MANILA, Philippines — Thousands of protesters marked Thursday's anniversary of the 1972 declaration of martial law by late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos with an outcry against what they say are the current president's authoritarian tendencies and his bloody crackdown on illegal drugs. In May, he placed the southern third of the largely Roman Catholic nation under martial law to deal with a siege by pro-Islamic State group militants in southern Marawi city that has dragged on for nearly four months.
Coinciding with the 45th anniversary of the declaration of martial law in 1972 by the late Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, nationwide protests are conducted by various groups against the government's implementation of war on drugs and the ongoing martial law in the whole of Mindanao under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.