FERDINAND EDRALIN MARCOS

Ferdinand Marcos, in full Ferdinand Derain Marcos, (born September 11, 1917, Serrate,
Philippines—died September 28, 1989, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.), Philippine lawyer and politician
who, as head of state from 1966 to 1986, established an authoritarian regime in the
Philippines that came under criticism for corruption and for its suppression of democratic
processes.
Marcos attended school in Manila and studied law in the late 1930s at the University of the
Philippines, near that city. Tried for the assassination in 1933 of a political opponent of his
politician father, Marcos was found guilty in November 1939. But he argued his case on appeal
to the Philippine Supreme Court and won acquittal a year later. He became a trial lawyer in
Manila. During World War II he was an officer with the Philippine armed forces. Marcos’s later
claims of having been a leader in the Filipino guerrilla resistance movement were a central
factor in his political success, but U.S. government archives revealed that he actually played
little or no part in anti-Japanese activities during 1942–45.

From 1946 to 1947 Marcos was a technical assistant to Manuel Roxas, the first president of
the independent Philippine republic. He was a member of the House of Representatives
(1949–59) and of the Senate (1959–65), serving as Senate president (1963–65). In 1965
Marcos, who was a prominent member of the Liberal Party founded by Roxas, broke with it
after failing to get his party’s nomination for president. He then ran as the Nationalist Party
candidate for president against the Liberal president, Diosdado Macapagal. The campaign was
expensive and bitter. Marcos won and was inaugurated as president on December 30, 1965. In
1969 he was reelected, becoming the first Philippine president to serve a second term. During
his first term he had made progress in agriculture, industry, and education. Yet his
administration was troubled by increasing student demonstrations and violent urban guerrilla
activities.

On September 21, 1972, Marcos imposed martial law on the Philippines. Holding that
communist and subversive forces had precipitated the crisis, he acted swiftly; opposition
politicians were jailed, and the armed forces became an arm of the regime. Opposed by
political leaders—notably Benigno Aquino, Jr., who was jailed and held in detention for almost
eight years—Marcos was also criticized by church leaders and others. In the provinces Maoist
communists (New People’s Army) and Muslim separatists (notably of the Moro National
Liberation Front) undertook guerrilla activities intended to bring down the central
government. Under martial law the president assumed extraordinary powers, including the
ability to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. Marcos announced the end of martial law in
January 1981, but he continued to rule in an authoritarian fashion under various constitutional
formats. He won election to the newly created post of president against token opposition in
June 1981.

