At 7:17 pm on September 23, 1972, Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos announced on television about the martial law. He claimed this was necessary to address threats from the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the Muslim Independence Movement (MIM).

However, critics such as Lorenzo Tañada, Jose W. Diokno, and Jovito Salonga argued that Marcos exaggerated these threats to stay in power beyond the constitutional two-term limit.

Marcos had signed Proclamation No. 1081 on September 21, 1972, officially beginning a 14-year period of authoritarian rule. Although the proclamation was formally lifted on January 17, 1981, Marcos retained control until he was overthrown on February 25, 1986 and forced into exile.

This period under Marcos' martial law is remembered for widespread human rights abuses and oppression. Many political opponents, activists, journalists, and others were targeted for speaking out against the regime. Reports from human rights organizations documented thousands of extrajudicial killings, tortures, disappearances, and imprisonments during this time. After Marcos was overthrown in 1986, investigations revealed that martial law also served as a cover for hiding massive amounts of illegally acquired wealth, later ruled by courts to have been gained through criminal means.

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