The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos — placing bullets in between the fingers and squeezing fingers together until the muscles and nerves are almost cut; etc. — electric torture a being applied on fingers and toes, temple, abdomen, chest, and sexual organs (especially among the male) Most of these detainees are between 20 and 30 years old. The youngest is 19, and the oldest is over 40 years of age. The question the detainees ask is; "To use such brutality. . . is that reforming them?"
Of late, Marcos had released prominent political prisoners and allowed a few dissenters who cannot organize armed opposition to even give statements to the foreign press for foreign consumption. Marcos has even gone to the extent of “tolerating” criticisms of his regime to be aired by some “cleared” Filipino leaders in the foreign press, but never in the domestic press. In earlier days of the martial regime, prominent political opponents released from the military stockade were made to sign documents stating among others that they would not allow themselves to be interviewed by the foreign press. Senator Diokno was among those who was released from the stockade subject to that condition.
Chapter XII The Era of Thought Control The night the dark shadows of totalitarianism swallowed the Philippines on September 22. 1972, the intellectual lights went out, along with the other "inalienable" rights of the Filipino people. President Marcos' military might choked hard at the throats of writers, editors and publishers, and the media facilities. The Philippines went into a deathly journalistic silence. Throughout the country, but most especially in the Greater Manila area. Constabulary troopers sealed newspaper, radio and television facilities, and told staff members on the graveyard shift to "go home, martial law has been declared." In simultaneous actions, teams of PC troops arrested leading journalists in Manila and other areas of the country. Those arrested in the Greater Manila area were confined either at Camp Crame or Fort Bonifacio. Provincial constabulary barracks served as jails for provincial journalists. International cable and telephone facilities were closed, thereby effectively shutting down the operations of foreign news agencies, too. Some raiding or arresting teams seemed kind of apologetic for the action they were doing. The general tenor of the authority they invoked in closing down the media facilities and in arresting journalists was that they were acting "on orders of the commander-in-chief." They would not show their written orders. However, they declared that they were acting in accordance with the O.B. (Order of Battle) issued to them. It turned out that the Order of Battle against the media tribe was contained in two separate documents made public only at 7:20 p.m. on September 23, Primitivo Mijares
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