of a failed coup attempt, and then keeping local and international audiences updated about the ensuing People Power Revolution.
1, signed on September 22, a day before the public declaration of martial law, Marcos ordered the military take over of the assets of privately-owned media companies.
The letter was written in view of what Marcos called a national emergency, in which existed a "criminal conspiracy to seize political and state power."
All privately-owned newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and other mass media were ordered to be taken over and controlled so as to prevent their use for purposes that sought to undermine the government.
Marcos also accused both of allowing the dissemination of deliberately skewed, exaggerated, and false information with a view towards subverting the government and promoting the Communist Party of the Philippines.
[7] By dawn on September 23, 100 of the 400 individuals on Marcos' "Priority Arrest List" were in detention centers, including Manila Times publisher Chino Roces, newspaper editors Amando Doronila of the Daily Mirror, Luis Mauricio of the Philippine Graphic, Teodoro Locsin Sr. of the Philippine Free Press, and Rolando Fadul of the vernacular broadsheet Taliba.
(The others included Heherson Alvarez, Alejandro Lichuaco, Voltaire Garcia, and Teofisto Guingona Jr.) By the morning of September 23, 1972, martial law forces had successfully implemented a media lockdown, with only outlets owned or controlled by the government allowed to operate.
[28] In April 1973, student journalist and activist Liliosa Hilao was arrested, detained in Camp Crame, tortured, and killed by her military captors.
Marcos accused Arnold Zeitlin of the Associated Press of ‘malicious and false reporting’ during his coverage of the fighting between the government forces and Muslim Filipino separatists in Jolo, Sulu.
[35] A year later, the government denied the visa application of Bernard Wideman, a news correspondent of The Washington Post and Far Eastern Economic Review.
[39] The following is a list of Presidential Decrees, Letters of Instruction, and other official issuances that shaped the mass media landscape of the period, arranged by year of signing or release.
When martial law was declared, soldiers padlocked the offices of major newspapers and wire agencies in Metro Manila and posted copies of Proclamation 1081 on their doors.
[52] Media outlets owned or taken over by cronies or Ferdinand Marcos were later allowed to operate, such as the Philippine Daily Express, Bulletin Today, Times Journal, and Kanlaon Broadcasting System.
[34] The phenomenon of samizdat or xerox journalism also proliferated, which involved the dissemination of news clippings, usually from publications abroad that were not checked by the government's censors.
Key stories that were published during this time included Maria Ceres Doyo's coverage of the murder of Macliing Dulag for Panorama Magazine, and Demosthenes Dingcong's investigation of fund irregularities at the Mindanao State University, where Marcos supporter Ali Dimaporo was president, for the Bulletin Today.
[13] The public outrage resulting from the death of prominent Mindanaoan journalist Alex Orcullo in Davao City on October 19, 1984 became an important rallying point of the fight against the Marcos dictatorship in Mindanao, resonating with the assassination of Ninoy Aquino in Luzon the year before.
[58] With opposition forces already poised to go to the streets after massive cheating during the 1986 Presidential Election, Catholic Church-run radio station Radyo Veritas 846 aired a call from Jaime Sin, Archbishop of Manila, for Filipinos to go to EDSA highway and prevent Marcos from killing the leaders of a failed coup attempt—an appeal that triggered the People Power Revolution.
[59] Radyo Veritas kept local and international audiences informed of events relating to the revolution, but was assaulted by Marcos' soldiers on February 23 and 24, 1986, leading to its shutdown and the injury of some of its staff members.
James Reuter, SJ and actress June Keithley took over the transmitter of DZRJ-AM, changed its frequencies to mask their location, and broadcast as "Radyo Bandido" (Bandit Radio), continuing to report on the events of the revolution and eventually announcing that Marcos had run away from the seat of power in Malacañang Palace, ending his 21 years in power, which included 14 years as dictator.
[60] Abraham "Ditto" Pascual Sarmiento Jr. (June 5, 1950 – November 11, 1977) was a Filipino student journalist who gained prominence as an early and visible critic of the martial law regime of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
[64] Lourdes "Chit" Panganiban Estella-Simbulan (August 19, 1957 – May 13, 2011) was a Filipino journalist[65] and professor,[66] known for her critical writings on government repression, abuse, corruption and human rights violations.
