Martial Law

Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law on September 21, 1972. He was nearing the end of his second term as President of the Republic of the Philippines and could not run for a further term. Declaring Martial Law enabled him to stay in power indefinetly.

Immediately Martial Law was declared many people who had been clamoring for change went underground. Many of those who didn’t were picked up and imprisoned. Others were killed or disappeared. It was clear that the dictatorship would not tolerate any opposition.

Any meeting of three or more people was immediately suspect and people could be arrested under suspicion of trying to overthrow the regime. Permission had to be got by any group eg. unions, farmers organizations etc wanting to have a meeting which was then subject to monitoring by the regime. more...

Kristianong Katilingban:

Kristianong Katilingban literally means Christian Community in the Ilonggo language of Negros Occidental.This name was adapted by the diocese of Bacolod to describe the growing number of small communities coming out of the challenge of Martial Law. The concept of small basic christian communities had begun in the 60s in Latin America. In their attempt to lift themselves out of their poverty the people their had taken the christian gospels seriously and applied them to their daily lives. The liberating spirit of the gospels began to give them hope that their lives could be different. They didn’t have to remain poor. more...

From “ISLAND OF TEARS, ISLAND OF HOPE”

By Fr Niall O’Brien

We were sitting at the table in the sacristy of the cathedral waiting to go out and concelebrate with Msgr. Fortich. He was coming to the end of his period as Bishop of Bacolod and while I sat there somebody pushed in front of me a photocopy of an article, a short article, aimed against Msgr. Fortich. It claimed he was a communist. I said to my companion at the table, the bishop will be along in a couple of minutes, he’s not well, -- at that time he had phlebitis - let’s just not disturb his mind with this bit of invective. And I put it aside. But unfortunately my friend felt that the bishop should see it and he placed it in front of him when he arrived. We were sipping coffee, Msgr. read it silently then he put it down, thought for a moment and said aloud, “I have no problem with a world in which there are rich and poor; you have an automobile, I have a bicycle, so what? But I cannot accept that some people have to live by scavenging for food in the garbage cans of others.” He said this with such a tremor in his voice that I was very moved. I felt for a moment that I saw into the depth of his soul and what had motivated him during this last quarter of a century as Bishop of Bacolod. more...