Philippine and U.S. dignitaries—Philippine Foreign Minister Carlos P. Romulo, U.S. Ambassador
Richard W. Murphy, Philippine Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos, Imelda Marcos, and U.S. Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff David C. Jones—attending a ceremony at Clark Air Base in central
Luzon, Philippines, 1979.
Philippine and U.S. dignitaries—Philippine Foreign Minister Carlos P. Romulo, U.S. Ambassador
Richard W. Murphy, Philippine Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos, Imelda Marcos, and U.S. Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff David C. Jones—attending a ceremony at Clark Air Base in central
Luzon, Philippines, 1979.
Marcos’s wife from 1954 was Imelda Romualdez Marcos, a former beauty queen. Imelda
became a powerful figure after the institution of martial law in 1972. She was often criticized
for her appointments of relatives to lucrative governmental and industrial positions while she
held the posts of governor of Metropolitan Manila (1975–1986) and minister of human
settlements and ecology (1979–86).
Marcos’s later years in power were marred by rampant government corruption, economic
stagnation, the steady widening of economic inequalities between the rich and the poor, and
the steady growth of a communist guerrilla insurgency active in the rural areas of the
Philippines’ innumerable islands.
By 1983 Marcos’s health was beginning to fail, and opposition to his rule was growing. Hoping
to present an alternative to both Marcos and the increasingly powerful New People’s Army,
Benigno Aquino, Jr., returned to Manila on August 21, 1983, only to be shot dead as he
stepped off the airplane. The assassination was seen as the work of the government and
touched off massive antigovernment protests. An independent commission appointed by
Marcos concluded in 1984 that high military officers were responsible for Aquino’s
assassination. To reassert his mandate, Marcos called for presidential elections to be held in
1986. But a formidable political opponent soon emerged in Aquino’s widow, Corazon Aquino,
who became the presidential candidate of the opposition. It was widely asserted that Marcos
managed to defeat Aquino and retain the presidency in the election of February 7, 1986, only
through massive voting fraud on the part of his supporters. Deeply discredited at home and
abroad by his dubious electoral victory, Marcos held fast to his presidency as the Philippine
military split between supporters of his and of Aquino’s legitimate right to the presidency. A
tense standoff that ensued between the two sides ended only when Marcos fled the country
on February 25, 1986, at U.S. urging. He went into exile in Hawaii, where he remained until his
death.
Evidence emerged that during his years in power Marcos, his family, and his close associates
had looted the Philippines’ economy of billions of dollars through embezzlements and other
corrupt practices. Marcos and his wife were subsequently indicted by the U.S. government on
racketeering charges, but in 1990 (after Marcos’s death) Imelda was acquitted of all charges by
a federal court. She was allowed to return to the Philippines in 1991, and in 1993 a Philippine
court found her guilty of corruption (the conviction was overturned in 1998).
 family backround
The Marcos family is a family in the Philippines. They have established themselves in the
country's politics having established a political dynasty that traces its beginnings to the 1925
election of Mariano Marcos to the Philippine House of Representatives as congressman for the
second district of Ilocos Norte; reached its peak during the 21-year reign of Ferdinand Marcos
as president of the Philippines that included the declaration of Martial Law throughout the
country and continues today with the political careers of Imelda Marcos, Imee Marcos, and
Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Imee Marcos has attributed the continued reign of the Marcos family to the inherent
feudalism of Philippine culture. Although nominally democratic, Philippine society effectively
blocks individual Philippine citizens from having much political power, forcing them to be
dependent on powerful figures that social scientists have called "bosses" or "caciques."

Ferdinand Alexander Marcos III, the most politically prominent of the fourth generation of
Marcoses, has argued that political dynasties are simply a "natural progression" for members
of powerful families

Although Article II Section 26 of the current Philippine constitution, promulgated after the
Marcoses were ousted from the Philippines in 1986, explicitly prohibits the perpetuation of
Political dynasties, little legislation has been since been put in place to enforce the provision.

The prominence of the Marcos family in Philippine politics has been stopped twice. The first
came with the victory of Julio Nalundasan over Mariano Marcos and the subsequent arrest of
Ferdinand Marcos for his murder, the publicity for which brought Ferdinand Marcos to the
national consciousness and eventually led to his rise to power.The second, when Filipinos got
tired of the plundering and murder, was when the Marcos family was deposed from
Malacañang by the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution and exiled to Hawaii. After Ferdinand
Marcos' 1989 death, the remaining members of the family were allowed to return to the
Philippince to face various corruption charges in 1992. However, they were able to return to
political power that same year, to the dismay of the filipino people, with the election of
Ferdinand Marcos Jr as congressman for the second district of Ilocos Norte.

At least one other branch of the family, that of Ferdinand Sr's sister Elizabeth Marcos-Keon, is
also in politics, with her son Michael Marcos Keon having been elected board member in 2004
and governor of Ilocos Norte in 2007.
 Literary works

National discipline: the key to our future (1970)

Today's Revolution: Democracy (1971)

Notes on the New Society of the Philippines (1973)

Tadhana: the history of the Filipino People (1977, 1982)

The democratic revolution in the Philippines (1977)

Five years of the new society (1978)

President Ferdinand E. Marcos on law, development and human rights (1978)

President Ferdinand E. Marcos on agrarian reform (1979)

An Ideology for Filipinos (1980)

An introduction to the politics of transition (1980)

Marcos's Notes for the Cancun Summit, 1981 (1981)

Progress and Martial Law (1981)

The New Philippine Republic: A Third World Approach to Democracy (1982)

Toward a New Partnership: The Filipino Ideology (1983)

A Trilogy on the Transformation of Philippine Society (1988)

 TRIVIA
1. He was baptized into the Aglipayan Church.
Born on September 11, 1917 in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, Ferdinand Marcos was baptized into the
Aglipayan or Philippine Independent Church.

