General Order No. 4 (Marcos)

by Ferdinand Marcos

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MALACAÑANG
RESIDENCE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES
MANILA

GENERAL ORDER No. 4

Whereas, Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, declaring a state of martial law throughout the Land was issued because of wanton destruction of lives and property, widespread lawlessness and anarchy, and chaos and disorder now prevailing throughout the country, which condition has been the intended consequence of the activities of groups of men now actually engaged in a criminal conspiracy to seize political and state power in the Philippines and to take over the Government by force and violence the extent of which has now assumed the proportion of an actual war against our people and their legitimate Government;

Whereas, terroristic activities, assassination of innocent citizens and leaders of our society, arsons and deliberate destructions of public and private property as well as military installations and vital public facilities and services, illegal and tumultous assemblies designed to generate hate against our legitimate Government and its duly constituted authorities, and lootings and robberies, are going on unabated especially during night time due to the mounting efforts of those radical and lawless elements who are now actively challenging and defying the Government through actual military confrontation; and

Whereas, it is necessary to restrict the movement of our inhabitants during certain hours of the day in order to prevent unnecessary loss of lives or injury to persons as well as the deliberate and wanton destruction of property and disruption of essential public facilities and services through sabotage, arson and other similar destructive means, and in order furthermore to make more effective the implementation and enforcement of the martial law declared in and by virtue of Proclamation No. 1081 dated September 21, 1972.

Now, therefore, I, Ferdinand E. Marcos, Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, pursuant to the aforesaid Proclamation No. 1081 dated September 21, 1972, do hereby order that a curfew be maintained and enforced throughout the Philippines between the hours of twelve o'clock midnight and four o'clock in the morning, and that between these hours and during the effectivity of this order no person in the Philippines shall be allowed to move about outside his or her residence unless he or she is so authorized in writing to do so by the military commander-in-charge of his or her area of residence, and that any person who violates this order shall be arrested and forthwith taken into custody and kept within the premises of the nearest military camp and shall be released not later than twelve o'clock following his or her apprehension unless there are valid and compelling reasons or grounds for his or continued detention in which he or she shall be transferred to and kept in the nearest prison camp.

Done in the City of Manila, this 22nd day of September, in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-two.