Martial Law really happened. We were there.
An independent, non-partisan record of the Marcos dictatorship — built from survivor testimony, primary documents, and the numbers historical revisionists would rather you forget.
Fourteen years of Proclamation No. 1081 — censored press, suspended writ of habeas corpus, and a security state that touched every province. This is what the ledger shows.
Photograph: EDSA People Power demonstration, MLCP ArchiveFourteen years, by the numbers
Figures compiled from Amnesty International, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, the HRVCB, and FIND claims processes — a ledger historical negationism tries to erase.
— Behind every figure is a name. Read their stories in the archive.
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“Buti pa nga si Marcos may bangkay, marami ho tulad namin, wala kaming bangkay and we cannot even mourn their death.”
Somewhere there is a Grade 11 student who will only ever hear one version of this.
Help us make sure it’s the true one.
Become a Chronicler →Why learn about Martial Law?
Teaching this history equips students to think critically about the past — and about their own roles and responsibilities today.
Stop historical negationism
Denialism distorts the record. It is often confused with legitimate revisionism, which is scholarly reinterpretation grounded in evidence — not erasure.
Understand Filipino resistance
From the underground press to the streets of EDSA, Filipinos resisted Martial Law in ways school textbooks rarely cover in full.
See the true state of the economy
An objective look at growth, debt, and cronyism under the regime — beyond the “golden age” narrative now circulating online.
Learn to spot a dictatorship
Suspended courts, a captured press, and a cult of personality — the warning signs recur, and they are worth being able to name.
The rise and fall of Ferdinand Marcos
From the 1965 election to the 1986 EDSA Revolution — the arc of a presidency that reshaped the Philippines.
Honor the martyrs of Martial Law
The Wall of Remembrance at Bantayog ng mga Bayani carries thousands of names. This project exists to keep them spoken.
From the archive
Recent essays, primary documents, and oral histories from the MLCP blog.
Forgotten Heroes of the 1986 EDSA Revolt
Martial Law StoriesFor a People’s History: Millions Resisted and Fought the Marcos Dictatorship
Downloads · AnalysisImportant Documents on Teaching Ferdinand Marcos’ Martial Law
Martial Law AnalysisThe Fall of the Dictatorship
DownloadsUSAID 1986 Snap Election Report
Martial Law StoriesWas Ferdinand Marcos the Best President of All Time?
A non-partisan record, against forgetting
The Martial Law Chronicles Project is an undertaking by a non-partisan group of individuals against historical revisionism — particularly efforts to recast the late dictator, Ferdinand E. Marcos, as a hero.
We believe his despotic rule as President and Commander-in-Chief, from 1965 to 1986, led to the loss of life and liberty of thousands, the hunger and poverty of millions, and a culture of fear and impunity that still stains the democracy Filipinos fought to regain in 1986.
Ang ating puso’t isipan ay ang mga tunay na duyan ng magiting. Each one of us has the capacity to become the cradle of courage.
The lessons of Martial Law are more relevant now than ever.
Your contribution funds education and advocacy that keeps this history from being quietly rewritten — and has an immediate, direct impact on reaching the next generation.
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