I had been making excuses all week but I knew the time had come to make up my mind. The Philippines Ambassador, the former anti-Marcos journalist J.V. Cruz, had warned me about the impending arrival of the Philippines’ first daughter for some time. Imee Marcos, my old nemesis from Manila, was going to be in London along with her new husband, Tommy Manotoc, as part of their round the world tour.
JV had been an outspoken anti-Marcos columnist on the Manila Times when I first met him in the late 60’s, But, like so many other prominent journalists, he had eventually been seduced by Marcos’s offers of money, power and position. In JV’s case, his loyalty had been bought first by an Ambassadorship to Germany and then, when he had proved his loyalty, to the Court of St. James. Even JV’s younger brother, Jun, had benefited from Marcos’s largesse towards his new Ambassador. First Jun Cruz was made Minister of Finance and then he was nominated head of the GSIS, the Government Service Insurance System. But, like all other favours the Marcoses dispensed, there was a price to be paid. Imelda expected her cut. In this case it was the GSIS that she used as her own private bank to finance many of her multi-million dollar projects. And both Jun and JV had to look the other way. I had known JV from my Café Indios Bravos days. He would drop by occasionally to receive or share the latest political and social gossip, to down a glass or two of whiskey and to cast a jaded eye around for any pretty, available girl. But now, in 1983, he was the essence of civility, his normal casual attire abandoned for a Savile Row pinstriped suit. And, instead of being content with a simple roof over his head he was now living in the vast Philippine Embassy residence on London’s exclusive Kensington Palace Gardens, known locally as millionaires’ row.
“I’ve got strict instructions from Imelda,” JV told me over the phone, “not to let Imee and Tommy out of my sight while they’re in London. They’re my responsibility. I’ve arranged a week of parties, theatres and sightseeing. But,” he hesitated, “there’s one night I just can’t be with them. Please can you and Ben take them off my hands that night for me, please.” JV was pleading. Although Ben proved fairly easy to convince when I discussed it with him later, I was extremely reluctant. Ten years earlier I had crossed swords with Imee on Philippine television. And, like her mother, I knew she was unlikely to have forgotten the exchange. Imee had arrived at the Channel 3 studio that night with an arm encrusted in vast uncut emeralds, the like of which I had never seen before. It seemed an extraordinary coincidence at the time because there was a story doing the rounds in Manila that several Andean miners had lost their lives excavating the world’s largest flawless emeralds intended for the First Lady of the Philippines, Imelda Romualdez Marcos. I couldn’t take my eyes off the huge green rocks circling Imee’s wrist. And, being in a playful mood, I just couldn’t resist the temptation to remark on them. Live on air I asked: “Those are the most magnificent emeralds I’ve ever seen, Imee. Did you ever find out exactly how many men died digging them out of the Colombian mountains?” Flustered Imee hurriedly tried to
obscure the offending jewels by covering them with her other arm. I could see she was uncomfortable but I had started, so I persisted. “I heard your mother has yet to pay the bill, is that right?” The presenter, Elvira Manahan, who was one of Imelda’s coterie of “blue ladies”, pulled one of her characteristic Phyllis-Diller-type expressions and let out a nervous giggle. Her husband Dr. Manahan, Manila’s top gynaecologist, had delivered Imee and the other two Marcos children so I realized this must have been acutely embarrassing for her. I waited for an answer but Imee looked straight through me. For once the bright, intelligent First Daughter, who was being groomed to succeed her father, didn’t have a ready answer. Elvira coughed and tried to change the subject. But I knew my friends would expect me to pursue the subject until I got an answer. And youthful arrogance got the better of me. Besides, I was enjoying myself. “How much do you think they’re worth – $50 million, $100 million? What would you say, Imee?” Composing herself, Elvira reprimanded me: “Now, Caroline, that’s an unfair question. Imee wouldn’t have any idea. They were gifts from her mother.” While I was wondering how Elvira knew that for a fact, she turned to Imee:“
Now tell me about your life, Imee, are you planning to continue at Princeton in the Fall?” I was tempted to say, “If the Philippines can afford the bill!” for it was well known that funds to educate the Marcos children were extracted not from Marcos’s modest presidential salary of $6500 per annum but from the Philippines treasury. Like everything else in his life, Marcos automatically expected his political dynasty to be paid for by the people. I was also tempted to ask Imee about the rhinestone-encrusted jeans she had been reported wearing during a recent summer barbeque in Long Island. Except that, another guest reliably informed me, they weren’t actually rhinestones at all but real diamonds. Sadly, at this point, my instinct for self-preservation got the better of me. I had almost been deported once, Betsy, Henry and many of my friends had been jailed and now I had my own children’s safety to consider. So I let it go and we twittered on about innocuous subjects that required little soul-searching, little animosity and zero confrontation. I had not spoken to Imee since then. And now JV was asking me to look after her and her basketball coach husband, Tommy, for a whole evening. “Come on, Caroline,” Ben coaxed me, “it won’t be that bad.” So, very reluctantly I agreed. My brother-in-law, Elliott Kastner, had a new musical,
“Marilyn”, about the life of Marilyn Monroe running at the Adelphi Theatre on the Strand so I reckoned I could invite Imee and Tommy to that. By going to the theatre I imagined, we could keep the conversation to a minimum thus avoiding dredging over old animosities. I called Elliott, explained the situation and he reserved some complimentary tickets at the box office for us. He suggested I call the manager of the theatre to warn him that I would be bringing the daughter of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. The manager was extremely courteous and offered to make all the necessary security arrangements, take us into the private VIP bar during the interval and arrange for us to meet the actors backstage at the end of the show. I knew two of the main actors, Stephanie Lawrence, playing Marilyn and Judith Bruce, playing Marilyn’s mother, so I called them to say we would be dropping in after the performance. Everything was in place. “Sorted”, I thought, almost looking forward to the evening. But how wrong I was. I should have known that nothing involving any member of the Marcos family is ever that simple.
I spoke to Imee the day before the event. I gave her the name and address of the Adelphi Theatre and told her exactly what time we should meet there. In order to avoid misunderstandings I asked her to write it all down. “Everything’s clear,” she told me. “And please make sure you’re there ten minutes before curtain‘s up!” I said as politely as I could. And then, more pointedly, “Theatre starts on time in England.” “Sure, no problem!” she replied and put the phone down. At the allotted time, Ben, the theatre manager and I were waiting patiently in the lobby. Five, ten, fifteen minutes – half an hour – passed and still no sign of Imee. Yet again, just as it always did in Manila, the theatre curtain was forced to wait for a member of the Marcos family. As the audience inside began to hiss and boo, the red-faced manager could wait no longer. He gave the nod for the show to begin. My heart sank. I visualized Ben and me waiting in the lobby all night. I was indignant. This was discourteous not only to the management but also to the actors and the audience. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, seven stretch black limousines rolled up outside the theatre. Doors flung wide open and uniformed men, carrying armalites, spilled out onto the pavementt. I watched in horror as some of the armed minders rushed inside and others surrounded the perimeter, effecting a cordon sanitaire around the theatre. And, when they decided the venue was safe, they snapped their fingers, whispered into their walkie-talkies and nodded the go-ahead for Imee and Tommy to emerge.
By this time people in the street had stopped dead in their tracks. They stared incredulously, probably wondering who on earth deserved such a massive security operation. I, too, couldn’t believe my eyes. This was like finding myself in a cheap gangster movie. I couldn’t help thinking that nobody in London would even recognise Imee Marcos, let alone care who she was or what happened to her. Nobody in London was ever likely to threaten her physical harm or kidnap her. Well, nobody that is, except, of course, her own parents who had already proved they were more than capable since they managed to “kidnap” the hapless Tommy Manotoc following their daughter’s hasty marriage to him. And all for the simple reason that Imelda didn’t approve of him. When the scared young man was finally “released” from a month in his secret mountain cave and when his supposed captors, the NPA Communist guerrillas, had been suitably “punished”, Tommy emerged into daylight for the benefit of the television cameras looking healthier and more robust than he did before he “disappeared”. But nobody was about to drag Imee off the streets of London and hold her against her will. Nobody was about to make an attempt on her life. Nobody was going to hold her for ransom. This was exhibitionism at its most vulgar. This was simply a very successful attempt at drawing attention to herself. And, whether it was her own idea of making a dramatic entrance or “Daddy’s” orders for protecting his anointed heir, I never did find out. But seven decoy cars and nine armed bodyguards seemed, in my opinion, definitely excessive. 
By now the manager was at his wits’ end. Armed guards were illegal in London and with them posted inside and outside the theatre so flagrantly he felt he was bound to get into serious trouble with the law. “Can’t you ask her to get rid of them?” he whispered to me, as Imee swept into the lobby. “I doubt it,” I replied, “the Marcoses are a law unto themselves. Nobody tells them what to do! That’s tantamount to suicide where they come from!” I greeted the newlyweds and introduced them to the manager. There were no apologies but then I didn’t expect there to be. There was more hissing and booing from the audience as we were escorted into the theatre in the middle of Scene 2 and blindly groped our way in the dark towards our seats in the middle of the front stalls. I cringed as people making space for us to pass, were forced to stand up, dropping their bags, coats and boxes of chocolates, their seats swinging shut with loud thuds. Feeling no guilt at all, Imee then whispered to me: ”What’s going on? What’s the story so far?” Trying to keep my voice as low as possible I whispered back. I could feel the glares in my direction as I explained the plot. I desperately wanted to leave, preferably in the dark, so no one could see me and point the finger. In the interval, as promised, the manager led us around to the private bar. He offered us drinks and then left. I started to make small talk. Where had they visited, who had they met on their travels, that sort of thing. I finally plucked up the courage to ask Imee the question that had really been on my lips. “Didn’t you feel really bad leaving your baby behind?” “Oh, yes, I miss him terribly,” Imee replied. “Surely you could have brought him with you, I mean with a yaya (nanny) so you could still have gone out and enjoyed yourselves?” “Yes, but Daddy wanted me to leave him. He thought it would be safer.” “But,” I persisted, “I heard you were breastfeeding. Did you have to stop, just like that?”
I was really dying to know the answer to this. But, before Imee had a chance to reply, the composer Tim Rice and the actress Elaine Paige turned round to talk to us. More introductions and more pleasantries and then the bell rang and it was time to return to our seats. When the play was over, I escorted Imee and Tommy backstage. Imee was at her sparkling best. She talked, she laughed and, like her mother, she turned on the charm – but, if I or the actors were hoping for an apology for her late arrival, we were destined to be disappointed. Judith Bruce turned to me and whispered, “Well, Caroline, I’ve known you a long, long time but you always manage to surprise me with the people you know! Who on earth will you show up with next?” Graciously, like a well-rehearsed politician, Imee made her excuses to leave. Ben and I walked her back to the lobby where the theatre manager was waiting patiently. As soon as they spotted her the bodyguards sprang into action, raised their armalites, swivelled their eyes to scan the lobby and the street outside and fell into step behind her. She shook hands with the manager, thanked him for his arrangements and made her way through the glass doors out onto the Strand. The seven cars were waiting, engines revving. As she stepped into one of them, the minders piled themselves into the others and, with horns blaring and screeching tyres, they were off down the Strand. Ben and I stood, beleaguered, on the pavement. There had been no goodbyes for us, no thanks for arranging the evening and, despite the seven stretch limos, no offer of a lift home.
Later that same summer I found myself sitting on a sofa next to Imee’s younger sister, Irene. She and her new husband, Greg Araneta, were visiting London on their honeymoon. I now had a perfect opportunity to ask Irene why Imee had left her baby Ferdinand at home. “Daddy thought it was safer for him to stay in Manila,” Irene replied. “But I think I heard her saying she was still breastfeeding…” “Yes, she was.” Irene sounded bored. But I was intrigued. “How on earth did she continue to do that when she was travelling around Europe?” I persisted.” Irene glanced at me as though I was stupid. “Simple, Caroline!” she laughed. “She just expressed her milk everyday and then Daddy sent a Philippine Airlines plane to wherever she was and it would bring the milk back!” Irene shrugged her shoulders as if to say – isn’t that what every mother does when she’s away from her newborn baby for several weeks? Now I understood why all my friends had been complaining during that time that all the Philippine Airlines flights to Europe had either been delayed or cancelled. The solution was obvious. The presidential dairy run was abducting the planes and flying Imee’s precious breast milk back to Manila. This is when it really dawned on me that the Marcoses lived on a totally different planet to the rest of us.
Caroline Kennedy: My Travels 
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hahaha, ok, wait for Binay to be president and repent
I thought we are a Christian nation…kaya hindi naniwala si Mahatma Gandhi sa atin…salita lang but not in action…sabi nga the Lord is the ultimate judge…What Jesus is telling us is to LOVE even OUR ENEMIES…kaya ganito ang ating bansa…mga pinuno vindictive at bitter…si Marcos pa rin sinisisi natin up to now! Move on na people…time to take responsibility for our own lives…marami naman umasenso at umunlad na bansa in spite the fact they were under dictatorship din before…
I am afraid I am an atheist so I do not need a God to tell me what’s right and what’s wrong. I believe I live my life in a more so-called “Christian” way than most people who call themselves Christians, many of whom are bigoted, racist and lacking compassion. Just look at the Christian Right in the US, they are so bigoted and full of hate they are worse than the Taliban. I am sure there are a lot of Christians in the world who are aghast at their extremist behaviour.
She sounds a bit like hildog clinton, IF Imee was about 5 times Worse than portrayed here, lol!!
pronto!!! 🙂 can’t believe people rant over other people’s riches.
If you are an atheist. Why do you recognize God? Atheist, a-theist?
Kung gusto nyo po talagang makaabot ito sa masa, tagalogin nyo po. Mas mainam siguro kung sa iba’t-ibang dialect din. Marami kasing nalilinlang sa mga mahihirap. Bigyan lang ng Php50, iboboto na ang pulitiko kasi daw baka balikan sila kung di nila iboboto. Maraming batas ang di naiintindihan ng mga masa kasi naka-englis ito.
Ms. Rose, with all due respect I don’t think you realize that it was Ms. Caroline Kennedy who wrote this journal entry.
Agreed dapat may tagalog version nito.. Dapat ban the Vote buying.
LOL!
NOT all Filipino CITIZENS are Tagalogs!
It’s better this way than your tagalog language, at least I can better understand English than Tagalog or could I also request to translate this English article in my own language – “Zamboangueño” because I’m a Zamboangueño Ethnic and NOT a Tagalog Ethnic?
Ms. Rose, the author is an American, not a Filipino.
Actually, I am neither Filipino nor American. I am English. But I have three Filipino children so I consider myself, at least, partly Filipina!
Nikki, I hate to tell you, you are out of your iffing mind! That’s why our country is so screwed up is because of dumb people like you!! This family looted and robbed you and you want to forget? You know how many people starved and died coz of Marcoses evil deeds? Wake up and use your useless brain!! And you voted for this family in office again to rob you again? Unless you are one of them!
DUTERTE 2016-2022
what she was trying to say ….is that..NA SANA MAINTINDIHAN NG MASA…so sino pa man nagsulat…nito…for common knwledge …..and fo common good….mkikisuyo siguro na may magawa pa sana ng kopya nito sa ibat ibang linguwahe
Rose, I think you wen’t into this blogsite without being aware that you are talking to someone whose first language is English and know little or next to nothing about Tagalog – and if you may respect the blog owner, please speak in a common language everybody can understand? And if you failed to understand this simple request, I don’t know what else will.
Just leave if you can’t comply.
Rose, I know this is a very late response, but you forgot you entered the blogsite of an Englishwoman with little or no knowledge of Tagalog at all. Her blog site, her rules, her language.
Receiving forgiveness is not possible, without having admitted that you were wrong.If you do not admit your sins, there is nothing to be forgiven. Sorry for Niki. Christians are not supposed to be naive: we have to frogive, and at the same time fight for justice. Appealing on our christian values, the Marcoses continue their injustices to so many Filipinos, because of their plunder and salvaging. The son of a German SS officer who killed thousands of people can be forgiven, because the son admitted that his father was wrong, and he had the delicateza not to aim for a government post. BBM says that his father was right, that he wants to complete the unfinished business of his father, that we have to forget the past, and to move on, not apologizing for the wrongs hsi father did to the nation (all of them were old enough to know what their husband and father was doing)
Ms this is an old write up written by an American who obviously don’t speak Tagalog…
Yes, you are right in one respect, Victoria. It was written at the time. But you are wrong on your second point. Why do you assume I am an American? I am not. I am an Englishwoman who was married to your National Artist Ben Cabrera (Bencab).
How can she put this in tagalog Ms Caroline Kennedy is American…
I agree. Because what happens is only the rich and educated get to be informed and the masa, majority of the voters, who prefer reading Tagalog tabloids or listening to tsismis or watching YouTube in Tagalog, ignore these English-written articles and for those who argue that this is a journal of a foreigner, juice ko naman….thats not an excuse. Journals since hundreds of years ago by Spanish and Portuguese explorers and foreign discoverers and historians have been translated. Duh…. dont deprive our masa Filipinos of information. Pwede namang may translation. Suggested na nga na itranslate sa Tagalog and other local dialects…o kahit Tagalog lang, pwede na. Mas attractive yon na basahin ng 31 M plus na masa kaysa mga Ingleserong minority. If we only pay attention to attracting the masa to be more well-informed instead of spreading information just among us illustrados, it has beeen like singing to the choir.tayo tayo lang..then we complain about the majority of Filipinos being easily fooled by the Marcoses. Check those yputube and tiktok and facebook posts, Marcos propaganda mayerials, that your kasambahays and drivers and security guards watch or read. English ba? No. Tagalog.
You make a very persuasive point. Thank you.
Yes, I know. I was referring to this video. Did she make this also?
Obviously she didn’t since she can’t view it as well ;). Nevertheless, I believe so much has been said about the Marcoses. One commenter here posted a lot of links and articles on the excesses of the Marcos family. I myself have left a few and an anecdote on my opinions about them. I’d leave you and the rest of the guys to scour her blogposts for your reading pleasure. 🙂
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The video is unavailable.