The church was founded in 1902 by Isabelo de los Reyes and a Roman Catholic priest named
Gregorio Aglipay who also became its first Supreme Bishop.
Members of this church reject the spiritual authority of the Pope as well as the doctrine of the
Trinity. They also denied the existence of angels, devils, miracles and other supernatural
manifestations.

2. Ferdinand Marcos’ rare yearbook photo.

Ferdinand Marcos was educated in Manila, earning his high school diploma at age 15 in 1933
at the U.P. High School.
His classmates included the class president, Sotero Laurel (future Ambassador to Japan),
Roberto S. Benedicto (future crony and president of Philippine National Bank) and Col.
Napoleon D. Valeriano (famed anti-Huk fighter).
Called “Ferdi” by his classmates, he is remembered “for having a simple demeanor, interested
in debates and discussions in which he outshone all.”

3. He was a memory whiz but the claim that he got the “highest score
ever” in the bar exam is false.
Marcos was so smart he single-handedly topped the 1939 Bar Examinations (with near-perfect
score) despite being in jail for 27 days. Or so the viral photo above claims.
However, as confirmed by the Philippine Supreme Court, the distinction of having the highest
bar exam score in the country belongs to former associate justice Florenz Regalado who
scored an average of 96.7% in the 1954 bar exam. Marcos, on the other hand, indeed topped
the bar exam in his time but with a relatively lower average score of 92.35%.

Although it is nothing but fake news, we can’t deny that Marcos was one smart man.
Several people attested to Marcos’ incredible memory, including the late Senator Miriam
Defensor-Santiago who once served as Marcos’ speechwriter.
“One time, the Secretary of Justice forgot to tell me that the President had requested him to
draft a speech….” said Miriam during an interview with the Philippine Star.
 “And then, on the day the President was to deliver the speech, he suddenly remembered
because Malacañang was asking for the speech, so he said, ‘This is an emergency. You just
have to produce something.’
…He (Marcos) liked long speeches. I think that was 20 or 25 pages. And then, in the evening, I
was there, of course. President Marcos recited the speech from memory.”

4. Ferdinand Marcos changed religion in order to marry Imelda in a

Catholic church.
When Marcos first met Imelda Romualdez in 1954, it was love at first sight. So, after only two
weeks of courtship, the couple tied the knot first in a civil ceremony in Baguio City followed by
a church wedding at the Pro-Cathedral of San Miguel in Manila.
To make this possible, Imelda had to convince Ferdinand to convert from his native Aglipayan
religion to Roman Catholicism. She succeeded in persuading the latter, and the church
wedding was held afterward with President Ramon Magsaysay as the principal sponsor.

5. His “achievements” as a president can fill a book, and so can his

crimes.
President Ferdinand Marcos’ dream of building a new society had brought forth several
projects that have benefited us in the long run.
During his third SONA in 1968, Marcos claimed that the country became self-sufficient in rice
and corn, therefore solving the chronic food shortage.
Fast forward to 1980 and the Marcos administration reached yet another milestone. The
country’s gross national product (GNP) dramatically climbed from 39.5 billion pesos in 1965 to
an outstanding 86.7 billion pesos in 1979, which translates to 6.6% growth rate a year.
And this was only the tip of the iceberg.
From Sept. 21, 1972, up to Feb. 26, 1986, Marcos was able to craft and formulate a total of 7,
883 presidential decrees and other 5 legal issuances. All of the country’s specialty hospitals
were also built during his term and these include the Kidney Center, Philippine Children
Center, Philippine Heart Center and the Lung Center of the Philippines.
Marcos’ accomplishments are too many to mention and have since become the benchmark by
which the performances of his successors are based upon.
But we also have to deal with the other side of the coin.
According to the Akbayan party-list group, the Marcos administration was responsible for 35,
000 torture cases, 70, 000 incarcerations, and 3, 257 murders. He’s also blamed for the arrest
of more than 50, 000 people including the “desaparecidos” or those who were victims of
enforced disappearances.
It should also be noted that the value of the peso also dropped from P1 = US$ 1 to P25 = US$ 1
during Marcos’ term. And from just $360 million in 1962, our country’s debt reached a
staggering P28.3 billion by the time Marcos left his office in 1986.

