Ferdinand Marcos was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1949 and then the Senate in 1959. He then ran for President and was inaugurated in 1965 and was reelected in 1966. As ruler, Marcos passed some agricultural, industrial, and educational reforms, but unrest with his rule began to build throughout the Philippines. In 1970, rebellions broke out against the corrupt government, led by students, laborers, and other angered citizens. They're massive rallies were held with the goal of a more fair, equal society.
On January 26, 1970, an enormous protest took place as Ferdinand Marcos was delivering his own State of the Nation speech inside the Philippine Congress building. As Jose Lacaba put it, “Passions were high, exacerbated by the quarrel over the mikes [microphones of the protesters]”. When the President, who was more of an oppressive dictator, left and was preparing to board his limousine, someone threw a crocodile paper mache at him. Although it missed him, this sparked the division of riot police to swing their truncheons viciously at the heads of helpless students. Similar acts like this continued for the next three months and police used arms and tear gas to defeat protesters. These rebellions acquired the name “The First Quarter Storm”, which Nelson Navarro described as “that cathartic student revolt in the first months of 1970 that shook the nation with its intense and all-encompassing life-changing experience.”
As unrest continued past the First Quarter Storm, Marcos finally imposed a policy of Martial Law. He felt that the democracy had become troublesome and announced a new constitution, making himself dictator of the Philippines. He declared that "It is easier perhaps and more comfortable to look back to the solace of a familiar and mediocre past. But the times are too grave and the stakes too high for us to permit the customary concessions to traditional democratic processes." He did not want to be bothered by a legislative body and feared his loss of the throne;therefore, Marcos became the sole leader of the Philippines.
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