I thought we are a Christian nation…kaya hindi naniwala si Mahatma Gandhi sa atin…salita lang but not in action…sabi nga the Lord is the ultimate judge…What Jesus is telling us is to LOVE even OUR ENEMIES…kaya ganito ang ating bansa…mga pinuno vindictive at bitter…si Marcos pa rin sinisisi natin up to now! Move on na people…time to take responsibility for our own lives…marami naman umasenso at umunlad na bansa in spite the fact they were under dictatorship din before…
@Niki Miranda – For as long as there are people who attempt to deodorize martial law by planting lies about what life was like under martial law, then there will be those who will speak out and expose those lies with the truth. Raymund Burke said that those who fail to learn the lessons from history are doomed to repeat it. I’ve been taking responsibility for my own life since I was 16 years old when martial law was declared. My family and and I had to survive a life made more difficult because of it. The difference is that the Marcoses have not yet owned up for THEIR responsibility for Martial law. Let them admit their wrongs, apologize to the Filipino people and return the ill-gotten wealth. Perhaps then the healing will begin for some 15,000 victims of martial law who were marred for life or whose grieving families still have not found their loved ones’ remains until this day. Perhaps the return of the ill-gotten wealth can be used to pay the humongous foreign debt left unpaid by Marcos which our children up to the 2nd or 3rd generation will have to continue paying for. Please do not invoke the words of God without the truth of the spirit behind it until you have personally researched and have seen and read with your own eyes the monstrous brutality of the torture and murder of tens of thousands of people. But despite the wounds and burdens left behind by Martial law, this nation has somehow risen without their help. I saw the president of this country as a young teenager with his family looking over the broken body of his murdered father bathed in blood. Please do not use the name and the words of God as an emotional card to emotionally manipulate readers into looking lightly without understanding upon deeds and sins of Marcos. There may not be proof that his heirs were involved in the conspiracy to accumulate ill-gotten wealth but they are his immediate and necessary heirs and just as the Supreme Court said, they may have access and control thereof. Let them demonstrate the noble character you speak highly of by owning up to history and make reparations by surrendering that which rightfully belongs to the Filipino people. THEN we can have Forgiveness AND Justice. THEN and ONLY then can we have deeper healing of the nation’s psyche. But sadly, you and I both know that they will NEVER do that. Challenge THEM to manifest Christian love, not the country they victimized.
Kaya ganito tayo… madaling makalimot, nag papatawad sa kahit hindi humuhingi ng tawad at hindi nakakakita ng dahilan para huminingi kahit sorry, nakangti pa kahit naduraan na..this post reminded of the time shortly after they. these Marcoses returned to the Philippines, I was one of the passengers of a PAL flight from Tacloban to Manila which was inexplicably delayed from taking off – with no information from the crew, when lo and behold! Who would come after 45 minutes of waiting but Imelda Marcos and Imee Marcos with her kids in tow with their security men! The plane was so quiet while the entourage were walking to their seats at the rear..No explanations , no apologies required to us mga ‘hamak na mananakay” lamang…they could have chartered a plane with all their money.. NEVER AGAIN!!!!
it’s not about being vindictive nor bitter… it is about LEARNING FROM HISTORY, BEING REMINDED of the people who saddled this nation for a long time, so much so that even my 4th generation descendants would still suffer from their abuse of power.
purely psy ops of the cheap kind….an intellectual pinoy would know the real score on what really happened……dont be dumb to gobble hook and sinker of what YELLOW bellies say, not unless you are one one WIMP , who had no balls to admit his wimpy decision re: MAMASAPANO….bakla ,,,di nga nakuha magasawa kasi lalaki ang hanap……hindurupot na bading,,,ponyeta….
@ rikki villareal: Please enlighten us. What IS the real score? What really happened?
when misuari led his last revolt in zamboanga, pinoy was there physically and i believe he bivouacked with his military and they employed a “isolate and then crush a small contigent strategy” the end result was a huge success, misuari fled to the middle east and the mnlf as a group was neutralized.
In mamasapano, i believe he approved the operation, but his huge mistake was he let the commanding general of special forces to plan the strategy and then let him execute tog. with his favorite general purisima. the end result was a devastating loss of 44 men.
He wasnt there, and there was a plan of action, but those 300 or so reserves and blocking specialforces , (their comrades) didnt move to save them. they still relied on the military who were not even informed initially of the opeartion to bail them out. remember it was the military who went in the area to safely escort them out.
So that is what i believe happened, and judging from these circumstances, i put the responsibility for this debacle to Napenas and those 300 men ….they could have saved their comrades and perhaps would have died trying to save them … as heroes. and not otherwise…. and as for pinoy, those pusthoumous medals were too late.
Yes Mamasapano is a big mistake of the Aquino administration that cost 44 police lives. But the topic here is the outrageous lifestyle that the Marcoses lived at the expense of the nation. Do not try to divert attention by raising a totally unrelated topic, fucktard. The testimony is here, by an uninterested party—an Englishwoman who saw things up close. Can you refute with that with your evidence?
pinoyunggoy, Not “uninterested.” I think you meant “un-involved” or “presumbaly neutral” because Ms. Kennedy is definitely interested in the welfare and well-being of the Philippines since her daughter resides there; and so will her future grandchild.
Its indeed unfortunate for the nation that inspite of the overwhelming evidence of the rapacity and plunder of the marcos family we still have this paucity of electing them. While they are saying to just forget all what they did, they never ask for forgiveness nor repentance, despite that their wealth, as declared by the swiss supreme court ‘ is of criminal origin’. Tayo po ay pinagtatawanan ng mundo king bakit ganito tau. Are we really a’ flawed culture?’ Or are our miserable condition leave us as unfeeling, numb and dumb?
Now the loyalist are crowing that the ill gotten wealth are coming from yamashita treasure and these are products of aquino propaganda. Cannot u make a better argument than this reductio ad absordum? Qou vadis phillipines.
rikki villareal: When we call people bad names, we reveal our true nature, We shame our parents and ourselves because this reflects on how you were raised.
Also you obviously have NOT read the Masapano Report from the two hearings and yet you render judgement even if you don’t know what was in the report.
Yes, the president approved the operation, nothing wrong with that, but Aquino’s instructions to Napenas to inform the DILG about the operation was DISOBEYED. The latter was kept out of the loop. THAT was one mistake. Roxas would have made sure that the troops had all the support they needed. But that was not to be.
Further, the president was NOT informed by Napenas in a TIMELY manner that the troops were under attack and needed rescue. When the president found out, and this was not from Napenas, that the troops were being overrun, Aquino immediately ordered the military to rescue them, albeit too late.
No one can judge if the president made a mistake in assigning the operation to the SAF but the fault was in the gross negligence and ineptitude by Napenas.
In BOTH reports, Napenas, commander for the planning and execution of the operation, was directly responsible for putting his men in harm’s way. In the first report, the only conclusion against Aquino is command responsibility. In the second hearing, NO NEW EVIDENCE was brought up.
Psy ops? There are links to factual reports on this page but you don’t WANT to see it because you’re AFRAID you may be wrong in what you’ve been carrying around with you all these years in your little silver box. But every time you look in that box, the contents are beginning to look more and more like cow manure.
You’re loud in your expressions because you’re EMPTY empty inside, a result of your REFUSAL to ALLOW the TRUTH in.
If you’re an example of an intellectual pinoy, then I feel really sorry for you. Your life is headed for a catastrophic event of your own making and when it happens, you’re going to wonder why it happened, unable to see that the cause is walking in your shoes.
I think ikaw ang bakla masyadong marumi yang bunganga mo. Ang topic dito hindi Mamasapano kundi yung pagwawaldas ng mga Marcoses na akala mo mga reyna ng Pilipinas tinalo pang mga totoong prinsipe at princesa ng London sa daming naghihirap sa Pilipinas sila naman nagwawaldas ng pera ng bayan..Magmumog ka nga baho ng bunganga mo.
“an intellectual pinoy would know the real score on what really happened”
Then help us ‘intellectually-challenged’ intellectuals to understand by citing your sources to justify your conclusions. We would love to hear both sides of the story. 😉
I thought your comment was very professional then (salitang kanto sa huli) for your close little mind Ms Caroline Kennedy is not Aquino allied,very degrading accusation about the gender of still President of the Philippines…Intellectual Pinoy won´t say what you have said…..
1965 una naging Presidente si Marcos. Barely three years pa lang si Marcos sa office in 1968, wala pang Martial Law, inorganisa na ni Sen Ninoy Aquino ang Moro Secession (MNLF-MIM ni Nur Misuari) and Communist Insurgency (CPP-NPA ni Joma Sison) in collaboration with Malaysia para guluhin ang gobyerno ng Pilipinas. Pinondohan ng Malaysia ang panggugulo ni Ninoy, binigyan ng armas, training, at propaganda machinery ang mga rebelde.
Simula 1968, apat na taon ang sakit ng ulo sa pagdedebate ang Congress ng gobyerno kung ano ang dapat na government action against the insurgency. So in 1972 the Congress recommended that the President will declare Martial Law — kaya 1972 ang Martial Law. At first blow of the Martial Law in 1972, Ninoy Aquino was immediately arrested by the government in the same year (1972), si Joma Sison in 1974, pero si Misuari ay tumakas na sa ibang bansa 1972 pa lang.
In Nov 25, 1977 after five years of trial, Ninoy Aquino was finally convicted of TREASON for the crime of collaborating with Malaysia in organizing the Moro Secession (since March 1968) and Communist Insurgency (since March 1968).
So you see, ang Martial Law start ay 1972, at si Ninoy ay nakulong na agad in 1972 pa lang for crimes committed in 1968-1972. Ninoy’s insurgency was before the Martial Law. Kung hindi nanggulo si Ninoy, hindi nagkaroon ng Martial Law. Si Ninoy ang cause ng Martial Law.
The Martial Law was a legitimate government decision recommended by the Filipino people and for the Filipino people in 1972. Pero ang struggle ni Ninoy, all for MALAYSIA, to make Philippines weak and incapacitated in recovering SABAH. Yang pag brand ng Martial Law as “dictatorship”, propaganda yan ng Malaysia-Aquino-MILF Triad.
Spread the awareness. Copy, paste, share na lang natin ang article na eto para mas marami ang magigising.
Salamat po.
Unfortunately it was not the Filipino people who authorized martial law but God himself. If you read the newspapers of the day and listen to Marcos’s own words, he asked God whether he should declare martial law. The Filipino people had nothing to do with it.
I don’t know why there are so many issues na lumalabas ngayon against Aquino and Marcos. Just confused, how can these authors prove their allegations. Bakit hindi pa nila noon ibinulgar ang mga issue na yan. What I know after the depose of President Marcos ilang Presidente na ang sumunod na umupo, may nabago ba? People should learn how to move on rather than live in the past.
It’s so easy to say “move on, don’t live in the past”. Bong Bong Marcos uses that expression all the time. If we do not learn from the mistakes of the past we will keep repeating them. Bong Bong needs to apologize for the murderous and financial excesses of his parents. He has benefitted enormously from the spoils of their wholesale plunder of the country. He needs to address that. And so do those who support him. If your father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter had been taken from you, tortured and killed without trace, I think you would not so easily say, “move on, don’t live in the past.” You would want answers. So think of others before you tell us all not to look back.
everyOne of us are born with different rules to play in Life,,,what do you expect when your born in royalty,,don’t tell me to act poor,,MARCOS are consider to be the Royal Family in Philippine and the riches they have are not simple to protect as so many ppl like you are envious and don’t understand the true meaning of TITLE…
If I may say so, Maria, this is a pathetic excuse for the extravagances of the Marcos family. Maybe the Marcoses want you to believe they are Royalty but you should know better than that. They play on the psyches of people like you, using excuses such as Imelda’s “I am their Star and their Saviour”, which any normal, sane and intelligent person would know to be an absurd folly. I am not envious at all. And I, for one, am English and, thus, very familiar with the true meaning of Title. After all, the Brits invented titles – peerages, knighthoods, duchies and principalities and the rest of the world copied us.
You are talking about royalty ? Do you even understand the meaning of being president of a country? As president you are placed there by the mandate of the people that you are supposed to serve.. What were you doing when you were supposed to be studying about government in school? It looks like you have not outgrown your fairy tales and fantasies . At one point in life we have to be responsible not only for our welfare but also that of our fellow men.. If per se you regard this family as royalty still they have a responsibility to be discreet and tempered ..What we are talking about here is the reality that they flaunted themselves like Royalty financed by digging into the nation’s coffers at the expense of the very poor at that time..They owned jewels and money in the bank outside the Philippines away from the site of the devastated poor .. Sending Imee Marcos away leaving her infant son behind and spending the people ‘s money to deliver breast milk every day? In fact nobody knew where Marcos Jr was at that time that rumors were circulating that because he was such a brat he would have been killed.,Stop your fairy tale defense..You were not here to witness what this family did during the time of Martial Law , so don’t even try to defend them.
Tanga! give us info na royalty mga marcos sa Pinas! si imelda nga mahirap lang pamilya nila sa bisaya kaya nung naka tungtong sa malacañang ayun nag astang reyna.Understand the true meaning of title ilocanong tanga lang na katulad mo maniniwala sa ungas mong amo…
You are talking to a English you moron Ms Caroline knows what title means because ( inserted this to your little mind) The English Invented the words Title…..now tell tell me how come WE know what title means and you don´t…..go back to elementary refresh your history….
Who really cares!!!honestly???what people want are leaders who would do more for the filipinos and for their country and not just for their own selfish self!!!you people keep going back waayy back what about the philippine presidents thereafter???what have they done??the country has gone waaay down since then!!!
My Dad worked for PAL in the 80s and the story about Imee’s breastmilk being transported for her baby is true.I was shocked when first heard about this story
Thank you, Kaye. It is true. But sometimes people don’t want to know the truth. It is too uncomfortable for them.
Ummm, I’m guessing this is also why PAL lost its license to operate and have European flights, which were just reinstated last 2013?
I was not around during the Martial Law but I was born around the Edsa Revolution. Still considered a millenial, I take pride on being informed about this dark era of Philippine history, and I take it upon my self to educate younger millenials on this topic.
When I was in high school, the curriculum had very little info on the Martial Law era. But during a stint in the library doing research for a non-related paper, I happened across a book “The Iron Butterfly” (which my school had luckily acquired because I heard it was banned during the Martial Law era) and started reading it. It was written by a foreigner (non Filipino) focusing on Imelda Marcos. I asked my parents then, for some more guidance since they were both in universities during that period. My mom in particular, was a college student in UPLB when the display and blatant violation of human rights were unashamedly sanctioned by the Marcoses. She recounted stories of her friends, some of whom were very vocal in their criticism of they govt and were writing about it in the school paper, who were taken from their dorms in the middle of the night “invited to Malacanang”. Some of them were never seen again. A few who were able to return retold tales of being tortured by being electrocuted on the nipples. These were women. College students back then. I was horrified, more so because I was due to start college soon. It made me appreciate even more the freedom, liberty and the rights I was enjoying at the moment.
Seeing that this article was written in 2010, alot has happened since then, though very little has changed for the Marcoses. Some of them still hold positions in public offices. It’s currently 2016 and the national elections have just concluded, though votes are still being counted. BBM, vying for the VP post, is going head to head with Leni Robredo. Red against Yellow. I’m not partisan to any party ( as I am very much against TRAPO) but I am amazed at the way people think! Here are some of my thoughts:
1) Our memories are short and as a people, we are very forgiving. Not that it’s a good thing. As they say, ignorance is bliss. So to hell with the facts and just shout as loud as you can. Dios mio.
2) Whoever is running the Marcos campaign and political strategy, you have some iron balls and serious cunning (which you should consider using for good, not the other side). Running a patiently planned marketing strategy via social media, awaiting the blossoming of the new generation oblivious to the Marcos regime and effectively ‘brainwashing’ them to believe the ‘great Marcos regime’.
3) The serious lack of information and facts on school materials and educational references available to the youth on what really happened during the Martial Law and Marcos regime, as part of the educational curriculum. Just state the facts and let them judge for themselves. Makes for great critical thinking exercise.
4) Marcos loyalists, as evidenced by the replies and comments in this blog article, still chanting the same rhyme and singing the same phrases praising the Marcoses. To each his own, and I respect that. You don’t have to shove it down our throats and convince us, in the loudest way you possibly can, to share the same beliefs (or delusions) as you do. Let’s agree to disagree. Or not. It’s the empier tin can that makes the louder noise.
5) Social media has changed the game. Whether it’s politics or social issues or even entertainment. So forgive me if I share this article over and over, even after 6 years since it’s conception.
Let’s start thinking and making smart choices. We owe it to our country. We owe it to our selves.
Thank you for this very thoughtful and heartfelt comment. You are, of course, absolutely right. It is the fault of the education system here that young people have not been taught about the martial law period. It is a very sad state of affairs. It should be compulsory for every child to learn about the dark side of the Marcos era. I, too, had friends who were rounded up, tortured, “disappeared” or murdered simply for speaking out against the regime. It is not a chapter to be proud and should never be repeated. If the Philippines does not learn from the mistakes of the past she will, undoubtedly, repeat them in the future.
Sadly, that event will be lost in history. If I may suggest… maybe have your dad put it in writing, sign it, take a picture, post it on the Internet. If some of his co-workers are aware, have them do it as well. At least we would have a testament of someone from that time telling that story. Thank you.
No. Kayo ang nanlilinlang. Obvious na obvious naman na daig pa ang hari and reyna kung makaasta ang mga marcos na yan. Kakapal ng mukha!
No. Tama na ang panlilinlang ng mga Marcos. daig pa nila ang hari at reyna kung umasta. Kakapal ng mukha!
Why God allowed this people to live!!!
One question: how were the guards able to bring in those amunitions and or armalites?
Oh yes, I remember this very well. I was on one of those “Milk Run” flights. This story is very very real!
The Presidential Dairy Run! Yes, I remember it well too!
Really? What was this really about? Can you give me an inkling of how far the flights are???
From Manila to Europe.
Ohmergerd!
Reblogged this on rovingtiger and commented:
The Marcoses and their excesses at the expense of the Filipino people. Yet, there are still people who believe them.
Thanks for reblogging. Sadly there are still people who believe in the lies and the fairytales they continue to spew.
what’s the purpose of highlighting this past issue? to put the Marcoses down? I tell you what, a lot of politicians and government officials in the present regime far more crooked than this family. Ever heard of the PDAF scam and more? if you want to enlighten everyone thru this post, yes we are enlightened. We realized that the Marcoses are way better than the crooked politicians nowadays.
Thank you.