6. President Ferdinand Marcos reportedly used Thrilla in Manila as

“distraction.”
Ferdinand Marcos applauds as Frazier makes some remarks about Ali when they visit the
Malacanang Palace. Between the two fighters is Marco’s wife Imelda. Jess Tan/AP
In 1975, there was a brewing revolution in the Philippines as a result of President Ferdinand
Marcos’ martial law declaration 3 years earlier.
Rampant corruption, widespread poverty, and impending threats of the insurgency were
taking its toll on Marcos’ “New Society.” People would continue to lose trust in his dictatorship
unless he finds a diversionary tactic.
The distraction came in the form of entertainment–world-class entertainment. It was during
this era when Manila hosted the 23rd Miss Universe pageant and invited world-famous
celebrities such as Brooke Shields and George Hamilton.
Marcos also campaigned to have the third and final Ali-Frazier match to be held in Manila, a
request that was subsequently granted in exchange for a hefty price: the Filipino dictator
promised to pay the expenses and even give Ali a staggering $4.5 million pesos at a time when
most Filipinos’ annual salary was not even enough to pay an upper box seat at the Araneta
Coliseum.

7. He reportedly wanted Ninoy to be his successor.

In a special report published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, it was revealed that Marcos
considered Ninoy Aquino as the best prepared to be president among the politicians during
that era. Some also believe that “Marcos may have already considered Aquino as a potential
successor even before he allowed the Tarlac politician to have an open-heart surgery in the
United States on May 8, 1980.”
Ex-Master Sgt. Pablo Martinez, one of those convicted of murder, confessed that Ninoy was
indeed chosen by Marcos to be his successor. The president’s decision reportedly irked some
of his allies, and so plans to assassinate Ninoy were made afterward.
The same report also discusses an alleged covenant between Marcos and Ninoy. A travel
companion of Aquino in the U.S. said that the covenant included “the position of prime
minister in the National Assembly, provided that Aquino won a seat in the 1984 elections.”

8. Martial Law was communism’s biggest recruiter.

For Marcos, the August 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing (which the regime blamed on the
communists) was a clear sign of using democracy to destroy democracy itself. To eliminate
 communist threats, he suspended the privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus and later
declared martial law.
Ironically, the martial law became communism’s biggest recruiter. From the 1,028-armed
regulars in 1972, members of the New People’s Army (NPA) had ballooned to 22,500 by 1986.

9. US President Nixon and Marcos’ Martial Law.

Did Richard Nixon—contrary to the White House’s official stand—actually know and consent
to Ferdinand Marcos’ declaration of martial law?
According to Raymond Bonner’s book Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making
of American Policy, Nixon had in fact known about Marcos’ plan several days before the actual
declaration because the latter had personally phoned him twice to inform him about his
decision.
The US president reportedly answered that he was alright to a dictatorship by Marcos so long
as it would help further American interests in the region.
Aside from the personal calls, Nixon was also informed of Marcos’ plan by the American
ambassador to the Philippines Henry Byroade. According to the book, the ambassador told
Marcos that the United States was prepared to back his regime if it would be necessary for
quelling the communist insurgency.

10. His war exploits are questionable.

Major Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1946 wearing three medals awarded by the United States: The
Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and Purple Heart. Source: Presidential Museum and
Library’s Official Tumblr Page.
Marcos claimed he was the hero of the Battle of Bessang Pass during WWII, earning a total of
33 medals and awards throughout his career. However, his critics believe otherwise.
Bonifacio Gillego, a military officer who resisted martial law, exposed that 11 of the 33 medals
were given 20 years after the war when Marcos was already a Senate President gearing up for
a presidential campaign. Eight of these awards, on the other hand, were actually campaign
ribbons given to all participants “in the defense of Bataan and in the resistance.”
Regarding his war exploits, the U.S. army found no official documents that could prove Marcos
led “Ang Maharlika,” a guerilla force composed of 8,200 men. In the end, they declared
Marcos’ claims to be” fraudulent” and” absurd.”
So where was Ferdinand Marcos during the Japanese occupation?
He said he was freed by the Japanese on August 4, 1942. However, a Japanese document
discovered by John Sharkey of the Washington Post suggests that the prisoners released at
that time were either too sick or “whose families have cooperated with the Japanese military
authorities.”
Marcos was not on the list of ailing prisoners published by The Manila Tribune. We should also
remember that his father, Mariano Marcos, was one of those who welcomed the Japanese
with open arms and later executed by anti-Japanese guerrillas in 1945.
Marcos also claimed that he was hiding at the Philippine General Hospital from June to August
1943. During the same period, President Laurel, leader of the Japanese puppet state, was also
staying in the Japanese-controlled hospital. Go figure.

