Marcos sequesters ABS-CBN

In one of the very first Letters of Instruction released after the declaration of Martial Law, Marcos ordered the sequestration of ABS-CBN. The LOI states that ABS-CBN facilities are used to “malign and discredit the duly constituted authorities” and are the owners of the network are therefore engaged in the “conspiratorial activities and illegal ends of the Communist Party of the Philippines.”

The Official Gazette page reads:

Letter of Instruction No. 1-A, s. 1972
Signed on September 28, 1972
MALACAÑANG
MANILA

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1-A

To: The Secretary
Department of National Defense
Camp E. Aguinaldo, Quezon City

Pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 1081 dated September 21, 1972 and in my capacity as Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines and consonant with the objectives of Letter of Instructions No. 1 dated September 22, 1972, and considering that the ABS-CBN network and the Associated Broadcasting Corporation, whose owners, principal officers and key personnel are engaged in subversive activities against the Government and its duly constituted authorities and are participants in a conspiracy to overthrow the Government, have, more than once and often, actively engaged in or otherwise wittingly allowed the use of its facilities and manpower in the broadcast and dissemination of subversive materials and of deliberately slanted and overly exaggerated news stories and commentaries as well as false, vile, foul and scurrilous statements and utterances, clearly well-conceived, intended and calculated to malign and discredit the duly constituted authorities, and thereby promote the agitational propaganda campaign, conspiratorial activities and illegal ends of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and had been used as indispensable instruments in the assassination attempt against the President of the Republic of the Philippines by maligning him, all of which activities are patently inimical to the security and interest of the State, you are hereby ordered forthwith to sequester the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation and the TV and Radio network and facilities owned and operated by the Associated Broadcasting Corporation which include radio stations DZMT, D.ZTM and DZWS and sister radio stations in Davao City, Cebu City, Laoag City and Dagupan City, as well as Channel 5 and its sister TV stations in the cities of Davao and Cebu.

As used herein, the terms “sequester” and “sequestration” shall mean the seizure of private property or assets in the hands of any person or entity in order to prevent the utilization, transfer or conveyance of the same for purposes inimical to national security, or when necessary to protect the interest of the Government or any of its instrumentalities. It shall include the taking over and assumption of the management, control and operation of the private property or assets seized.

In carrying out the foregoing order, you are hereby also directed to see to it that reasonable means are employed by you and your men and that injury to persons and property shall he avoided.

In the implementation of this Letter of Instructions, the Secretary of National Defense is hereby authorized to issue the necessary rules and regulations for its effective implementation.

Done in the City of Manila, this 28th day of September, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-two.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines

Source: Malacañang Records Office
Office of the President of the Philippines. (1972). [Letter of Instruction Nos.: 1 – 237A]. Manila: Malacañang Records Office.