And I’m still struggling to understand the ignorance of the people who are being disillusioned by some proliferating propaganda about their grand thief of a dictator. There’s this video that his family, I would only surmise to say, is promoting out there in every social media available to reestablish this illusion about the delusions of this family of crooks. I have nothing more to say if Imelda’s son emerges as one trying to grab the highest office in the land this time around. Filipinos shouldn’t even say his name for the evils that this family brought to them and yet some are saying Marcos made the Philippines the richest and most powerful country in Asia during those “Dark Ages” in the country’s history. The government’s lack of interest to educate the Filipino people is to be blamed for all of this insanity…
I think you’re right, Obbie. Successive governments have not seen fit, for some reason, to educate the Filipinos on just how disastrous the Marcos regime was for the Philippines. Had they done that Bong Bong would not be in a position to run for President.
As Joseph Goebbels said, if you repeat a lie long enough, it becomes the truth. I guess a nation oblivious of its past like this country are indeed a classic example of history repeating itself.
I am a non-believer of any religion myself, and if you’ll think about it, why would your god allow things like these to happen when he could easily squash it with a flick of his finger ;).
For a god who’s willing and able and yet do neither, I doubt he’s a god at all, but I digress. 🙂
As for the one who keep on blabbing about the psywar being waged that is the Aquino’s, saying “an intellectual pinoy would know the real score on what really happened”…. please do add further to our empty minds about that ‘real score’ you claim, and cite some sources.
I guess we all deserve both sides of the stories sans the bitter mudslinging. 😉
True and they are fools! I was in the university during Martial Law and it was horrible.
Loyalist think they are God and Marco’s think they are immortal with their wealth.
Oh yes, they believed them. And not only the millenials but those who experienced Martial Law first hand! We really are a flawed culture and it is so frustrating!
Reblogged this on Czarina W. Angeles and commented:
rofl on this part “Simple, Caroline!” she laughed. “She just expressed her milk everyday and then Daddy sent a Philippine Airlines plane to wherever she was and it would bring the milk back!” Irene shrugged her shoulders as if to say – isn’t that what every mother does when she’s away from her newborn baby for several weeks?
I am a martial law baby. Stories like these we can now laugh at it. But I am sure they couldn’t back in the days who really experienced that regime. I am glad that this is now just part of our history books for the next generations to read. Great story I couldn’t stop reading! ❤ 🙂
Thank you, hippiemommy! It was a serious time. I had friends who were imprisoned and died because of the Marcos regime.
Crazy how she can laugh about it as if it were some fiction story. The effects of that refine are still felt today, it is not history. The Marcoses are still lording it over here. Tsk tsk tsk
I’m afraid you’re right. They won’t go away.
Your friends must have done something wrong. I am from that era and I love it. If you are a Law abiding citizen, you have nothing to worry about. We have a big family and none of our members was victimized like your friends. Martial Law is a must then and now. Open your eyes and ears.
“I am from that era and I love it. If you are a Law abiding citizen, you have nothing to worry about. We have a big family and none of our members was victimized like your friends. ”
Congrats K M, you and you’re family are one of the lucky and privileged few. :-*. I wish the same could be said by the victims who’s only crime is to question the dubious authority of the Marcoses. But dead people never speak, especially if their graves and bodies could no longer be found. 😉
I would certainly not laugh at the article nor would I ever think of laughing at this. I am deeply disgusted with the idea that this is laughable now.
@KM: Almost 4,000 people, students, farmers, labor leaders, workers, men and women, young and old, were extrajudicially ‘salvaged -KILLED. Almost 10,000 Filipinos were arrested without warrant and tortured throughout martial law. To be arrested then all you had to do was speak out your mind against the govt. To say that martial law was a must then and now is understandable only if you are an ostrich with your head buried underground. You’re only aware of one reality: the one you were made to believe.
I can only guess that your own family was wealthy enough to be self-sufficient but that independence insulated you from the outside world and its realities. Plus you must be in your thirties. The apparent and tragic truth is that you have absolutely NO IDEA what really happened. You live in an indifferent world but one that was shaped for you by your circumstances. In 2003 our supreme court threw out the Marcos’ petitions and awarded $685 Million in swiss deposits to the government. (http://www.newsflash.org/2003/05/hl/hl019259.htm) A Human Rights Violations Victims Claims Board was created to provide compensation to victims dyring martial law (https://anc.yahoo.com/video/marcos-victims-human-rightsclaim-depend-043231286.html). These are but a few of the recent developments to establish the truth of what happened to us sduring the marcos years. Raymond Burke said that “Those who do not understand history are doomed to repeat it”. We must all open our eyes and ears.
You really should be the one writing the blog here, Mike! If you’d like to write a guest blog your contribution would be very welcome.
this is just a sample of the excessive abuse of power during their time. i had a student lately who said their teacher in college told them that during the Marcos regime it was a great time for the philippiines.
A teacher actually said that? I’m shocked! Teachers wages were extremely low under the Marcoses. Plus they were obliged to work as counters at every election. I know as I had two sisters-in-law who were teachers. And much as they didn’t want to work for Marcos during the elections they had no choice.
nothing has changed on the part that teachers are being used to count votes. until now, except for the fact that there are now PCOS machines to do the actual counting…
my concern is the wages before are different now a days, imagine before my mother is a public school teacher receiving only less than 500 pesos and the exchanged rate that time of Marcos its only 12 pesos /1 dollar, now how much 43/1 dollar. you con not compare marcos time there’s a big difference, everything are cheap and peaceful.
During martial law, Marcos capped salary increases at 1 peso per year. To advance your business, if you had one, you had to find a connection to someone with a connection to someone in power. There were monopolies, you understand. That’s why the saying then was, “It’s not what you know, it’s whom you know.” Later on, when it was allowed, waves of Filipinos started leaving the country to work abroad because there was nothing for them here, at the time.
The teachers have never stopped counting votes to this day. It has nothing to do with the Marcoses.
You may well be right. I cannot comment on today because I am not living there.
That teacher was very likely a Marcos loyalist, as they were, and are still referred to. This explains the denial or ‘turning a blind eye’ to the excesses committed during martial rule. It’s political fanaticism, plain and simple.
And teachers were used to cheat in the counting. I know some who refused: they never got a promotion. Marcos corrupted the most essential value in teaching: honesty. After martial law, you could not expect these same teachers to analyze the days of martical law: they would have to admit that they were part of the system, and did not have the courage to be honest….Marcos institutionalized corruption on ALL levels. We should not blame the Spanish: it happened much closer to our present time.
Looks like you were disgruntled for whatever reason and have an ax to grind for the Marcoses or are you a yellow beneficiary?
Disgruntled? Perhaps – on behalf of my Filipino friends. Yellow beneficiary? I never lived in the Philippines when Cory was President. That is why I never wrote about her Presidency. I was only living in the Philippines before and after martial law so I reported on what I saw.
yes I agree with that, its very peaceful during that time, i like martial law again especially now a days that almost all government officials are corrupt,
Really? Peaceful? Maybe it was because people’s mouth were gagged. And whatever happened to your neighbor on your left or on your right, nobody knows. It was as peaceful as that. Period.
my mom told me that during Marcos Regime, their life was much better. There were a lot of programs for the poor. Philippines was respected. Now, even Filipinos themselves are not so sure whether or not they should be proud of their country’s political and economic status.
Then your family was one of the fortunate ones. Many of the so-called programmes for the poor were bogus, as far as I could see. I saw enormous poverty. Squatters being evicted by the Metrocom with no warning, their shelters being bulldozed. Witnessed that myself on several occasions. And, as far as respect for the Philippines, that I did not see any respect from other countries. The “conjugal dictatorship” was considered a joke. The Philippines served their usefulness by providing the US with its military bases and supporting their war in Vietnam but it came at a huge price. So, no, no one respected the Marcoses and what they stood for. Unfortunately the US had a hang-up about Kissinger’s “domino theory” and thus, for decades, the Philippines benefitted from US support no matter the price. But the support was not due to respect.
Neirah, you live at a time when the Philippines is under a democracy. Your rights are protected under the constitution including freedom of expression. The newspapers are filled with opinions, praise and criticism for the government and for everything else under the sun. No one can come to your door and arrest you without reason or warrant. You are free to vote for and elect political candidates of your choice. There are a lot of imperfections, there’s still a lot of poor people, a lot of work to be done but it’s a free country. Now try to imagine the reverse or opposite of all this. THAT was life under the Marcoses. I’m not proud that there’s evidence that legislators have stolen public funds but at least they’re being charged for it. That’s a first. I’m proud of THAT. As for the economy, haven’t you read the news that the Philippine economy is almost the only country left that’s resisting the asian / global slump? Yes, the gov’t has to find a way for that to reach the poor masses but that’s still an achievement to be proud of. Is it possible that you’re passing off your personal opinion (“Filipinos themselves are not so sure whether or not they should be proud of their country’s political and economic status”) as “everyone’s” opinion? Because I know a lot of people who would disagree with that. I’m careful about spreading negativity because it can influence young people and we need a lot more of constructive, positive thought in this country. That’s for sure.
The project for the poor was the perfect cover up. What you see in the news were the “fronts” and fake news. Remember they control the Media. There was no internet then. Even if there was internet it will be a controlled one, like North Korea today. Neirah, Marcos imprisoned his opponents –that alone was the worse thing you can do for a democracy. Imagine Democrats putting Republicans in prison.
I guess when you are robbed today, you wouldnt be poor today! You slowly be poor and hungry until there are no more riches to pawn. The philippines were robbed then and its tomorrow is today! We are paying for it overtime!
From what rock did your mom crawl out from? Before Marcos we were NO.2 in Asia. Next only to Japan. We were called “The Pearl of the Orient”. The exchange rate was P3.00 to USD1. During Marcos, we became known to be the “Poor Man of Asia”, “The Basketcase of Asia”. Thousands of people who vocally spoke against Marcos were arrested or “invited” to Malacanang some of whom were jailed, others were tortured and some never to be seen again. By the time Marcos fled the country our exchange rate had ballooned to P30 to USD1. So, how in heaven’s name can your mom tell you that we were much better off during the Marcos regime. Programs for the poor? Imelda enjoyed saying “I love the poor”. She probably did because it was during the Marcos regime that she made sure the number of people in our country increased by leaps and bounds so she will have more “poor” to “love”. While our country was reeling in debt and poverty, the Marcoses and their cronies were having a heyday at the expense of our people.
Missed a word. I wrote the number of people increased by leaps and bounds. It should have read “the number of POOR people increased by leaps and bounds”.
Neirah, its either your parents were ignorant of the facts during martial law or they deliberately lied for some obvious reasons.
Your family might be gaining from the fruit of the loots from the most despicable regime in Philippine history.
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT? The Philippines was run like hell during those times. It was the government doing the organized crime. The government was the syndicate killing people and amassing the people’s money.
its true Neirah life is much better then inspite of all the wrongdoings but compared to now the countrys getting worst will all these crook politicians, mass killings, corruptions, dynasties and all that and the 1st thing to do to run for president is that: you have to have a corruption record, you gotta have lots of mistresses, must be a philandering husband an a plundere, must be leader of so many times Failed Coupe d Etat and many more. The name of the game now is TO EACH HIS OWN…lahat sakim at swapang all of them and before then there’s not even a single Moro uprising like now we have all those MILF< MNLF< ABU SAYAF etc Tandem killings almost everyday and no respect for the law at all.
Breastmilk should be used within 24 hrs after you expressed it, right. I wonder if it arrived on time for the baby to drink it. Seems impossible to me.
I’m sure it was well refridgerated!
Six hours if not refrigerated. But since they were able to hold airplanes wait for the precious milk, it must have been easier to find freezers for the breast milk.
I am a breastfeeding mom myself, and my work requires me to travel to other provinces. Sometimes, I have to leave my baby at home for 3-4 days, and I leave frozen milk for him to consume when I am not around. Transporting breast milk can be very challenging. I hope this blog post does not generate hate or dislike towards breastfeeding. Boo to corruption, yes to breastfeeding.
I certainly approve of breastfeeding. I breastfed my three babies. And my daughter is breastfeeding her baby at the moment.
Rose pwede mo i- freeze noh?!
Rose, that is what the refrigerator is for. FYI.
Breast milk can be frozen for weeks. Just defrost when ready to use
Reblogged this on Pinay in Bolehland.
Reblogged this on I am not an accident..
Wow very interisting i never knew it.. Just simply because i born after people power.. Tnx.
Yes, your generation should know about that dark episode of Filipino history.
Thank you si much this is such an eye opener for a young generation like me..
Ms. Kennedy, 53% of the Filipino population today is 24 years old and under. You can imagine how few of these people know what really happened then. Plus textbooks in schools recount less and less of what the Marcoses did, so that leaves this young population open to suggestion and since most, if not all, of them are on the internet, they are susceptible to ideas that martial law under marcos was great.
Based on the current number of votes Bongbong Marcos is having right now (11th May 2016), this generation are lacking the knowledge of sound history.
The effect of being a “soft, forgiving culture” indeed.
“Only in the Philippines could a leader like Ferdinand Marcos, who pillaged his country for over 20 years, still be considered for a national burial. Insignificant amounts of the loot have been recovered, yet his wife and children were allowed to return and engage in politics.” — Lee Kuan Yew
I’ve been a real estate broker for 29 years now and I remember that first year Imelda Marcos returned to the Philippines. It must’ve been 1992 when she spent that year making the rounds of talk shows and I remember how she had shed a tear or two recounting her experiences abroad and lamented that they were now ‘paupers’ or ‘pulubi’ as we say in tagalog, that they had no more money. The following year, I received a call from another real estate broker while sitting at my office in Makati. The broker said their buyer required a house in South Forbes Park, that the budget was 100 Million Pesos and the viewing would have to be held at midnight, for which the buyer was willing to compensate the seller with 20.000 Pesos for their trouble. I’ve been accused of harboring a sharp wit, so I replied gleefully, “Omigosh, a hundred million budget? Midnight inspection, is it? Who’s your buyer, Imelda Marcos??”, I laughed. But there was a momentary deafening silence on the other line followed seconds later by a more serious voice, “HOW did you know? WHO told you?? That’s supposed to be confidential! “Huh? What’re you saying, you’re serious? She’s really buying a house in Forbes?? The reply was affirmative followed by admonitions of confidentiality and more details of what was required. My mind was filled with images of the suffering and hardship my family had gone through; what thousands of other families had gone through, during martial law. I couldn’t breathe properly for a few minutes. The mental pictures filled my mind of her on tv, crying, singing her signature songs. delivering one-liners; entertaining and charming everyone with tales of how poor and ordinary they now were. And now I’m told she wanted to buy a house in South Forbes for a Hundred Million Pesos which was THE top price then, reserved only for the most elite, most monied buyers. The equivalent today would be about double or almost triple what it was then. While I had a long list of such properties, I let the opportunity die a natural death. I didn’t supply the request but I wasn’t the only broker in town so I also knew they would call the others. I avoided the broker until later that same year when my curiosity overcame me and I called to get an update. Did they buy a house? Yes, they located a suitable house, well within the budget. Any problems? No, no problems at all, everything went smoothly. They even added the unasked for detail that a former blue lady tagged along and signed the guest registry books that were sometimes customary in such houses. I sighed a sigh of disbelief and I felt a cold pain in the pit of my stomach. Did i regret missing out on the opportunity? A little, yes. But I stood straighter and knew I could move on and that I was, somehow, still truly me, in the midst of this ongoing madness.
Wonderful anecdote, Mike. I’m sorry, for some reason I missed this comment and only just read it now. Very typical Imelda behaviour! If you have some more like this please post them.
Great story, Mike! Good for you that you stood your ground and played no part in hosting the Queen B*tch. ALthough of course, you could’ve shown them a substandard property which would’ve forever required fixing and shoring up! LOL!!
I agree Mike.
I’m curious Mang Juan; what year were you born?
Reblogged this on Mang Juan D. "Pinoy Style" and commented:
Im not anti or pro marcos simply because the history clearly described them but if BBM will run as President I will surely vote for him . But im not blind for what they did to our country.. Life during martial law is a nightmare era for the philippines it is the dark side of marcoses. So its better to know the history before we judge.. But thank you for this blog you gave me another idea what was the life of marcoses during the martial law.. 🙂
Mang Juan, let me try to understand you, if BBM runs for president you’re going to vote for him even if you know that we suffered during martial law and that they acquired massive ill-gotten wealth? And you said you’re not anti or pro marcos? You are living proof that some people cannot be happy unless they’re miserable.
I can only guess Bongbong will be a “chip off the old block”. He has had both parents as his instructors. He has had a lifetime’s MasterClass on how to make as much money in the shortest possible time and get away with it.
Imagine the “gift of inflation” with all those money lying in banks or some investment instruments they had for a long time…. they could even return the capital amount and feel as if nothing had been deducted. I guess a lot of people in PH nowadays are oblivious of their past.
And now the son is demanding his long dead dad to be buried as a hero. The nerve. “chip off the old block”, he’ll definitely be.
Well, God forbid.
Guess what? Remember my ‘bold’ prediction somewhere in the threads of your posts? The son, Bongbong, is now running for the presidency come 2022. And yes, he’s got a strong social media presence, and yes, the oblivious millennial youth of today love him as shown by the stats and yes again, his ‘selective amnesia’ of their family history worked!
Now if he wins, my bleak prediction is he will – but I will be SO DAMN GLAD to be wrong, would have always wanted to be. I hope I am DEAD WRONG.
As dead as his father in a waxed state. 🙂
Thanks Mang Juan.
If 50 % of young voters now don’t know what really happened during Marcos martial law, history could repeat itself.
During Martial Law that Bong Bong was already a young man.Fpr those who doesn”t know him and his friends goes bird shooting in the islands of Palawan.One day they ran out of birds to be shot and he got upset,so he called the minister of that department and told him to put more birds in that island.Ganoon katindi ang tao na yan.Uhaw sa power yan.
Interesting anecdote.
wow, i feel more pity of my country, why are these creatures landed in my country? and the worst is, there are more of them coming out now…
There are more coming for sure by boat, and by plane.
Then you should’ve stuck to your “No”. I can’t say for the rest of what the Marcoses were able to do for the last half century, but certainly that evening rested on your one yes that lead to a whole evening’s string of yeses that involved the whole cast and crew of the show. It is not special feat to live in a different planet when all you get are yeses.
