Martial law and the communists

This book is highly controversial when it narrates certain debatable conclusions as facts. It is a very readable book that in certain parts reads almost like a novel. I would not recommend this book as a reading reference to those who have not read any other book on this period in Philippine history. But for those relatively widely read and are able to make their own conclusions, this is a highly recommended book.

The book is “The Drama of Dictatorship: Martial Law and the Communist Parties of the Philippines” by Joseph Scalice (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2023).

In the Introduction, there are controversial conclusions written by the author as if they were undisputed facts which, of course, will be challenged by other parties. For example, he said: “The rival sections of the ruling class and their leading political representatives agreed on the need for authoritarian rule but they could not feasibly select the permanent occupant of the presidential palace of Malacañang.”

In another statement in the Introduction, the author wrote: “The Moscow-oriented PKP (Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas) terrorized Manila with bombings, secretly coordinated with Marcos’ military to justify the imposition of dictatorship. The Beijing-aligned CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) worked with forces tied to the CIA in an attempt to install a rival faction of the capitalist class – similarly bent on dictatorship by coup d’etat. The central pretext for martial law, cited by both Washington and Marcos, was the danger of communism and yet, martial law was imposed with the support of a Communist Party and the backing of the Soviet Union. How does one untangle this snarl of contradictions?”

The book is divided into five parts and an Epilogue. It begins in the 1950s, which sets the background for the events that follow. The second, third and fourth chapters talk of the First Quarter Storm (FQS), the students’ and labor demonstrations and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. The fifth chapter is about the declaration of martial law.

In the first chapter, the focus is on the ruling class. He writes that there were five ruling class factions which came into alignment with