By Caloy Bueno After President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, Sr. declared martial law in 1972 to indefinitely extend his stay in office (his second and last term, according to the 1935 Constitution), he then imposed his kind of "rule of law" through absolute military domination over civilian institutions, and ultimately even the people's sovereign will. It certainly was not democratic governance at all ~ it was authoritarian rule, which still later became fully autocratic and dictatorial. However, it seemingly was tolerated by the Filipino people then; mostly because there had been no choice possible, other than meek acceptance of it ~ if only to avoid harassment (or worse) from the military that operated martial rule under Marcos.   While martial law was supposedly only a temporary/limited "fix" in duration (to quickly address and neutralize the 'clear and present danger' to the state), it was subsequently lifted years later through a return to civil govern...