Thank you for your stories during the dark days of the dictatorship.
You’re welcome, Ermin.
hahaha old stuffs do some updates like how’s the Philippines now after President Marcos??? Did it get better???? How’s the Graft and Corruption NOW?? Kidnapping?Drugs? ????
In any country you go to, there are a lot of those you mentioned [[Graft and Corruption NOW?? Kidnapping?Drugs? ????]]. Even the US has lots of that.
We’re talking about the crimes of the Marcoses and crimes specific to their deeds. Whether PH gets better or not, you’ll definitely don’t want to make the same mistake twice. We know what the ulterior motives are. And symbolically, if a Marcos followed an Aquino on the presidency come 2016, you know psychologically what it will tell of the Marcos and to the Aquino’s.
It will be like, “Screw you, we’re back! And you can’t put us down that easily… the last laugh is ours.”
And I hope Filipinos all over the world will be able to read this blog and be aware. Especially for those who still have to know about its dark past.
If Bongbong win Vice President position there is a possibility that Ferdinand Marcos will be buried in the libingan nang mga bayani.
well, apparently, grammar fell down the wayside.
Hoax… speculations… no solid evidence….
tsk tsk
http://www.newsflash.org/2003/05/hl/hl019259.htm
MANILA, November 19, 2003 (STAR) By Aurea Calica – The Supreme Court (SC) upheld with finality yesterday its earlier decision to award to the government more than $658 million (roughly P36 billion) in Swiss bank deposits of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, throwing out petitions by his widow and children.
The tribunal also criticized a ruling by a US District Court imposing a global freeze on the funds now being held in escrow at Philippine National Bank, saying it has no jurisdiction over the Philippines.
In its July 15 decision, the SC said the Marcoses failed to justify that they lawfully acquired the Swiss deposits that reached the estimated aggregate amount of $658,175,373.60 as of Jan. 31, 2002.
Section 2 of RA 1379 explicitly states that “whenever any public officer or employee has acquired during his incumbency an amount of property which is manifestly out of proportion to his salary, the said property shall be presumed prima facie to have been unlawfully acquired.”
The SC ruled that since the total amount of the Swiss deposits was considerably out of proportion to the known lawful income of the Marcoses, the presumption that the dollar deposits were unlawfully acquired was duly established.
Records showed the late President Ferdinand Marcos only received a salary of P1.5 million from 1966 to 1985 while his wife, who served as Metro Manila governor and minister of human settlements, got only P718,750 from 1976 to 1985.
http://www.newsflash.org/2003/05/hl/hl019259.htm
Thank you again, Mike, for this contribution. Fascinating. And what has happened to those funds since, do we know? It would be great if you could follow this up and post any result you find. Thanks.
Thursday, February 13th, 2014 MANILA, Philippines—After a decade-long court battle, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) recovered the remaining $29 million (about P1.3 billion) of the multimillion-dollar Swiss bank deposits stashed away by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/577304/philippines-recovers-29m-from-marcos-accounts
I now see that the remainder of the funds were handed over to the Philippine government very recently. It would be good to check what happens next. Whether they are squirreled away by the current administration or put to good use. Keep an eye, Mike. By the way, your name seems very familiar. Is it simply on this page that I have seen it or have we met in the distant past?
The bulk of the funds was received by the govt during Gloria Arroyo’s term. She immediately earmarked some P30-Billion for agricluture projects to benefit the farmers. That was followed by a fertilizer scam that was spearheaded by “JocJoc” Bolante, an undersecretary of the Dept. of Agriculture. He diverted P750-Million in funds to what is now identified as fake NGO’s belonging to Janet Lim Napoles. -“Bolante was implicated by the Philippine Senate to a fertilizer fund scam which amounts to P728 million. Based on his statements, the fund was “taken from” the Department of Agriculture’s “2003 budget and distributed to local government officials (105 congressmen, 53 governors, 23 mayors) as project proponents two weeks before the 2004 elections, and was believed to have been diverted to the campaign pot of President Gloria Arroyo.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jocelyn_Bolante
At the onset of the Corazon Aquino administration in 1986, the government recovered the wealth of Marcos from Swiss accounts. In 1997, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court issued a decision to return $680 million from the accounts to the Philippines after complying with two conditions:
1. A final and executory decision of a credible Philippine court declaring Marcos’ Swiss funds as ill-gotten.
2. Giving a rightful share of the funds to Martial Law victims – those who won a class suit in a Honolulu court against the Marcos estate.
Both conditions have already been met: the first one in July 2003, when the Philippine Supreme Court declared Marcos’ Swiss funds ill-gotten, and the second one, when President Benigno Aquino III signed last year the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.
Read the rest:
http://www.rappler.com/nation/47220-pcgg-welcomes-singapore-court-decision-marcos-swiss-funds
Only pro aquino pinoys will believe this trash
Ms. Kennedy was THERE; she saw and experienced it. I was there too. This is NOT trash, this is history and if you don’t understand history, you’re doomed to repeat it. The reason you reject the truth is because you don’t WANT to know it for reasons that keep your head stuck in the ground. The Marcoses have started to lose their cases. The Phil Supreme Court denied the Marcoses’ petition to award $685M in swiss deposits to the Philippines (http://www.newsflash.org/2003/05/hl/hl019259.htm). Their petition to recover the “Malacañang of the North” in Paoay has been junked in favor of the government (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/596857/sandigan-junks-marcos-family-claim-to-paoay-property). “The Supreme Court has affirmed with finality its February ruling reinstating the children of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos as defendants in the government’s P200-billion ill-gotten wealth case against the Marcos family.” (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/238953/supreme-court-marcos-kids-must-face-wealth-case). The highest form of ignorance is to reject something you don’t know anything about. Now THAT’S trash.
Erratum: “The Phil Supreme Court denied the Marcoses’ petition for reconsideration in the court’s decsision to award $685M in swiss deposits to the Phils…”
And did the Philippine government ever receive the full amount?
Philippines given access to over USD 683 million
Zurich/Bern, 5 August 2003. Satisfaction with the positive conclusion of the Marcos case was expressed by the Swiss and Phillippine authorities at a meeting in Zurich on Tuesday. Following the confiscation ruling of the Supreme Court in Manila, the Phillippines may now dispose of the Marcos assets that were deposited in a frozen account in 1998 and have since grown to approximately USD 683 million. The only matter still outstanding is the issue of assets worth USD 10 million in the names of those associated with the Marcos regime.
http://www.ejpd.admin.ch/ejpd/en/home/dokumentation/mi/2003/ref_2003-08-05.html
Thanks so much for all the links you included. Fascinating indeed. Someone in the Courts believes in due justice, I’m glad to see. The restitution of the lands to the National Park in Paoay is great but sadly the many forested areas of the Philippines that the Marcos cronies destroyed in those 21 years can never be replaced. They became overnight lumber millionaires and, thus, deprived the country of one of its greatest assets.
And only Pro-Marcos Pinoys would deny it. 😉
Sounds familiar? 🙂
A neither pro nor anti here >:)
And the Filipino people let them back and are again in power! How easy they forget!
That is all to do with your forgiving nature. Normally this would be considered a beautiful national trait. But, sadly, on a political level it can have catastrophic consequences.
it’s the culture left to us by the spaniards. the late education and the 300 years being kept form knowlledge.
Too bad though, most of the young generations of today in the Philippines never realize this up until these days because of the absence of narratives like this in most, if not all of Philippine history books. And because most teachers in the elementary, high school and even in College basically depend on textbooks which do not contain these stories, not much is told about the evils wrought by the Marcoses. Ms. Dada ashiishananda is right, posts on Marcos’ greatness can even be found in facebook. So pathetic, indeed!
Thank you for this. It is indeed sad that the history books whitewash the Marcos era so blatantly. I cannot imagine why that should be other than Marcos having rewritten history (which he did – e.g. the Bataan Death March).
And it is unfortunate and with a heavy heart that I agree. 😦
The reason those government crooks and cronies are still here in our midst. Some more powerful than ever.
masakit isipin pero ang karamihan sa pinoy ay blind idealist and regionalism in their blood. so immature when it comes to politics. if possible better yet only the middle class be alowed to vote cause they are most of them are educated about the events in the envinronment.
“Some of the pinoy are blind idealist in regionalism in there blood” 1. We are separated by hundred of Island 2. We still have our Spanish heritage “Padrino system” and “lagay” system 3. Lastly turo turo wala akong kasalanan, crab mentality. That started 496 year ago until now it is being used by our Government official.
Yes, I am sure it is. I hope it is, at least! People should know, particularly the younger generation so they will not repeat the mistakes of their parents and grandparents.
With 50 % of the young voters who are not aware of the Martial Law, History could repeat itself with the corruption, crimes, and drug that is rampant in the Philippine today.
May I add that the American educational system, while offering universal education, did not introduce critical thinking. They had the chance to improve educational content but did not. And we can continue blaming the Spanish for everything bad in us (that we learned from the Americans). It is time that we feel responsible ourselves for our own educational system and its shortcomings after (what we claim wrongly) 100 years of independence. .
Marcos Last Will and Testament …you gotta check this out and shut up!
Thank you for this fascinating entry! Would be nice if you had put the date of this excruciating experience.
According to news reports, almost 10,000 people died during martial law of which almost 3,000 remains haven’t been found by their families. But an officer friend of mine recounted how they were ambushed in Mindanao by Muslims and almost all of his squad was either dead or dying. He radioed for helicopter medi-evac. The nervous reply was that there were no helicopters available. Angrily demanding where all the copters were, the terse reply was that “Ma’am” had ordered all the helicopters to ferry belgian ice cream and other foods to Malacañang for a sumptuous banquet they were hosting. My stunned friend angrily flung the radio into the bush and cradled his dying best friend, mumbling that everything would be alright, that help was on the way. His chest heaving his last few breaths, the dying man said, “Don’t lie to me..I heard. Just please..hold my hand.” In 1986, that surviving officer was one of three RAM officers arrested by Marcos when their coup plot was discovered on the eve of the birth of the 1986 EDSA Revoltion which overthrew the dictatorship. I’m sharing your article on Facebook to spread awareness. Thank you for your efforts.
Yeah, well they’re back, I don’t get it after all the evil things they’ve done, they still win elections. WOW, Philippine must be cursed.
53% of the Philippine population is 24 years old and below. Back in the 90’s after Imelda returned to the country, anyone or anything that published negative remarks against the Marcoses, such as school textbooks, was sued for libel by someone who could afford protracted court battles against persons or entities who couldn’t. So the negative entries slowly disappeared. Over the last 15 years, there’s been a growing campaign on the internet to deodorize the Marcos name and history by suggesting or implanting the idea that life was better during martial law under Marcos. This why Bongbong is a senator, Imee is a governor and Imelda is a congresswoman. And the latter wants a Marcos to return to Malacañang and she is prepared to throw her considerable resources to achieve that.
so what’s the catch for writing about this… what is it for you?… what is it for us? is this a valuable truthful unraveling of what really transpired then… should this be written in the history books for all its worth?… or is this another hatred, envy, jealousy between the lines… if the “facts” here are not first hand, then this is freedom of expression in utter disregard of proper perspective… proper examination of facts to unearth true motives of the people involved, their characters, values, et cetera … don’t worry, it’s only my opinion…
on the other hand, this is also an eye opener… whenever articles are written showing sides you never saw before… but had been there all along… then you can put the pieces together and look at them from afar and learn what this whole thing is all about, what is its value to you… there can be great active learning value to some, maybe passive for others… then life goes on…
Sadly we are all destined to repeat our mistakes.
Here’s a sample of truth and evidence: http://www.newsflash.org/2003/05/hl/hl019259.htm
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/238953/supreme-court-marcos-kids-must-face-wealth-case
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/596857/sandigan-junks-marcos-family-claim-to-paoay-property
thank you for ths article, im pretty sure that almost all filipinos knows this, now, do you have anything for all the presidents that ruled the philippines after the marcoses? Im really excited to read it…
I just now saw your reply. I didn’t get any notification. But it’s good that I’m seeing it now, a year and a half later.
Lemme see, Cory herself didn’t steal anything although it’s very possible that some of those in her govt did.
There’s been talk that FVR did some hocus-pocus but no hard evidence has ever surfaced.
Erap Estrada and his band of merry men made hay while in the sun but his harvest was cut short. He was convicted of plunder and jailed but Gloria Arroyo pardoned him. He has since made another run for the presidency but lost but later won as mayor of manila and that’s where he is to this day.
GMA was a personal disappointment for me not only because I had high hopes for her. She’s currently under hospital arrest for plunder and corruption but she’s still a member of congress.
Aquino has more admirers than haters. The latter throw unfounded, so far, accusations against him, that he steals from govt coffers, favoritism, etc, but his approval and trust level is the highest of any president in decades. It helps him a lot that the economy is taking off.
It’s difficult to believe any insinuations of corruption due to his background. My personal take on Aquino is that politics killed his father and took his mother away from him, resulting in a psyche so ‘damaged’ against corruption, he’ll probably have an epileptic fit at the suggestion of stealing public funds. Besides, he’s already rich but he’s poor in the wife department but that last one isn’t even a judgement on him. His critics, specially the left-leaning types and some disgruntled former politicians like Roberto Tiglao, ex-GMA man, do not have anything good to say about Aquino him or his govt. Period. They keep on harping about a lot of stuff like hacienda luisita. I should look into that more for a deeper insight but based on my shallow research thereof, one of his estranged uncles married to Tingting Cojuangco were linked to the delay of applying land reform to the hacienda. I could be wrong about that but like I said I need to look into it some more but I’m replying to you on the fly, impromptu.
Have a good year ahead, everyone.
During my martial law, my husband can’t believe how stupid the Pilipino are that our country was one of the poorest country in the world but we have a president to be the richest in the world. It is so obvious that during that time every time they need money from the imf we had a referendum to show to the world that it is still a democracy so that they can borrow money. I hope the next generation will open their eyes and see how the marcoses consider the pilipino to be so naive( a nice word for being stupid) them back in power. I have no problem with Imee being a gov and Imelda being representative because they were elected by those people who believe that they are their hero , but bongbong to be a senator it is unbelievable how our people forget .
This is very true. I remember those referendums before applying to the IMF for funding. I also remember friends of mine receiving letters congratulating them for having won the opportunity to contribute to one or other of Imelda’s causes (usually herself, in the end!) and, if they refused, the Metrocom would threaten them or the tax department would send them a huge bill for tax arrears. Most had to cooperate under the pressure.
What did Bongbong do this time? More dastardly than his sister and mom?
Reblogged this on Random Thoughts and the Wandering Mind and commented:
…and pigs fly. tsk.
Thank you for writing this. I’m a post people-power TCK, so I learnt none of this in school.
That is one part of the memoirs of the Marcoses not to add the Enriles, Romualdezes and Cojuangcos…. Still feeling the scar inflicted by Martial Law and the never-ending corruption you could imagine… I can never forget because it is during my high school and college days that thing get ugly in the Philippines… It still reverberate up to now….
The repercussions are certainly still being felt. The Philippines had to go into huge debt because of the squandering of IMF loans etc.
2.7 Billion for Bataan Nuclear Power Plant not even 1 kilowatt was produce and we are still paying the loan up to 2025.
Over the past few years I have noticed on the internet’s blogs and opinion sites the suggestion that martial law was better than it is today. I was stunned to see this. There were claims that the economy was better, the exchange rate was better, peace and order was better. There was the PICC, Folk Arts theatre, the San Juanico Bridge (the Manila International Film Center wasn’t mentioned because of the deaths that occurred in its construction). And the subliminal message from these ‘opinions’ was that the marcoses were better. And these suggestions were coming from younger people targeted at younger people. I continue to see a movement today meant to influence younger minds to support the idea of a marcos leadership. If people knew that the exchange rate, for example, at the start of martial law was still good but at the end of it, it was 52 to 1. Interest rates on lending hit as high as 32%. Factories and businesses were closing down every other month. Inflation was so bad, those who had any money either invested it abroad (capital flight) or took it out of local banks and searched for something locally to ‘protect’ it with. The stock markets and money markets shut down completely. Incoming investments practically fizzled down to a trickle. Yes there was peace and order but one born of fear for one’s life. One could be arrested without a warrant and held indefinitely as basic human rights were suspended, nonexistent. They could do anything to you and there was nothing you could do about it. With the billions of dollars in loand and grants to the marcoses, they had to have a ‘showcase’ to display what they did with the money. The capital flight was followed by an exodus of people seeking jobs abroad as there was little or nothing to find in this country then. Today, if freedom and democracy were the only things we had, then we are so much better off than in martial law. I would prefer an imperfect society where democracy and freedom is alive, where we still have problems to work out, challenges to resolve on our own, as free men and women; rather than live like robots in a controlled environment where fear is the king, looking over our shoulders, forced into subservience to survive, where hypocrisy is the way to advancement.
Thank you, Mike, a very detailed and intelligent assessment of the Marcos years and its deleterious effect on the Philippine economy.
Just now i read a forwarded post in facebook, comparing Marcos’ actions against Aquino on certain matters (ex. Sabah island, it says that Marcos planned to take it back while Aquino revealed the plan to Malaysia) which of course favored Marcos. Why are they doing that, is Imee or Bongbong going to run for president? A lot of people still believe though that Marcos is better than any other president
[[the suggestion that martial law was better than it is today]]
Those come from Bongbong Marcos’s Facebook ads and other “Friends of Bongbong” e-flyers on the ‘net. I’ve seen and read those. Glad there are some wary advocates (like the ‘NEVER AGAIN: Marcos in 2016’ on FB) to put things in perspective and set the balance.
I remember during that time that all the bank goes bankcrupt because Imelda will drain the Phil peso from every bank to finance her project because the dollars borrowed from the imf went straight to their account and never enter the Philippines.
Yes, you are correct about that.
I was only a young girl when the news is about the President’s death. Then there is the EDSA Revolution then there is now FREEDOM int the country. There are stories of struggle of our nation as we people start to LIVE. Yes, there is an article posted on FB where some pro-Marcos are attempting to persuade the readers that martial law would have made the country rich. Another article posted is about Philippines as the riches country in Asia during the Marcos regime. Hogwash and rubbish! Even I for one would have been dead if martial law is still practice until today. Sadly, for our fellow men, with 70% population occupied by the poor people who are not educated are misguided due to vote buying and other bribery that’s why even if the candidates who run for governmental positions have criminal case or administrative case, they still vote for them that’s why the power of the Marcos clan are still alive and I think it’s coming on the next election… God save the Philippines…
I totally agree with you. But, to be completely fair, I have to let others who disagree with us, have their say. They are wrong. If anyone cares to truly research the Marcos period they will see for themselves that the Marcoses bled the country dry to enrich themselves and their cronies. That is fact, not fiction.