11. The ‘Omega 12′ was behind Ferdinand Marcos’ Martial Law.
The martial law was not a one-man endeavor. In fact, Marcos sought the help of his ’12
apostles,’ later known as the “Rolex 12” (named after the Rolex watches that Marcos gave to
them as gifts).
But according to a 1974 confidential memo of then US Ambassador to Manila William Sullivan,
Marcos gave the 12 military officers gold Omega watches, not Rolexes. Hence, the proper term
would have been “Omega 12.”
Before declaring the martial law in 1972, Marcos consulted with the Omega 12, and their plans
were contained in a confidential document called Oplan Sagittarius. Five members of the
group allegedly helped create the decrees of Proclamation 1081 before all 12 of them finalized
Marcos’ plan.

12. Marcos and the Yamashita treasure.

First off, Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita really had nothing to do with the infamous treasure.
It was Emperor Hirohito’s brother, Prince Chichibu, who led the “Golden Lily” campaign and
plundered Asian territories. Chichibu’s cousin, Prince Tsuneyoshi Takeda, was then assigned to
hide the loot at hundreds of secret vaults within the Philippines. He also gave a copy of the
maps to his Filipino servant for safekeeping.
Now let’s go back to President Marcos.
For some reason, he was able to get a copy of the treasure maps and soon ordered his military
officers to undertake a treasure hunt. And then came Rogelio Roxas, a Filipino treasure hunter
who uncovered in a Baguio City tunnel thousands of gold bars and an 8-inch tall gold Buddha
filled with real diamonds and precious stones.
It didn’t take long before the news reached President Marcos. He immediately sent his men to
confiscate the treasure and had Roxas arrested and tortured.
When Cory Aquino became the president, she formed the now abolished Presidential
Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to initiate the hunt for the missing Marcos Loot. As
we all know, PCGG only recovered $5 billion (in the form of cash and other assets) out of the
alleged $100 billion loot.
Imelda Marcos, on the other hand, claimed that her husband deposited a very large sum in a
bank in Brussels, Belgium. This is because the amount of the fortune was so large “it would be
embarrassing.”
 13. He bought the Kalayaan Island in Sprawls for 1 peso.
Philippines’ claim over the Spratlys started when Tomas Cloma landed at its biggest island in
1956. A seafaring adventurer and owner of a fishing business, Cloma made a “Proclamation to
the whole world” that a new state called “The Free Territory of Freedomland” was created. He
asserted sovereignty over the area although no country formally recognized his claims.
Cloma, who was also the founder of the Philippine Maritime Institute, was later jailed during
the martial law era for the fraudulent use of the “admiral” title (his drinking buddies at the
National Press Club called him “Admiral”).
He was released after he surrendered all his claims to the islands to Marcos for only one peso.
Afterward, Marcos officially transformed the biggest island (“Pag-Asa Island”) into a
fortification, the first and probably the last time our country was able to add a new territory.

14. He launched the first Philippine-made rocket.

Yes, you heard that right: A rocket made in the Philippines. Launched in Caballo Island (near
Corregidor), the rocket was part of “Project Santa Barbara” which was participated by a group
of scientists and the Philippine Navy.
Since December 1972, a series of 37 dynamic tests had been conducted on the 180 MM
rocket. The project, initiated by President Marcos, also involved testing of other weapons and
armaments.
On September 1975, four “bongbong” rockets (obviously named after Marcos’ son) were
successfully launched. Asked about why the country was experimenting in making its own
ballistic missiles, President Marcos explained:
“The defense of the Philippines cannot be left to alliance with other countries. We must
assume that there will be contingencies where even the United States may not be ready to
come to our assistance.”

