The military trucks bearing heavy artillery that were seen passing through EDSA in Quezon City on Tuesday, Sept. 20, and alarming some residents were not in any way related to the anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law, the Philippine Army (PA) clarified.
Col. Xerxes Trinidad, PA spokesperson, explained that the 12 units of 155mm Autonomous Truck Mounted Howitzer System (ATMOS) that were spotted along EDSA Bus Carousel lane in Nepa Q-Mart Station were part of the contingent that were scheduled for deployment to Mindanao.
“Wala pong kinalaman sa Martial Law (It was not related to Martial Law),” Trinidad told the Manila Bulletin.
Instead, the self-propelled heavy artillery pieces were part of the 10th Field Artillery “Rolling Thunder” Battalion of the Army Artillery Regiment (AAR) that were sent off by the PA on Wednesday, Sept. 21, in a ceremony at the PA Headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.
The PA received the ATMOS howitzer units in December 2021 from Israeli defense company, Elbit Systems.
Trinidad said that two batteries of the unit will be deployed to Central Mindanao while one battery will remain at the headquarters of the AAR at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.
“The 10th Field Artillery Battalion of the Army Artillery Regiment was activated in June of this year to accommodate the newly acquired 'game changer' assets,” Trinidad added.
The Army official allayed public fears as he emphasized that the new assets will be used to deter internal security threats and protect the nation from terrorists and communist groups, as well as other hostile forces in the southern part of the country.
The sighting of the military trucks coincided with the eve of the 50th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law, which is considered as one of the darkest chapters in the history of the country.
Then president, the late Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared martial law on Sept. 21, 1972 through Proclamation 1081 which put the entire country under military rule, apparently to suppress the threat of communist insurgency.
But the period is remembered for the record of human rights abuses under that regime, with more than 3,000 people believed to be slain in extrajudicial killings, 35,000 were tortured, and thousands of others incarcerated and victimized by forced disappearances.
Five decades later, Marcos Sr.’s son and namesake, Bongbong Marcos Jr., won the 2022 presidential elections in a landslide fashion and put the Marcoses back in Malacanang.