Edmund Burke wrote two ideas that seem appropriate for the Philippine situation: “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it”. This is the essential reason why those who know what happened during the Marcos martial law years are morally bound to impart & to share their experiences with others who have no clue or have been misinformed. By doing so, we are influencing history. We empower each other to write a new history. In sharing the past with others, we will give ourselves and future generations of Filipinos a chance to reinvent the Philippines. Mr. Burke also wrote, “All (that) tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent”. We can no longer remain silent if only to preserve our personal peace and comfort. To do so would be a betrayal of our culture and our identity as a people. But if we speak our hearts and minds to expose evil, we reinforce, we edify our national purpose, and reclaim our shared fate, a better future. This, I believe. is what Jose Rizal truly meant when he wrote, “A man who looks not at his past (or history), will arrive not at his destiny. (“Ang taong hindi lumilingon sa kanyang pinanggalingan, hindi makararating sa kanyang paroroonan”).
Very astute comments, Mike. Thank you. And you are right, of course.
And there’s this freaky quote attributed to Goebbels: “If you repeat a lie long enough, it becomes the truth.”
And we can see that from the current Marcos Jr.’s rhetoric today.
And so many believed.
It’s not only the Marcoses, but all who sits on the throne at the Malacnan Palace. The politics have the Marcos syndrome. Congress, Senate,House of the Representative etc. in cahoots with Janet Napoles etal. I am so embarrassed from what I learned the the relief goods for my fellow Filipinos who were struck by Typhoon Yolanda were sold in Makati at a very low price. How come VP Binay did not know about this. Our next president would be VP Binay who always gets what he wants, he never looses during every elections. He owns the picos machines.
It is a fact about the Marcoses and their cronies. All who became Presidents had their share too! When VP Binay becomes President in 2016. he will have his Lions share too. He has been in Power since the late Pres,Corazon Aquino appointed him and never relinquished his leadership in Makati City. He has already gotten himsejf very very rich. Multi- Millionaire to be exact. He has even made his wife Mayor of Makati for 1 term. Then He became the Mayor of Makati City again. Now his Son Jun Jun Binay is the Mayor of Makati. VP Binay’s kids are in the Office of the Municipality of Makati. He won’t stop at nothing to be in Power. Even after he becomes President of the Philppines in 2016.The only time he won’t be in power anymore is when he’s dead.He might die of natural causes, I don’t know. People are sick and tired of the system of our politics . We work and earn a living to pay our taxes. These politicians don;t and they cheat the Filipino people. All our utilities have vats, misc charges, generation charges,distribution charges, environmental charges. All the fucking charges are on our monthly bills. If we eat out, we pay vat, service charges. Consumers are punished for eating out in a restaurant. Everytime I need to buy Medicines for my Mom as a Senor Citizen. They say there is a 20% discount, huh where is the discount if we still need to pay VAT! This is ridiculous! All the Government offices here in the Philippines are all dirty. That is why I want to get out of the Philippines,take my family and live somewhere in the world. But I can’t get me a passport, because I have a foreign sounding name. For me to get one, i will need to get a fixer. This would cost me something like Php 5,000 and up. We are all fucked up Citizens. Hoping for the change. Even if I know it is very impossible. God never sleeps.
Philippines will never get better because they are not stand together to fight for a better future.Whos fighting for it the poor and middle class what about the richest people do they fight they dont care about it am i right?
Right and I agree.
Vice President Jejomar Binay will be the next Ferdinand Marcos.This will be in 2016,
I hope not. This could be another tragedy for the Philippines.
As what the famous adage tells us, “those who forget the past is condemned to repeat.”
…it.”
And those who remember it, are helplessly condemned to watch those who repeat it.
Unless we do something about it. Like spreading the information we are seeing/reading now. And make the new generation of Filipinos aware.
That will be a start.
So true.
You are correct on that, look at the dynasty he is trying to build. If he becomes the next president all of the officials connected to the scam of pork barrel will be acquitted, they are all his allies.
I don’t Binay will win the election, if he don’t win he might be a cell mate of his son.
willy
Mr. Binay Has the GALL and the RAW GUTS to run as president of the republic of the philippines . In these difficult times , the ordinary iNDIO will grab any chance to free himself or herself from the shackels of poverty even if it means he has to throw his full support for Binay who is a certified opportunist who will attempt every trick in the book to make sure that all his tried and tested opportunities and privileges as in his campaign slogan ” GAGANDA ANG BUHAY KAY BINAY” will be put into full force by 2016. Truth to tell , i even have a friend , a former mayor who was with binay in edsa 1986 , and he saw for himself how cunning and deceptive Mr. Binay was as he devised scheme after to scheme to enable him to grab into every opportunity to make sure he would be in power .He was able to deceive a former trusted senator to make sure he would be the next makati mayor . Sure he became mayor of makati for several decades but this mayor friend of mine has certified to me that he knows many witnesses who can prove that Mr. Binay was nothing more than a TRAPO {traditional politician } who like a leech found ways to be able to dip his stinking , filthy , fingers that committed corrupt practices and effectively hide it . just like erap , let us learn from the MISTAKES OF THE PAST so that the future generations would see and benefit from a government who can really be trusted and who really cares for the next generations of Filipinos.
What do you expect from the Government if even criminal could be a candidate for President. The Freedom of Information Bill in the back burner gathering dust.
Just pinch me please!? And i thought i knew the Marcoses? Shame on me! Hands on experiences like this… I just thank you so much for sharing. You made an ignorant – informed!
Thanks, Jovie. Glad I was able to help inform you!
I am so glad I had the chance to read this. I just turn 18 this year and honestly, what I know about the Marcoses are not that wide. I mean, just a little about their projects, their terror and stuff because I am really a poor reader until one day I just began to like reading and *ten-tenen* found this article of yours; I now have finally opened my eyes.
One time, I saw a news on the TV that tells, Imee Marcos is going to run for some government position (that I don’t remember), in which, some comment says(through public interview), “it’s okay”, for some reasons, that Imee maybe is a Marcos but that doesn’t mean she’ll repeat what her father has done; that what happened during her father’s time must be ‘forgotten’ because she’s a different person from her father and she’s really intelligent (‘brainy’ i prefer) but… after reading this… oh my gosh! what’s happening to my generation? (my country’s generation!?) Surely, majority of teenagers (or even my friends) there doesn’t even know any of this London Trip; or how Marcoses’ exhibitionism has been at its most vulgar; that they still think, Imee deserves a place in the government despite of all that happened.
We all know that one day, we’ll be the ones making our own future, our world.. yet it’s really depressing that many Filipinos aren’t aware of this or what’s really happening in the politics in which they are very much involved (majority: poor people –& even I actually) Gosh, I can’t even imagine someone sending milk through a plane?!; or those 7 limousine!?; or those body guards?! To me, these can only exist in a FICTIONAL WORLD; but no, this is reality, and we must deal with it.
Bottom line, I would still say ‘NO’ to Marcoses. I won’t let another destruction, devastation or terror regime to happen. I’m not willing to take the risk even if she got what it takes to be the next president or what, who will bring success in this country. Just, no.
Well said. But now you have to go out and convince your generation to say “no” to another Marcos. That will be hard. The Marcoses can be very beguiling. Plus they have the money to buy their way back into power.
pls, kindly write about bong bong marcos, so people here knows he is.
Thank you for asking me to do this but I do not know Bong Bong Marcos. I have never met him and know very little about him. There was a rumour while he was at school in England that he, allegedly, killed a boy and that Marcos paid hush money to the family to keep it quiet. But, it might only be a rumour. I heard it from several sources but have no opinion on it because I never had the proof.
Reply to Mike Acuna. Thank you for your very astute and very wise comment. You are absolutely right. There is a lot that Filipinos should be proud of. The last three times I have visited in the past 5 years I have noticed that the world economic slump really has not affected the Philippines. The economy appears to be robust. However, as you point out, Mike, unfortunately there has not been a trickle-down effect to the majority of Filipinos. This definitely needs to be rectified. And. as far as free speech, freedom to write what you want, freedom to walk down the street or simply sit at home and not be arrested, freedom to vote, etc is a huge gift. None of this was possible under the Marcoses. Many of my friends were arrested, some tortured, some killed, some pumped for information then released. Fear was rampant. If you do not walk or talk in fear these days then, believe me, conditions have greatly improved.
Thank you Ms. Kennedy. It’s easy to take for granted, minimize or even criticize the freedom we enjoy that if we have never felt the sting of fear or oppression, suspension or removal of civil rights, monopoly of business, large scale theft of resources, resulting in economic decline, social deprivation and lack of jobs. The problem with the younger generation today is that they’ve grown up with the internet, social media, and a lot of physical improvements in the country, infrastructure, technological advances, etc., all of which have contributed to a mindset which is absorbed with itself. It’s pursuit is to have it all, money, fashion, beauty, travel and the glam that goes with it. Instant gratification is the goal. This is why facebook is so successful as it caters to these desires. It’s fun but it’s also superficial. The result is an underlayer of indifference. The truth is closer to the surface than we’re willing to admit it is. The psycho-emotional-spiritual foundation of younger people today is weak and fragile, suicide rates among the youth is high, and for seemingly shallow causes, i.e. the breakup of a relationship, failure at school, domestic problems, etc. Premarital sex, alcohilism and drugs among teens is widespread. In light of all this, how many people do we think are really that interested in the history of the Philippines, of our forefathers and the 333 years of slavery they went through, the taking and raping of our ancestral lands, the crumbs we were given in return? Even our daily language is intermingled, it’s not tagalog anymore. I took a bus and asked for the fare amount and the answer was in span-log (spanish-tagalog), “bente-singko pesos”, or 25 pesos (spanish ‘veinticinco pesos’). Or the common greeting “Kumusta” is really from “cómo estás”. I asked someone to give me the tagalog equivalent of an english word. I said “fifteen’ and he quickly answered, “Kinse” (spanish ‘quince’). If only Filipinos would read our history like a novel, their awareness of their own identity would be awakened. There’s a story that can hopefully describe the Filipino psyche. There was a man selling his elephant which he kept in the jungle. A prospective buyer came one day to inspect it. The majestic but conquered-looking elephant, unfettered by chains or ropes, marched slowly around a tree stump. “Aren’t you afraid he’s going to run off into the jungle?”, asked the buyer. “Not at all,” said the seller. “Since he was a baby, he’s had a rope around his neck tied to that tree”. “But when he grew up, he got so used to that rope, we didn’t need it anymore anymore because it’s in here” pointing to his head. Reading our history will help us discard that ‘rope’ around our necks and allow us to truly be free. This is what I believe Jose Rizal really meant when he wrote, “A man who looks not to his origins will reach not his destination”.
I think you should be writing a book, Mike, if you haven’t already done so! I admire Jose Rizal greatly. In fact, I nearly acted in a movie about Rizal, playing Josephine Bracken. I would have loved to have done that. Unfortunately, the movie fell through and it never got made. But your views on modern life and the desire to be “famous” taking the easiest route, with no effort and, apparently, with no requirement of talent, is spot on!
About Bongbong Marcos about that rumour in England they say that the bongbong we see now is not the son of Imelda but a son of Marcos from another woman because the real bongbong was killed in London because of the killing.
Bongbong Marcos Jr. was my classmate in La Salle Greenhills from grades 1 – 3. He was in fact my seatmate in grades 1 and 2. They had those wooden classroom desks that had seats for 2 but shared a long tabletop. He was my seatmate. The Bongbong I’ve seen in tv lately looks exactly like the Bongbong I remember back then. Though I kept hearing that rumor from my mother back in the 80’s and again in the 90’s but neither she nor anyone has been able to confirm nor refute it to this day. That’s not to say it absolutely isn’t true. I’m open to possibilities. Perhaps someone somewhere out there reading this can share what they know, fact or fiction, for the benefit and evaluation of all.
Interesting anecdote. I cannot possibly comment on this as I do not – and did not – know Bongbong Marcos. I only met Imee and Irene.
A curious thought comes to me time and again, not just about Bongbong but the rest of the Marcos children as well, Imee and Irene. They are each of them highly intelligent, for sure. So I couldn’t help but wonder, at what point in their growing up did they sense or become aware that their parents’ wealth or financial capacity was, what’s a good word for it, ‘way beyond’ their own personal expectations or estimates? What thoughts went through their minds when the realization came to them of the truth? Surely they knew that their father’s salary as president then came to about $5700 annually [http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9275688/Ferdinand-E-Marcos] or @ Php44 to $1, that’s less than Php300,000 per year. Yet it was estimated they had built a personal fortune in excess of 5 Billion Dollars and amassing properties such as such as the Crown Building, Lindenmere Estate, and a number of residential apartments (in New Jersey and New York), a shopping center in New York, mansions (in London, Rome and Honolulu), the Helen Knudsen Estate in Hawaii and three condominiums in San Francisco, California. On August 13, 1985, fifty-six Assemblymen signed a resolution calling for the impeachment of President Marcos for alleged diversion of U.S. aid for personal use,[36] citing a July 1985 San Jose Mercury News exposé of the Marcoses’ multi-million dollar investment and property holdings in the United States.[Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos%5D. When he and his wife, Imelda, were forced to flee the country in 1986, the economy of the Philippines was in ruins, the treasury had been looted, and money from foreign aid (hundreds of millions of dollars) had been siphoned away to numbered accaounts in Switzerland and the cayman Islands.(http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9275688/Ferdinand-E-Marcos).
What was, and has been, their reaction to all this? You be the judge.
A very good question. But they are educated and intelligent and I cannot believe it would be possible for them not to know about how some of their wealth was acquired. Of course, if it was convenient for them to ignore the real sources of their income, then that’s what they would do. One could only hope they would give back in humanitarian causes much of what their parents stole. But, sadly, I don’t believe this has happened in any meaningful capacity.
Unless if someone manage to get his and his mother’s DNA and make a cross-comparison can we prove that. But that would be a different creature altogether. Nothing to do with the current conversation. I think that story, spurious or otherwise, deserves a different thread.
I heard about that and it was written in Ferdinand Marcos last will and testament.
The Marcoses are equivalent to CANCER!
Although I knew of this abuse of power by the Marcos’ growing up & living through it. This blog still made me sick to my stomach. Through the years that they were in power, there was the special treatment given to Imee and Irene during grade school years in Teresiana until they were sent private schools in London. Special treatment was not just to them but toward the children of other politicians but also towards his cronies. I had two classmates who owned islands (one Fuga island and one Balesin) given to them by Marcos himself. Can you imagine? He just gave them away as payment like he really owned them? And yet here we are getting angry at China for stealing the Scarborough shoals? If we do get back the shoals, will the poor Filipinos be able to avail of what it can contribute financially to the country? I say give it to the Chinese. At least I will not get to see who gets richer from among our politicians because of it.
The abuse of power was sooooo normal during Marcos’ tiime that rumor has it that the Beatles were victims of this abuse of power that they vowed never to set foot on Philippine soil after Imeldific had them beaten up because they refused to perform privately at Irene’s or Imee’s birthday party. I think as a result one of the crew died. Not sure if this part is fiction but I did hear about it as I was growing up. When I was teaching to pay for some of my riding tuition at a riding school in Manila, Borgy, the son of Imee whom she was sending her breastmilk to via Philippine Airlines special flight was in fact turning 1 and they had an English saddle the size of a customized as the stirrups leather & girth were still too long even for that tiny saddle to fit on to his miniature horses – and yes that is plural.
For those of you who grew up in Manila, I’m sure you have also seen Bong bong’s car parked in front and cordoned off @ every major hotel where there was a restaurant, bar or disco. Jackie Enrile and his entourage had the same privileges. But this is old news – a more widespread, un-classy kind of corruption is now part of the Philippine’s culture. Sad but true. Everyone gets his fair share of the pork barrel allotted to local government by the son of Ninoy Aquino, our national hero who died in the hands of the Marcos regime – his Junior Noynoy aka PNoy. PNow claims to want to fight this corruption but how can he? It’s carved into our society like a scar!
Corruption! – It’s more fun the Philippines!
Thank you for this, Nanay. Very insightful anecdotes and a good follow up to my article. I would love to hear more if you have the time. And, yes, your story about the Beatles is pretty accurate. I am not sure about one of the crew dying (I hadn’t heard that) but certainly the Beatles vowed never to set foot in the Philippines again. Paul McCartney actually bought a painting of my then future husband, Bencab. And many years later Paul allowed Ben to photograph it so it could be included in the book about his paintings.
Actually no one died there. But I think Nanay is referring to their roadie Mal Evans who was so afraid when he was summoned by the authorities that he turned back and told the rest of the guys to tell his wife he love her very much (with the premonition that he’s going to die that day [yikes!]). Long story short he got back safely, but Beatles Manager Brian Epstein were forced to give the proceeds of the concert to the Marcoses via his cronies – in hsort, they never earned a penny when they did a show here. Try to watch the Beatles Anthology (it’s on YouTube too). Ringo uttered in disgust several decades later on that anthology video how he “hate the Philippines” for that experience….. and I hope that bad aftertaste doesn’t translate back to the Filipino people, since it was only done by the “elite ‘you-know-who’ few” ;).
The Filipinos still love the Beatles – me included, though I was born post-breakup – and never harbour any hatred or ill will towards them at all. I just hope Ringo and Paul would this at least in their hearts, and how we still long to see them go back here one day. If that would happen that is.
The part about the BEATLES being beaten up is true. A family member of mine, an in-law told me of this story. He was working a the airport during this time and he saw with his own eyes, the BEATLES being sent home, beaten up, kicked and attacked by Imelda’s bodyguards, he saw them rolling down the tarmac. I never heard of this until a few years ago when he narrated this story.
As a martial law baby myself, I was surprised to have missed catching the story on ICBM (no not inter continental ballistic missile – but Inter Continental.Breast Milk. So much more word plays could be made with ICBM vis-a-vis Imee, but not I hope not to digress.
