Word: martialled
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Since President Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial law last September, the Philippine armed forces have used their new powers in a struggle to suppress two guerrilla rebellions at opposite ends of the country. One has been organized by the Maoist New People's Army, with perhaps 1,500 combat cadres, operating In Isabela province on Luzon Island in the far north of the country. The other is a resistance movement among Moslems in the southern island of Mindanao and on the jewel-like tropical islands of the Sulu Archipelago. While the Maoists have been thrown on the defensive, martial...
...Before martial law, the New People's Army controlled 33 of the 37 municipalities of Isabela province. Since the midnight-to-4 a.m. curfew was imposed last September, the army, which has about 3,000 troops in the area, estimates that the guerrillas' strength has been whittled down by more than one-third to an operational base of only...
That Marcos found democracy troublesome had, of course, been evident for some time. Since imposing martial law throughout the country last September, he had steadily moved to consolidate his one-man rule. Two weeks ago, he suddenly canceled the plebiscite on the new constitution scheduled for Jan. 15. Instead, he initiated a series of government-controlled "citizens' assemblies," where participants were asked to raise their hands if they favored the proposed charter. The overwhelming approval of the assemblies, Marcos declared last week, constituted ratification...
There was little doubt that the debate had been somewhat freer than Marcos had intended. The grace period of debate was his response to critics who argued that a referendum held under the strict regulations of martial law could hardly provide a true index of popular attitudes. Opponents of the new charter, which provides for a parliamentary form of government, fielded a range of articulate spokesmen, among them Jesuit priests and members of Marcos' own party. They argued-convincingly, it would seem-that the constitution would give Marcos dictatorial powers for as long as he wanted them (it sets...
Backing away from the plebiscite, Marcos said that he had tried to give the Philippines a "smiling martial law." But his regime has grown increasingly uneasy in recent weeks. Last month Imelda Marcos, the President's wife, was injured by a knife-wielding assailant at a public gathering. Communal violence between Moslems and Christians in Mindanao and Sulu has also flared up (TIME...