15. Ferdinand Marcos knew that the U.S. secretly stored nuclear
weapons in the country, but never told anyone.
File photos from Reuters (vehicle carrying missile) and AFP (Marcos).
This is according to a document released by the National Security Archive based in George
Washington University.
The said top-secret memo was from US career diplomat Robert McClintock. He informed then
acting secretary of the US State Department that the storage of nuclear weapons “would be
covered by executive privilege and not divulged to the Symington Subcommittee on overseas
commitments.”
The memo also suggests that the nuclear weapons have been stored in the country for many
years “without prior consultation with the Philippine Government.”
 The document added: “The fact that President Marcos was secretly informed of the presence
of these weapons in 1966 would not work to his advantage in the elections. The Philippine
government and public are not aware of storage nor of President Marcos’ knowledge thereof.”

16. People worship him like a GOD.

Unlike most Filipinos who vilify the late dictator, a group of peasants in Ilocos Norte and in the
mountains of Abra province worship Ferdinand Marcos like a saint.
In fact, they gather every month in their own chapel dressed in white flowing robes to worship
the deceased president. Inside the chapel, they face an altar where the picture of the sacred
heart of Jesus is displayed–with Jesus Christ’s face replaced by that of Marcos.
For the cult members, Marcos didn’t steal but “simply kept the fortune they accused him of
stealing.” They also added that “time will come when all the money will be recovered and used
for the development of our country.”
According to cult leader Rodolfo Cabusao, their group started as a member of the Rizalian
Brotherhood which have long believed that Rizal was Christ’s reincarnation. They began
worshiping Marcos when the strongman died in 1989, the same year Cabusao claimed that
Marcos appeared in his dream and proclaimed himself as God’s disciple.

17. The bizarre life and ugly death of the man who challenged
Ferdinand Marcos.
Regarded by his followers as a holy man who could converse with Bathala and the spirits of
past Filipino heroes, Valentin Delos Santos was a perennial presidential candidate, having ran
first against Carlos Garcia in 1957, Diosdado Macapagal in 1961 and then against Ferdinand
Marcos in 1965 with the promise of achieving “true justice, true equality, and true freedom for
the country.”
However, his endeavor was met both with amusement and disdain by the public and his
political opponents who believed him to be a crazy old coot.
Two years after losing to Marcos, Delos Santos—then already in his 80s—led around 400 of his
followers who were dressed in strange blue uniforms with capes on a march from Taft Avenue
in Pasay to Malacañang Palace to demand the president’s resignation.
Delos Santos cited poverty, landlessness, and the country’s exploitation by Western powers as
his reasons why Marcos should resign.
When the chaos was over, 33 members of Lapiang Malaya and one soldier lay dead on the
street. Dozens more—members, soldiers, and civilians—also suffered gunshot or hack
wounds.
On August of the same year, Delos Santos met his end inside the center at the hands of his
schizophrenic cellmate. Mauled in his sleep, he slipped into a coma and was never revived.
The doctor of the facility later officially attributed his death to pneumonia.
 18. Ferdinand Marcos’ last day in Malacañang.
Here’s a poignant portrait of a once-powerful family shortly after Marcos took his oath of
office as the reelected president on February 25, 1986.
For everyone outside the presidential palace, however, the victory was a sham and the
ceremony was just Marcos’ last-minute attempt to stay in power. True enough, it would be the
Marcoses’ last photograph together in Malacañang; a few hours later, they were forced to flee
into exile in Hawaii, marking the end of Marcos’ two decades of dictatorship.
The days leading to this momentous event were certainly the darkest in Marcos’ political
career. One by one, his military functionaries–including the Air Force pilots–defected to the
rebel camp of Juan Ponce Enrile and Fidel Ramos.
Such was his desperation that he called U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, one of the observers in the
February 7 snap elections, to ask whether he should step down or not, and to which the
American lawmaker replied:
“I think you should cut. And cut cleanly. The time has come.”