The thought of a recent articel posted through FB regarding celebrities/personalities on the millionaires/billionaires’ circles that agreed with their kids of non-inheritance, jumped up my mind.
It’s sad though apparent, that each parent or couple really have exclusive command of how their offspring is to be raised.
Either as responsible, trained-to-be independent human beings to undertake their own trailblazing and be self rewarded, or brats who are convinced everybody else outside their immediate family are servants, and owes them huge tokens of favors, that upon chance meetings become immediately collectible in full.
But the ICBM item still attempts to be fully digested in my system, as I could not for the life of me, imagine its accurcy. But then again yeah. Why not? If you could somewhat bust open hell’s gate and introduce and make fashionable, ‘corruption’ and the lifestyle that follows it, yeah.
Yeah why not. Now, after a minute of recall of all the rest of the Marcos abuse stories I caught, since childhood, yes, this indeed could be filed on the mid minor level subfolders of my mind.
Long time non-heard, non-read – on stories of FM and family as of late. Explains the rusty delayed response and comprehension.
Thanks for your comments, Mitz.
Do not dwell in the past. Move on and be wise on your voting. Look at us now, did we ever learn anything from the past? I don’t think so. If any, we went for the worse. To the writer, what are you trying to accomplish? Too little too late.
I think we have to work on our own lives, after all politics can NOT help us in anyway.
I hope that is not true. Politics has become a very dirty business, not just in the Philippines but worldwide. It is our job to make politicians understand that we pay them, they work for us and we can remove them if they don’t do their job properly. As long as we remember that we can change it.
those marcos cunts and bitches need to be got… hopefully a horrible slow agonizing death. there is no place for animals like them is this world. holla atcha boy!
I have approved your comment, czar, but do not approve of its sentiment. Whatever one might think of people’s behaviour it is best not to stoop to their level in order to exact punishment for them.
I believe, the culture of corruption in the country stemmed from Marcos. Enrile and the rest of his political allies were in the front seats when he taught how to get away with it.
True.
Estrada and PGMA did not get away of it. Who is next in line Binay or Noynoy?
The amazing marcoses! It would be most STUPID if they rule the Philippines again..
Possible They are one step inside the Congress next step to Malacanang and they are back in power.
Tsk tsk, but I think the Philippines was still much powerful, 1 of the richest in asia in those times
Family of THIEVES ( proven in court , a pioneer for corrupt culture in the Philippine government ) and human right VIOLATORS ( disappearing acts if you are anti- Marcos ) from a hero. Get your historical facts straight my kababayan. One of the most embarrassing experience I had as a Filipino was in a Beverly Hills tour of mansion residences (1996) . The tour van passed by Frank Sinatra , Mick jagger , Mike Tyson’s unfinished house and etc … Then a PCGG sequestered pink mansion up for auction very soon . Apparently owned by Marcos’s and guess who’s living there that got kicked out ? –George Hamilton ( simply rumored to be the you know what of Imelda ). This was the tour guide/drivers broadcast in the van . It was priced at that time for $5,000,000 … So there’s your proof my friend. Mr Ferdinand ” thief ” Marcos is in the Guinness book of records if I’m not mistaken as the “greatest thief” of all time when I had that copy (I forgot what year ) . Wife shared a spotlight too of the most shoes. Really …? You commenters be the judge. I rest my case 😦 Don’t be an idiot to worship a thief . They deserve to have every punishment by law to the fullest extent because they changed millions of lives for the next generations 👶👶👶.
Coz u are idolizing a Guinness record holder thieves ? Makes u guilty as well. Is it because you saw a smaller picture that a couple of towns or islands ( where the couples are native of ) benefitted from stolen wealth ? Think of the bigger picture and don’t be a selfish imbecile. Be sensitive and empathetic to the families of the victims of human rights violation under a dictators regime . Hello😳 ?
Martial law !!!
How would you explain $400 million being withdrawn from a Swiss bank account a few years back by Either Irene or Aimee ? She was caught in an entrapment from trying to withdraw it . I’m sure her piggy bank as a child wouldn’t accommodate that even if she lives 400 million years. Look at the Bataan nuclear plant – his project that i think cost about $2 billion at that time but never got its switch turned on . That was just a facade to get some funding for a kickback — this culture is ongoing now in the corrupt politics . Heck ! I wouldn’t be surprise if J. Estradas , GMA & Napoles read his books as a manual for stealing from hard earned money by Filipinos that struggle with poverty everyday. Those stolen billions could’ve been funds for education , health and employment . Let me remind you the Marcoses stole $20 something billion dollars at his prime dictatorship . Imagine the possibilities if that was put to appropriate use ? It doesn’t MATTER who sits in power now as long as they won’t steal from the Filipinos. I’m very sure Junior has more knowledge of where the stolen assets are — this family has a lifetime to payback to Filipinos in future generations to come , monetary wise and sincerest heartfelt apologies . Neither both has happened nor the gesture of admission.
TV patrol Latest news as of February 11, 2014 … $29 million dollars Swiss accounts of the Marcoses recovered. How’d you justify such a thief for being a hero ? There’s more mind blowing numbers of stolen wealth from the attachment . Please Wake up ! 🙏
I love the Philippines it is where my heart is but sometimes you got to do what you got to do. Be away from family and friends to be called an OFW and help out that way . I wish very soon I could say that I wanna be HOME and chase the Philippine dream where the LAND of opportunity is . Not American 💔
Please … Don’t be selfish to defend an embarrassing history of the Philippines . Please 🙏🙏🙏
The 2 attachment below is another proof of how disturbing it is that you are so proud of the Marcoses . I am merely pointing out the facts. May you open your eyes and heart to the truth .
Actual report of the above link :
Maria Fema Duterte
Reposting from ASIAN JOURNAL:
Chronology of the Marcos Plunder
September 1976, the Marcoses bought their first property in the U.S. – a condo in the exclusive Olympic Towers on Fifth Avenue in New York . Five months later they would also buy the three adjoining apartments, paying a total of $4,000,000.00 for the four and using Antonio Floirendo’s company, The Aventures Limited in Hong Kong, as front for these purchases.
October 13, 1977. Today, after addressing the UN General Assembly, Imelda celebrated by going shopping and spending $384,000 including $50,000 for a platinum bracelet with rubies; $50,000 for a diamond bracelet; and $58,000 for a pin set with diamonds.
The day before, Vilma Bautista, one of her private secretaries, paid $18,500 for a gold pendant with diamonds and emeralds; $9,450 for a gold ring with diamonds and emeralds; and $4,800 for a gold and diamond necklace.
October 27, 1977
The Marcoses donated $1.5 million to Tufts University in Boston, endowing a professorial chair in East Asian and Pacific Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The students and professors discovered this and forced the school to reject the donation. To save face, the Marcoses were allowed to finance several seminars and lectures.
November 2, 1977. Still at her shopping spree, Imelda paid $450,000 for a gold necklace and bracelet with emeralds, rubies, and diamonds; $300,000 for a gold ring with emeralds and diamonds; and $300,000 for a gold pendant with diamonds, rubies, and thirty-nine emeralds.
July 1978. After a trip to Russia, Imelda arrived in New York and immediately warmed up for a shopping spree. She started with paying $193,320 for antiques, including $12,000 for a Ming Period side table; $24,000 for a pair of Georgian mahogany Gainsborough armchairs; $6,240 for a Sheraton double-sided writing desk; $11,600 for a George II wood side table with marble top – all in the name of the Philippine consulate to dodge New York sales tax.
That was merely for starters.
A week later she spent $2,181,000.00 in one day! This included $1,150,000 for a platinum and emerald bracelet with diamonds from Bulgari; $330,000 for a necklace with a ruby, diamonds, and emeralds; $300,000 for a ring with heart-shaped emeralds; $78,000 for 18-carat gold ear clips with diamonds; $300,000 for a pendant with canary diamonds, rubies and emeralds on a gold chain.
After New York, she dropped by Hong Kong where a Cartier representative admitted it was this Filipina, Imelda, who had put together the world’s largest collection of gems – in 1978.
May 1979 The Marcos couple celebrated their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in a party that cost $5,000,000.00 There was a silver carriage drawn by eight white horses.
November 23, 1978 A house was purchased at 4 Capshire Drive in Cherry Hill , New Jersey (actually near to Philadelphia where Bongbong was taking courses at that time) for use by servants and Bongbong’s security detachment. The Marcoses did not neglect their annual real estate purchase. During this year and next year, 1979, they purchased two properties – one at 3850 Princeton Pike, Princeton – a 13-acre estate for use by daughter Imee as she attended Princeton.
The other was a house at 19 Pendleton Drive in Cherry Hill for use of Bongbong and under the name of Tristan Beplat,
erstwhile head of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines .
April 1979 in two days in New York this month, Imelda spent $280,000 for a necklace wet with emeralds and diamonds; $18,500 for a yellow gold evening bag with one round cut diamond; $8,975.20 for 20-carat gold ear clips with
twenty-four baguette diamonds; $8,438.10 for 18-carat gold ear clips with fifty-two tapered baguette diamonds; and $12,056.50 for 20 carat gold ear clips with diamonds.
June 1980. For $1,577,000.00 in New York Imelda buys Webster Hotel on West 45th Street . She rewards Gen. Romeo Gatan as a limited partner. Gatan arrested Ninoy at the beginning of Martial Law.
The insurgents’ ranks grew by twenty percent a year. . Meritorious officers in the armed forces experienced low moral due to Marcos’ penchant for promoting friends over more deserving officers.
February 16, 1986. In Fe’s records of monies paid out during Marcos’ last campaign, one unusually large item was authorized by “FL” (First Lady) and paid to Assemblyman Arturo Pacificador on this day. A few days later, two carloads
of men drove into San Jose , the provincial capital of Antique.
Evelio Javier, head of Aquino’s campaign, was watching the votes being counted when the men opened fire and killed Evelio after he was still able to run through town but finally got cornered in a public toilet where he was gunned down in front of shocked townspeople. Pacificador was later convicted of the murder.
February 25, 1986. Marcos fled the Philippines leaving behind a foreign debt of $27 billion and a bureaucracy gone mad. “Cash advances” for the elections from the national treasury amounted to Php 3.12 billion ($150 million). The Central
Bank printed millions of peso bills, many with the same serial number. Sixty million pesos in newly printed bills were found in a vehicle owned by Imelda’s brother Bejo in the Port Area of Manila, and another Php 100 million aboard the MV Legaspi also owned by Bejo Romualdez.
How massive and humongous a loot Marcos took can be deduced from the known losses he left behind. The known losses he left at the Central Bank included $1.2 billion in missing reserves and $6 billion in the Special Accounts.
Imelda charged off most of her spending sprees to the PNB or Philippine National Bank which creatively wrote off her debts as “unresponded transfers”.
Ver also used PNB funds to finance his “intelligence” operations.
The known losses at the PNB amounted to Php72.1 billion.
At the DBP, the losses Marcos left behind totaled Php85 billion;
at the Philguarantee, it was Php 6.2 billion ;
and at the NIDC or National Investment and Development Corporation (NDC) – the losses amounted to Php 2.8 billion.
These losses were primarily due to cronyism – giving loans to cronies that had little or no collateral, whose corporations were undercapitalized, whose loan proceeds were not used for the avowed purpose, and where the practice of corporate layering was common, i.e. using two or more companies with the same incorporators and officers, whereby one company which gives the loan owns the company which obtains the loan, or similar arrangements.
The cronies enjoyed their closeness to Marcos. With him they formed a Grand Coalition. They participated in the exercise of dictatorship. But Marcos owned them. The wealth of the cronies belonged to him. Because of the free rides taken by Imelda, Marcos and the cronies, the Philippine Airlines was in debt by $13.8 billion.
The conservative Grand Total for losses Marcos left behind (and therefore the kind of loot he grabbed and hid) amounted to $17.1 billion. The Central Bank, the PNB, and other financial institutions badly need an audit. The special review (not regular audit because there seems not to have been any – there are no records anyway) did not uncover Imelda’s spending – her name never appeared – and Ver’s intelligence fund. The review gave no hint of theft or missing money, only “downward adjustments” and “proposed adjustments” to “deficiencies” and “shortages of money”.
February 26, 1986. A few hours after the Marcos party landed in Honolulu, their luggage arrived – 300 crates on board a C-141 cargo jet. It took twenty-five customs officers five hours to tag the bags and identify the contents. The process was videotaped because of all the money and jewelry found inside.
There were 278 crates of jewelry and art worth an estimated US$5 million. Twenty-two crates contained more than Php27.7 million in newly minted currency, mostly hundred-peso denominations worth approximately US $1,270,000. 00 (It was illegal at that time for anyone to depart the Philippines carrying more than Php500 in cash.)
There were other certificates of deposit from Philippine banks worth about US$1 million, five handguns, 154 videotapes, seventeen cassette tapes, and 2,068 pages of documents – all of which were impounded by Customs.
The Marcos party was allowed to keep only US$300,000.00 in gold and $150,000.00 in bearer bonds that they brought in with their personal luggage because they declared them and broke no US customs laws.
There were 24 one-kilo gold bars fitted into 2 0$17,000 hand-tooled Gucci briefcase with a solid gold buckle and a plaque on it that read, “To Ferdinand Marcos, from Imelda, on the Occasion of our 24th Wedding Anniversary.”
February 1986. When Marcos departed the Philippines, the losses in the three Central Bank accounts surpassed Php 122 billion (more than $6 billion). The big bulk of losses was attributed to the RIR account mainly due to two items: forward cover and swap contracts.
Forward cover referred to foreign exchange provided by the CB at a fixed exchange rate to importers of essential commodities. Swap contracts referred to CB’s receiving foreign exchange from banks in exchange for pesos at the prevailing rate with a promise to deliver the foreign exchange back to them at an agreed future date. There was no mention of losses due to CB transactions in gold or foreign exchange.
February 28, 1986. On this day, Jim Burke, security expert from the US Embassy, was tapping on the wooden paneling in Imelda’s abandoned Malacanang bedroom when he heard a hollow sound. It was the walk-in vault. Inside were thirty-five suitcases secured with locks and tape.
They contained a treasure trove of documents about Swiss bank accounts, New York real estate, foundations in Vaduz , and some notepaper on which Marcos had practiced his William Saunders signature. They also contained jewelry valued at some US$10.5 million.
March 16, 1986. Did Marcos steal any gold from the CB? The CB always refused to comment. Why?
Today, the LA Times reported that 6.325 metric tons of gold was unaccounted for in the Central Bank. Between 1978, the year Marcos ordered all gold producers to sell only to the CB, and end 1984, the Bureau of Mines reported that 124,234 pounds of gold were refined. But the CB reported receiving only 110,319 pounds during this same period.
That left a difference of 13,915 pounds (6.325 metric tons).
March 1986. Jokingly referring to themselves as the Office of National Revenge, a vigilante team led by Charlie Avila and Linggoy Alcuaz received a tip in the morning that Marcos’ daughter Imee had kept a private office in the suburb of Mandaluyong at 82 Edsa. They obtained a search warrant, then rushed to Camp Crame to pick up some soldiers.
After devising a plan, they boarded four cars and drove to the premises, arriving around midnight. The soldiers scaled a fence and sealed off the area. Avila , Alcuaz, and their men moved in and found documents in cardboard boxes, desks, and filing cabinets. Gunfire could be heard outside but it didn’t deter the search.
The documents revealed the names of offshore companies and overseas investments of Marcos and his cronies – a late link in the paper trail that had been started abroad by the teams of Avila, Steve Psinakis, Sonny Alvarez, Raul Daza, Boni Gillego, and Raul Manglapus.
March 09, 1986. A Greek-American, Demetrios Roumeliotes, was stopped at the Manila International Airport before he could leave with eight large envelopes stuffed with jewelry that he admitted belonged to Imelda – valued at US$4.7 million.
March 15, 1986. Ernie Maceda, Minister of Natural Resources, revealed today that some 7 to 14 tons of Philippine gold are sold to the Binondo Central Bank annually and then smuggled to Sabah , Malaysia – this gold being part of some 20 tons produced by 200,000 panners all over the country. Maceda’s query was whether part of the gold they produced was siphoned to the “invisible gold hoard of Ms. Imelda R. Marcos.”
“We deliver to the Central Bank,” the miners said. “If it happened (the siphoning), it happened in the Central Bank.”
Is it true that Marcos propagated the Yamashita myth to hide the fact that he looted the Central Bank, that its gold bars were melted down and recast in odd-size bars to make them look old (how does gold look old, anyway?). Marcos claimed that he “received the surrender of Gen. Yamashita” after a battle with his guerrilla outfit.
History has recorded that Yamashita surrendered to Lt. Co. Aubrey Smith Kenworthy and that there was no battle. Yamashita’s peaceful surrender had been arranged at least two weeks before the event.
In one entry in Marcos’ diary he noted, “I often wonder what I will be remembered for in history. Scholar? Military hero…?” In a supreme irony, he did achieve what he so vainly sought – lasting fame – but not in the way he envisioned:
The largest human rights case in history – 10,000 victims.
Guinness Book of Records – the world’s greatest thief.
The largest monetary award in history – $22 billion..
September 30, 1986. Questioned by Philippine and US lawyers about his hidden wealth, Marcos took the Fifth Amendment 197 times. Imelda followed suit – 200 times.
December 1989. An American jury found the Marcos estate liable for $15 million in the killing of anti-Marcos activists Gene Viernes and Silme Domingo. Manglapus, Psinakis, Gillego and other erstwhile exile oppositionists testified at the trial.
November 04, 1991. Today, a Sunday, the circus came to town. The Swiss Federal Tribunal had ruled the year before that the Philippine government must comply with the European Convention of Human Rights, especially due process. There had to be a lawsuit filed within one year. Thus, the solicitor general’s office filed all sorts of cases against Imelda and the government had to allow her to return to answer the charges.
“I come home penniless,” she tearfully said on arrival. She then repaired to her suite at the Philippine Plaza Hotel which cost $2,000 a day and rented sixty rooms for her entourage – American lawyers, American security guards and American PR firms.
December 1991. The Central Bank had accumulated losses of Php324 billion in the Special Accounts.
November 30, 1992. The Central Bank losses were Php561 billion and climbing. Cuisia asked that the CB be restructured. Sen. Romulo asked to see the 1983 audit of the international reserves. He couldn’t get a copy. It was “restricted” .
January 05, 1993. Imelda didn’t show up for the scheduled signing of a new PCGG agreement. She kept vacillating on the terms and conditions – demanding she be allowed to travel abroad for thirty-three days to confer with bank officials in Switzerland, Austria, Hong Kong and Morocco to work out the transfer of the frozen funds.
Actually she was hoping a guy she had authorized, J.T.Calderon, would be able to move the funds just as the order was lifted, before the government had a chance to transfer them to Manila . When the government discovered the authority, all negotiations with Imelda were halted and her requests for travel suspended.
August 10, 1993. Georges Philippe, a Swiss lawyer of Imelda, wrote today a confidential letter to the Marcoses’ old Swiss lawyer, Bruno de Preux, who handled almost all of the Marcos family’s hidden accounts in Switzerland . Philippe requested de Preux for the status of:
A $750 million account with United Mizrahi Bank in Zurich ;
Various currency and gold deposits at the Union Bank of Switzerland , at Kloten airport and at Credit Suisse;
A $356 million account (now in escrow and worth almost $600 million) which was being claimed by the PCGG.
In 1994, the human rights jury awarded the victims $1.2 billion in exemplary damages, then $766.4 million in compensatory damages a year after that, for a total of $1.964 billion. Two days after, another $7.3 million was awarded to twenty-one Filipinos in a separate lawsuit.
In 1995, the US Supreme Court upheld the $1.2 billion judgment.
March 29, 1995. The Swiss Parliament passed a law (an amendment to a previous act) that removed the need for a final judgment of criminal conviction of the accused (such as the Marcoses) in the case of criminally acquired assets which
could now therefore be returned to claimants (such as the Philippine government) by Swiss court order.
July 1996. In part because of the torture of Roger Roxas, $22 billion was awarded to his Golden Budha Corporation.
December 10, 1997. The Swiss Supreme Court promulgated a landmark decision that took into account the March 1995 Swiss Parliament act and the fact that new criminal cases had been filed against Imelda Marcos.
The court held that there was no need for any criminal proceeding; that a civil or administrative proceeding would suffice, and the Marcos Swiss deposits which had been “criminally acquired” can be returned to the Philippines in deference to the final judgment of the Philippine court as to the ownership of these deposits.
The Swiss court also announced that the interest and reputation of Switzerland was at stake if it would become a haven for money launderers laundering money obtained by crime. Therefore, in the case of the Marcos deposits, because “the illegal source of the assets in this case cannot be doubted” the Swiss court ordered that the money be returned to the
Philippines to be held in escrow account in the PNB to await the judgment of the Sandiganbayan in the forfeiture case.
By the way, in January 17, 1975, a secret decree not made public until after the Edsa insurrection was signed by Marcos stating that in the event he became incapacitated or died, power would be turned over to Imelda.
On June 7, 1975, in his own handwriting, Marcos amended the January 17th decree and clarified imelda’s role as chairperson of committee with presidential powers.
In February 1979, Imelda was named chairman of the cabinet committee, composed of all ministries, to launch the BLISS (Bagong Lipunan Sites and Services) program, an ambitious attempt to centralize control of all economic and social development. She assumed responsibility for the “11 needs of Man” codified in her ministry’s multi-year Human Settlements Plan,1978-2000.
By 1986, the number of Filipinos living below the poverty line doubled from 18 million in 1965 to 35 million. And the ecological balance of the country had degraded from 75 % to 27% forest cover remaining – with 39 million acres of forest falling victim to rampant logging. This was BLISS.
She was also the head of the Metro Manila Commission, which by year-end 1985 had managed to accumulate debts of Php 1.99 billion (which included $100 million in foreign loans) in its ten years of existence. Imelda had accomplished nothing and left the people embittered and even more disillusioned.
In September 1992 Marcos was found guilty of violating the human rights of 10,000 victims. The ruling occurred just after a judge found Imee Marcos-Manotoc guilty of the torture and murder of Archimedes Trajano, a 21 year old engineering student at Mapua who had the temerity to ask Imee after a speech she gave whether the Kabataang Barangay (a national youth group) “must be headed by the president’s daughter?”
Imee and brother Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. have been active in the political scene. Bongbong, who finished 3 terms as Ilocos Norte governor, is now running for Senator under Presidential bet, Manny Villar’s senatorial slate.. he’s been quoted as saying that if given a chance, hed like to run for President one day…(gads) .
Bongbong is now a Senator, Imelda is Governor of Ilocos Norte and Imee is in Congress. The MARCOSES are back in full force thanks to our “despicable amnesia” as aptly described by the eminent writer, F. Sionil Jose.
PLEASE PASS THIS IMPORTANT PART OF PHIL HISTORY TO YOUR FRIENDS, SO WE WILL NOT FORGET…
— with May Gomez, Darlyn Patrimonio Cobb, John Culpa, Anatolia Angcla, Princess Adelli D. Villanueva, Klein Tats Novilla Tatit, Marlyn David, Esther Mindo Chaco, Rolen Nicole, Patricia Romelli Dizon Villanueva and Chad Zayco
Timeline Photos · Dec 5, 2013 ·
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If you Google or Wikipedia search him ? More facts about this THIEF traitor and his family will make you very sick . These are domestically and internationally known proven facts , not “opinions” of insensitive commenters . All the questions you have are answered in pretty much detailed information to enlightened the world and a Filipino . I beg you to spend a few minutes so you guys are not mislead. You owe it for the next generation of leaders and citizens of a potentially great country – Pilipinas !!!
Wow, you have a lot to say. I used to know Antonio Floriendo quite well. And I was aware that some of his companies were being used by Marcos to cover up certain transactions. But I did not know the details so could not write about it with any authority.
Thank you very much for these facts & figures. A book about the regime will be of great help for all Filipinos – young & old & the future generations, to know what really happened during those years. And if ever there will be, I wish there is a version in all our major dialects. Kahit pinakamurang klaseng papel man lamang. Kaming mahihirap hindi madaling makabili ng libro kahit mura. If a low-cost translated version is available there is hope for it to reach the majority by way of donation. Should not it be part of our Philippine History? Otherwise, we really are doom to repeat history…it seems to be a few more years closer….. GOD, please help the Philippines and its people.
The book “CONJUGAL DICTATORSHIP “by the late PRIMITIVO MEJARES is a good start to read, then there is “The Untold Story of Imelda Marcos ” the first book by Carmen Pedrosa and “THE PEOPLE POWER REVOLUTION”I forgot the author I think Fr. JAMES REUTER
*from* the rest of us…
Wow after all these loop of problems in the country , today’s poverty is still their fault?
“Outrage over the Aquino assassination resulted in foreign banks stopping all loans to the Philippines which was in hock by over $25 billion and unable to pay the interest due. “He [Marcos] sent his minister for trade and industry, Bobby Ongpin, to ask me for a loan of $300-500 million to meet the interest payments. I looked him straight in the eye and said, ‘We will never see that money back.’ He added that ‘what was needed was a strong, healthy leader, not more loans.’”
Later on in Brunei, Lee Kuan Yew would say the same thing to Marcos himself. “As soon as all our aides left, I went straight to the point that no bank was going to lend him any money. They wanted to know who was going to succeed him if anything were to happen to him… Singapore banks had lent $8 billion of the $25 billion owing. The hard fact was they were not likely to get repayment for some 20 years….he admitted that succession was the nub of the problem. If he could find a successor, there would be a solution. As I left, he said, ‘You are a true friend.’ I did not understand him. It was a strange meeting.”
Don Victoria, at the end of Marcos’ term, our national debt had ballooned to P28-Billion and we are still paying for this. He had borrowed and received Billions in loans and grants but sadly this money was mismanaged, to put it mildly. Even his friend, Lee Kuan Yew, turned him down when he tried to borrow money from him. That there is poverty is evidence of our national indifference, fostered over many administrations, not just Marcos, but that he amassed great wealth while in office but neglected to use it to alleviate poverty is cruel and insensitive. This current administration,while clearly imperfect, appears to be ‘trying’ to address poverty. We should support ANY attempts, plans or projects that seeks to address poverty in this country.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/12827/lee-kuan-yew-on-philippines
http://www.rappler.com/nation/47220-pcgg-welcomes-singapore-court-decision-marcos-swiss-funds
http://www.ejpd.admin.ch/ejpd/en/home/dokumentation/mi/2003/ref_2003-08-05.html
https://anc.yahoo.com/video/marcos-victims-human-rightsclaim-depend-043231286.html
Now i know why my parents hate the marcoses so damn much. This is an eye opener for someone born after martial law. No marcos will ever get my vote.
It’s great to hear facts about our past. They are getting scarce. It’s hard to differentiate the truth from all the lies and that’s a tragedy. I’m quite curious and would love to learn more FACTS about our past and especially Marcos’ Regime. Where would one start.
Thanks for post.
Both Sylvia Mayuga and Krip Yuson write very eloquently about that period of Filipino history. You should check out their early writings. They were (are) my bacardas.
Methinks, Marcos as President and Imelda as First Lady were much,much better than P-Noy and Kris Aquino.
Your opinion is valid. However, despite the uselessness of the current President and the Kim Kardashian-like excesses of Kris, neither of them have managed to steal and pillage nearly as much s the Marcoses did.
Members of the Human Rights Violations Victims Claims Board vow to expedite the processing of claims and reparations for Marcos victims. They also plan to unearth records of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other security forces instrumental to the massive and systematic violations of human rights during the authoritarian rule of the Marcos administration. Reparations will be sourced from the 10-billion pesos in Marcos ill-gotten wealth forfeitied by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in 2003.
https://anc.yahoo.com/video/marcos-victims-human-rightsclaim-depend-043231286.html
I was 12 years old when Martial Law was declared. I was in first year high school and ours was really a peaceful community. True, we experienced some hardships like rice shortage but that wasn’t as as bad as what we are experiencing these days. Can you imagine garlic being sold at P300 per kilo simply because our government officials were so busy with Napoles? People in the government were entertaining us with the plunder cases while we are suffering in silence because of the cartel and what have you that our government officials, up to this time, deny they have knowledge of.
You were fortunate you lived in a “peaceful community” during the Marcos period. If you had not you would have seen the suffering of many and the fear that people lived under on a daily basis.
Rey, the price of garlic goes up when the supply goes down due to destruction or hoarding by unscrupulous merchants. It’s usually the latter. Living in a peaceful community doesn’t reduce or erase the injustices committed by the Marcoses or their amassing wealth beyond their means. Marcos’ salary amounted to only P1.5M throughout his rule as president and Imelda as metro manila governor earned a salary of less than 800,000 until her term ended. And yet they have access to an estimated $10 Billon. What about the almost 4,000 people salvaged during the Marcos years? Or the almost 10,000 filipinos who suffered torture and warrantless arrest? No, it deosn’t mean that things were good during martial law. It only means you were lucky to have lived in a place untouched by effects of martial law. If only we could’ve been as lucky.
Well said, Mike. Some people, it appears, would prefer to live with the wool pulled firmly over their eyes. If this is the case, it is sad, as it is quite likely young Marcos will reap the benefit of their blindness. Sayang.
Ms. Kennedy, my name is familiar to you as I’ve posted comments on this page over the last year. It would’ve been an awesome honor to have made your past acquaintance but this is no less a distinct pleasure, to correspond and interact with you on such a delicate and interesting topic. Please do not cease in your efforts to reveal history to others in order to liberate them from it.
Your knowledge of these facts is extraordinary. So you must give me some clue as to why and how you know so much about the Marcoses and the whereabouts of their wealth. I will be in the Philippines next year so perhaps we can meet up then as obviously there is a lot more that you know which could well be of interest if and when I actually ever get down to finishing my memoirs!!
Aug 20, 2013 “The Bolante fertilizer scam, which was investigated by the Senate Blue Ribbon, involved P728 million in Department of Agriculture (DA) funds under the Ginintuang Masaganing Ani misused by legislators in collusion with their partners—private suppliers and foundations that were recipients of the funds.
It was believed the farm fund was used to finance the political allies of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the May 2004 polls.
The Senate Blue Ribbon and the Senate committee on Agriculture described the fertilizer scam then as “premeditated, systematic and agricultural theft” tantamount to “the rape of the nation.”
http://www.rappler.com/nation/36907-joc-joc-fertilizer-scam-jenny-napoles
Hi Caroline, (suddenly it’s “Caroline” instead of “Ms. Kennedy”), I just read your comment about a guest blog for me to write and I have to say that is altogether unexpected and unreal and interesting, but are you serious? That was a joke, right? I don’t mind jokes, really, in fact if I have a chance I’ll play one on you. Wholesome, of course. 🙂
No joke, I assure you. You have so much to say and so many facts at your fingertips, I would love you to write a guest post here as long as it is along the same lines, i.e. about the Marcos family, their period in power and their lives post revolution. Be my guest, please. If you’d like to, that is!
Well, in that case, I must collect myself and do this responsibly. But thank you for offering me this opportunity to contribute something positive for the Philippines. Allow me to attend to some urgent business and clear some time to put something together for this. I had always written on the run, so to speak. I also want to reread your articles so I can refresh myself in the direction you’ve taken from the start. Whatever I write will write I shall purposely be factual and I shall neurotically identify my opinion as opinion. For the one I plan to write I may reuse some of the links I’ve posted but with highlights on key points of information that will clarify specific issues. I’m all about clarity. Now I’m a little nervous but in a healthy way. And in case no one’s ever said it, this world does seems brighter with you and your body of work in it. A heartfelt ‘Thank You’, Caroline.
Excellent, Mike. Take your time. There’s no rush. I look forward to reading it when you are ready.
For security and publicity purposes some information may not be divulged, would you think the baby is secured just inside the car outside the cinema waiting for his milk while mommy is watching the movie?
If you read the article correctly you will know that the baby stayed in the Philippines and so was obviously not in the car outside the theatre while waiting for his mother.
Wala pong malinis na pulitika. Opo totoong dinugas ni Marcos ang Pilipino, pero sila lang ni Imelda ang nandugas, hinawakan nya ang Pilipinas sa kamay walang mayaman walang mahirap. Diba ang ganda ng ganoon? Lahat pantay pantay at sya lang ang mataas. Eh ang nangyayari kasi ngayon, maraming mayaman MAS maraming mahirap. Totoo ngang ala Bonifacio at Emilio ang mga Pilipino kung makipaglaban. Ayaw tumigil kahit patay na ung tao eh no? Kung buhay pa si Marcos tiyak na sya ang iboboto ko, biruin nyong nung panahon nya hindi lalagpas sa limang piso ang dolyar. Aba’y ang saya ko siguro non, alam nyo ba pakiramdam na lumaki na walang ama dahil no choice kundi magbarko? Dahil wala ng mangyayari kung dito sa Pinas magtrabaho. Nung panahon ni Marcos Bawal din mag import ng mga produkto dito sa Pinas, panay export, ayos hindi ba? Lalago ang negosyo natin. Naalala kong masaya pang kinukwento sakin ng Biyanan ko ang kumikita nyang pagawaan ng sombrero nong panahon na yon, hindi ko lang alam kung sino ang lokolokong pangulo na naman ang pumayag mag import ng produkto dito ayan tuloy ang mga walang kwentang GAWA NG CHINA. Nalugi ang negosyo ng byanan ko. Noong panahon na pinatay si Ninoy, hindi nyo ba naisip na baka Cojuangco ang may gawa non dahil nung panahon na papunta dito si Ninoy usapan na nila na isusurrender na ni Aquino ang Hacienda Luicita na talaga nmang nakalagay sa kontrata.
Isa pa nga pala, ang hindi alam ng mga tao yung ibang yaman ni Marcos, HINDI GALING SA MGA PILIPINO. Nung panahon na yong may pinapagawa si Marcos na Istraktura (di ko alam kung ano) nag ala treasure hunting dahil ang dami nilang nakuhang ginto. Siguro dahil iyon ng mga hapon na nag lagay ng naglagay ng mga ginto at bomba dito sa Pilipinas nung panahon ng gyera. Diba nakakagulat? Kaya siguro nagtago ng pera si Marcos ay dahil baka nga isipin ng tao na sa pera ng Pilipino ang pera nya kahit galing yon sa pag tetreasure hunting nya.
Kahit ano pa sabihin ninyo. BILIB AKO KAY MARCOS, 20 years sya kung mag-isip. Nag pagawa ng Powerplant sa Bataan para sa Pilipino na hindi naman tinuloy ni Cory, nabulok lang tuloy eh inutang pa sa ibang bansa ang materyales non at mahirap na hanapin ang mga ibang parts don kaya di na maipagawa ngayon. Ano tayo ngayon? nganga sa America.
Hindi ko man inabot si Marcos, masaya ako na kahit patay na sya, naipaglaban ko sya kahit sa ganitong paraan lang.
Thanks for this. I am sorry I can’t respond adequately since my Tagalog is very rusty these days.
that’s because you are not one of us. Sorry to say this but you seem to focus your write-ups only on the things that you want to believe. Why not expand your research and get the whole picture. It doesn’t hurt to accept that the Marcoses have done great things for the Filipino people. You are merely accusing them based on hearsays or probably from fabricated stories on books or thru the yellow ribbon-supported media — we all know Philippine Media is anti-Marcos, and they will do all sorts to make him look evil. Gather your facts, weigh things over, and do not be partial — “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged…” With all due respect, i suggest you better keep mum if you don’t know the WHOLE TRUTH.. Save your soul rather than talk about other people, recounting their faults while discounting their good deeds.
One more thing, as a true-blooded Filipino, I know exactly what is happening. Your blog, no matter how you intend to keep your statements long and convincing, that doesn’t change my mind a bit, because I, too, have lived under the Marcos regime, and I know what it was like. The Philippines is no longer known as how good it was known. Marcos era, may, as some people think, have been the darkest… But the current regime, as most people could attest, is doom.
Medyo magulo ng kuwento mo, Pjlc. Ganun kasi pag hindi ka naman nabuhay nung panahon na yon, at ang sinasalysay mo ay kinwent o lang sayo o nabas mo sa iba. 16 yrs old ako nung 1972, taon na dineklara ang martial law. Totoong maganda ang palitan sa piso at dolyar nung UMPISA ng martial law pero nuong 1985 umabot na sa 52 Pesos ang palitan ng bawat dolyar. Nagsara yung Stock Market at Money Market at nagbukas muli nuong 1985 na. Wala halos kasing mga investor na pumasok nuon gitna ng martial law. Kaya rin dumami ang nag-abroad para magtrabaho kasi wala nang halos trabaho dito kasi mas maraming nagsara na negosyo at kumpanya kaysa sa nagbukas. Nagkaroon ng Exodus palabas ng bansa. Kontrolado kasi ng iilan ang mga negosyo. Kailangan may kontak ka na may kakilala na nasa puwesto. May import pa rin anaman nung panahon na yun, pero kailangan nga may kakilala ka para makapagnegosyo at kailangan may kapital kang sarili. And nagbago lang ngayon ay lumago o dumamai ang ating populasyon pero ang totoo, mas marami din nuon ang mahihirap kaysa mayaman. Ang totoo, nalagas at halos nawala yung middle-class natin, e. Ang daming umalis ng bayan natin at tumira nalang sa abroad, hindi na bumalik. At kung totoong may taglay na sariling yaman si Marcos, sana naman ginamit niya para bayaran yung utang ng bayan sa international banks na umabot ng P25 Bilyon nung 1980’s bago nagkaron ng EDSA 1. Tinangka pa ni Marcos umutang kay Lee Kuan Yew ng Singapore kasi hindi na natin mabayaran ang amortisasyon sa utang na yon. Bakit? kasi nga dinugas nila yung kaban ng bayan. Yung mga bilyong dollar loans, grants etc., na galing sa abroad, pare naideposit nila sa mga bank account sa Switzerland, Cayman Islands, etc. Nung 2003 nga diba dinisisyunan na ng Korte Suprema natin na “nakaw na yaman” yung naka-freeze nuon na $685 Million sa isang bank account sa switzerland? Eto yung link: http://www.newsflash.org/2003/05/hl/hl019259.htm -Ayon sa SC decision, ang kabuuang sweldo na tinanggap ni Marcos bilang president mula 1966 hanggang 1985 ay P1.5 million lang, habang ang misis niyang si Imelda na naglingkod bilang Metro Manila governor at minister of human settlements ay tumanggap lang ng total na P718,750 mula 1976 to 1985. Kung totoong may limpak-limpak siyang gintong yaman, bakit kinailangan niyang kunin yung bilyon-bilyong dolyar na loans and grants sa Pilipinas at ideposito sa mga personal bank account nila? Yung powerplant sa Bataan? Overpriced yun at pinagkakitaan nila. Eto yung link para malaman mo yung totoo. http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1986/09/01/67989/index.htm -At dahil nga illegal yung kanilang kinita, nagdesisyon ng Final ang Korte Suprema na ituloy ang P200-Billion Wealth Case laban sa mga tagamana ni Marcos. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/238953/supreme-court-marcos-kids-must-face-wealth-case. Umabot sa higit 10,000 yung mga inaresto na walang warrant at tionorture nung panahon ni Marcos. Mga 4,000 yung sinalvage ng pulis at militar, mga lalake’t babae, studyante, labor leader, aktibista, magsasaka, etc., pinatay. Yung ibang babae ni-rape bago pinatay. Kaya yung parte ng nareover na pera ay nilalaan para sa mga martial law victims para mabigyan ssila ng kahit konting hustisya.
Mike, since my Tagalog is no longer as good as it was, I am wondering if this is your response to another comment or this is your guest blog. If it is your guest blog I would very much like it to be translated and then sent to me first so I can give it an introduction. I will message you my email on FB.
Inshort Marcos regime was the first corrupt government siya ang pasimuno na yon na ang ginaya ng mga sumunod na naupo.
Ang tanong ko lang. Why was Imelda acquitted in New York? America na yan. Superpower pa. Are they that stupid?
@Nenita: You said, “Why was Imelda acquitted in New York? America na yan. Superpower pa. Are they that stupid?”
Anywhere in the world, No matter how good your prosecuting lawyers are, the courts will ask you to submit the ORIGINAL documents, which prove the criminal accusations. All that the gov’t prosecutors had were photocopies which were left behind in Malacañang. Because of that, the charges had to be dismissed, but on a technicality. Does dismissal on lack of evidence necessarily mean innocence?
In 2003, the Phil SC dismissed with finality the claim of the Marcoses of ownership over the $658 Million swiss bank account. The nature of the case was civil, not criminal.
In its July 15 decision, the SC said the Marcoses failed to justify that they lawfully acquired the Swiss deposits that reached the estimated aggregate amount of $658,175,373.60 as of Jan. 31, 2002.
Section 2 of RA 1379 explicitly states that “whenever any public officer or employee has acquired during his incumbency an amount of property which is manifestly out of proportion to his salary, the said property shall be presumed prima facie to have been unlawfully acquired.”
Records showed the late President Ferdinand Marcos only received a salary of P1.5 million from 1966 to 1985 while his wife, who served as Metro Manila governor and minister of human settlements, got only P718,750 from 1976 to 1985.
Based on the legitimate salaries of the Marcos couple, the Sandiganbayan also ruled that they could not have afforded the schooling of Bongbong Marcos in London, not to mention the personal, family and household expenses and their lifestyle.
The court pointed out Mrs. Marcos failed to give specific details as to how the funds were supposedly acquired legally. The Marcoses also did not present and attach any single document to prove their claims.
The Marcos have been retained by the Phil SC as defendants in a P200 Billion wealth recovery case to which it has given permission to the Sandiganbayan to pursue.
The Marcoses have lost every other claim including the Paoay Property, Mrs. Marcoses’ jewelries and art collection.
Oo nga pala. Pjlc, yung utang na iniwan ni Marcos? Lumobo na halos US$60-Billion as of 2010. Alam mo bang binabayaran pa rin natin yan hanggang ngayon? Hindi lamng ikaw, Pjlc, ang magbabayad niyan, pati na ring yung mga anak ng mga anak ng mga anak mo, babayaran yan. Ang $60 Billion x P43 = 2,580,000,000,000 Pesos – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_external_debt -Dinugas nila tapos hindi binayaran. TAYO ang kailangan magbayad. Anong tawag sa taong nangutang sa pangalan mo, pero yung perang inutang ay binulsa, tapos hindi binayaran yung utang, kaya ikaw ngayon ang hinahabol ng nagpautang? Maipaglalaban mo pa ba yan? Ikaw ang bahala.
Hey dude!
If you really think logically, this is so impossible based on your computation. Exchange rate of 43?
@Matteo – Listen, “dude”, the difference between you and me is that I neither rely solely on my own “logic” nor on my calculator. I researched the information. And here’s one source:
PHL foreign debt up 9.5% to $60B in 2010
Published March 31, 2011 11:29pm
A boost in government and private sector borrowings as well as an upward foreign exchange revaluation helped expand the Philippines’ external debt by 9.5 percent in 2010, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported Thursday.
In a statement, BSP governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the country’s outstanding external debt reached $60.1 billion last year, $5.2 billion more than the $54.9 billion recorded in 2009.
External debt refers to all types of BSP-approved or -registered borrowings by Philippine residents from foreign lenders.
Government and private borrowers registered $4 billion in net borrowings, and the foreign exchange revaluation amounted to $1.8 billion, which expanded the external debt, the BSP chief said.
The level of debt was pushed by increased investments in offshore-issued Philippine bonds and notes, he added.
Public sector borrowing – which consisted largely of investments by residents in Philippine bonds and notes issued overseas – reached $46.2 billion or 76.7 percent of the total foreign debt in 2010. Private sector borrowings, meanwhile, stood at $13.9 billion or 23.3 percent of the total.
Tetangco said that despite the increased borrowings, the external debt-to-GDP ratio improved to 31.8 percent in 2010 from 34 percent in 2009. The external debt-to-gross national product (GNP) ratio, meanwhile, improved to 27.8 percent from 29.7 percent.
“Major external debt indicator continued to improve during the fourth quarter,” Tetangco said, without saying why.
Improved debt service ratio
The BSP meanwhile reported that the external debt service ratio (DSR) also improved to 8.8 percent in 2010 from 10.4 percent in 2009, and well below the 20- to 25-percent international benchmark, which means the Philippines keeps enough foreign exchange earnings to service maturing obligations — both principal and interest payments.
The DSR is the percentage of total principal and interest payments to total exports of goods and receipts from services and income. It also measures the adequacy of the Philippines’ foreign exchange earnings to meet principal and interest payments as they mature.
According to the central bank, the external debt profile remains predominantly medium- to long-term with maturities of over a year accounting for about 89.5 percent. The weighted average maturity is 22.4 years.
“The larger share of medium- to long-term accounts to the total means that loan repayments are spread out over a longer period of time, resulting in a more manageable level of debt payments,” Tetangco said.
Central bank data also showed that the share of short-term external debt, consisting largely of trade credits and inter-bank borrowings, accounted for 10.5 percent of outstanding foreign debt. — PE/VS, GMA News
– See more at: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/216651/money/phl-foreign-debt-up-9-5-to-60b-in-2010#sthash.h08Hhtb4.dpuf
@Matteo – And here’s another:
External debt of the Philippines
Assessment of government performances on external debt[edit]
Ferdinand Marcos (Dec 1965 – Feb 1986)[edit]
See also: Ferdinand Marcos
During the years 1966 to 1969, then president Marcos borrowed a great amount of money to finance his domestic expansion and reforms. This expansion in the government budget led to increases in the current account deficit and crisis in the balance of payments (BOP). According to the Political Economy of Growth and Impoverishment in the Marcos Era, the Philippines’ foreign debt rose from $360 million in 1962 to $28.3 billion in 1986. Hence, a large portion of today’s $77 billion external debt was contributed by Marcos. During the early 1970s, the government aimed at reviving growth and establishing an economic stabilization plan as well as a standby credit arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).[19][20]
Under Republic Act 6142 of 1970, all external borrowing by the public and the private sector, with the exception of commercial bank sector, must be approved by the Monetary Board. The Management of External Debts and Investment Accounts Department (MEDIAD) within the BSP screened application for all external borrowings and maintained statistics on the country’s external debt; this then was a limitation on debt service and on total external indebtedness.[21] The Foreign Currency Deposit System (FCDS), on the other hand, was in charge of permitting the external borrowing of banking sector—both domestic and foreign owned.
When Ferdinand Marcos became president in 1965, he continued Macapagal’s economic liberalization policies, in turn causing debt to rise from 277.7 million dollars to 840.2 million by the end of his term. In September 21, 1972, Marcos declared martial law, and in the next five years real GNP grew at an average of 7% per year. The next few years was also characterized by strong economic performance with the rise of exports and booming of investment, alongside the rise of capital flight and crony capitalism. The end of the 1970s was of high levels of foreign debt and external debt from the public sector. With the second oil price shock during the 1980s, interest rates rose and the government implemented countercyclical policy to increase public investment to maintain domestic incomes.[22]
Under Marcos, the Philippines saw its external debt balloon from $360 million (U.S.) in 1962 to $28.3 billion (U.S.) in 1986.[23] Much of this debt was for the government to finance economic development projects, which had to rely on borrowing from international lenders—such as theIMF—Thus, the characterization of Marcos’ administration as being “Debt-driven”. A prime example of a project to be funded through loans is the Bataan Nuclear power plant, which until this day has not been used.
By 1983, the Philippines had racked up a debt of $24.4 billion (U.S.) and was unable to meet its payment obligations to the IMF and World Bank. The Philippines had subsequently had to agree to IMF and World Bank conditions to be granted another loan, which had lead to the extreme devaluation of the Philippine Peso.[24]
In 1982, the Philippines turned to the IMF once again due to BOP difficulties and increase in outstanding oil import credit (85%). During 1983, the debt-to-GDP ratio grew to 56% (compared to 35% during 1980) as well as the debt service ratio with 38% (versus 21% during 1980).[22] The government also called for emergency loans from the World Bank and transactional commercial banks. By December 1984, the country chose to abide by the IMF conditions (such as those on the peso, etc.) to receive additional funds. BOP targets were met in 1985 as the current account turned positive.[25]
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (Jan 2001 – June 2010)[edit]
See also: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Under the Arroyo administration, total outstanding debt only increased by an average of 0.47% per year. This is relatively low compared to other administrations due to good tax reform programs and high growth levels the country sustained during this administration. The country was able to reduce its total outstanding debt in 6 out of the 10 years. However, during her last year, total debt increased by 9.09%. During Arroyo’s administration, total debt from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PSCO) increased by around P4 billion. Arroyo allegedly broke the rule regarding the mandated policy of the PSCO for its expenses. Some of these debts were unaccounted for and thus was alleged to be the kickbacks of top officials.[41] It was also mentioned in an article that people were worse off during the end of the Arroyo administration than when she first sat as president. Unemployment increased, household real income shrank, poverty rose, many were forced to work outside the country.[42]
The foreign debt of the country reached its peak in 2003 with an outstanding US$57.6 billion, which is more than the combined borrowings of the last two governments.[43] According to the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) In a span of 14 years, the Aquino, Ramos, and Estrada administrations contracted a total of Php1.51 trillion in debts, Php2.03 trillion less than what Arroyo has borrowed in her first six years in office. Under Arroyo, the FDC estimates that based on 2007 interest and principal payments, taxpayers carry a debt servicing burden of Php1.2 million every minute. Today, the FDC adds, every Filipino man, woman, and child owes creditors Php42,819.42.[44] This eventually led to a state of fiscal crisis due to the huge amount of the deficit,[43] as admitted by President Arroyo in 2004. As a response to this crisis, the option of an automatic appropriation policy that would allocate funds for debt service payments was questioned.[45]
Appropriation policy means that a portion of government budget for social services is cut to accommodate the payment of the external debt. From 39% in 2001 to 68% in 2004 of the national budget was allotted to interest and principal payments of debt.[46] The downside however of this policy is that it has greatly compromised the education, health and infrastructure of the country.
The government implemented new tax measures to increase the government budget, thus lessening the budget deficit. This included increased excise and corporate taxes, and the most controversial being the increase in value-added tax.[46]
According to former finance secretary Margarito Teves, what the Aquino administration calls the Arroyo administration as “lost decade” is not consistent with what data shows. During Arroyo’s administration the Department of Finance had initiated several positive reforms that are benefited and still benefiting the country. The low rise in debt during the Arroyo administration also resulted in credit outlook upgrades from negative to stable, and then positive shortly after her term. This resiliency of external debt to shocks was credited to Arroyo’s strong focus on tax reforms.[47] In another news article, according to House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, the Philippine’s capacity to lend $1 billion to the International Monetary Fund in 2012 should not be credited to Aquino’s administration, but rather to Arroyo’s administration. This is due to the unprecedented growth levels the country had during Arroyo’s administration.[48]
Following the fiscal crisis, the external sector policy for 2005–2006 of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas was focused on the following: (a) to maintain appropriate levels of reserve deposits to ensure liquidity of the economy, (b) to retain market-determined exchange rate, with limited intervention during extreme cases, and (c) control foreign loans, particularly from the public sector.[49] Moreover, less borrowings, improved pre-payment schemes, lower foreign exchange rate and increased government revenue[43] led to a continuous decline of external debt until the last year of the Arroyo administration, with an outstanding external debt of US$64.738 billion in 2009.[50]
Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III (Jun 2010 – Present)[edit]
See also: Benigno Aquino III
During the Aquino administration, debt service and the public debt stock have continued to rise. It paid Php634 billion in debt service between July 2010 and April 2011 which is Php8 billion more than in the equivalent previous period under the previous administration. These payments over its first ten months also already exceed payments for the whole year of 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively (and of the first two years combined of the previous administration). Yet the national government debt stock has continued to rise from Php4,582 billion in end-June 2010 to Php4,706 billion in March 2011.[51]
However, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Philippines became a creditor nation in 2010 when it joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Financial Transactions Plan (FTP) through which emerging market economies took part in international cooperation efforts to lessen the impact of the euro debt crisis on the rest of the global economy. Among the gains the Philippines got from joining the FTP was access to the New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) facility, which the IMF established to help its members cope with serious international financial crises.[52]
The government reported 4.9% growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2011 which was markedly slower than the 8.4% rate in the first quarter of 2010. Consecutive quarters are not strictly comparable but it can still be noted that the first three quarters of the Aquino administration has seen progressively slower growth year-on-year – from 8.9% in the second quarter of 2010, 7.3% in the third quarter, and 6.1% in the fourth quarter, followed by the 4.9% in the first quarter of this year.[51]
In addition to this, at the start of 2011 – and for the first time in the country’s independent history – gross international reserves eclipsed external debt. Foreign reserves increased by 20.5% last year to $75 billion, up from $63 billion at the end of 2010. The Philippines’ debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio is among the lowest in Asia at under 50%.[53]
By June 2013, it was announced by BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr that the country’s outstanding external debt registered by the BSP has declined by US$1.0 billion (or 1.8%) to US$58.0 billion from US$59.0 billion in March. According to him, this was largely a result of net loan repayments, mostly by the public sector, as well as negative foreign exchange revaluation adjustments as the US dollar strengthened, particularly against the Japanese Yen. This decrease supported the yearly trend with debt stock reflecting a reduction of US$3.2 billion (or 5.3%) from US$61.2 billion in June 2012.
The trend observed for the external debt-GDP-ratio was also the same for the said year, with the ratio down to 21.8% in the second quarter from 22.8% in March and 26.1% in June 2012.[54] Generally, the country’s economy between 2012 and 2013 grew at an average rate of 7.0%.
Moreover, the country sustained its growth momentum in 2014 at a rate of 6.1%, as what the national government targeted to be 6.0-7.0% growth rate for 2014.[55] By the end of March 2014, it was reported that the country’s outstanding external debt registered by BSP stood at US$58.3 billion. The debt-GDP-ratio for this year, from 22.8% in 2013, declined to 21.5%.[54]
During the first nine months of 2014, the country’s BOP position recorded a US$3.4 billion deficit, a reversal from the US$3.8 billion surplus recorded in 2013. According to BSP, the deficit was attributed to the significant increase in net outflows in the financial account brought about by large net outflows in portfolio investments and in other investments.
Positive developments in the US economy and anticipations of interest rate adjustments by the US Fed have led to capital outflows in emerging markets like the Philippines. Meanwhile, the current account remained in surplus at US$6.8 billion supported by strong remittance flows and receipts from the BPO industries and the export sector. As of December 2014, the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) stood at US$79.8 billion.[56]
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. announced that the outstanding Philippine external debt stood at US$75.3 billion at end-March 2015, down by US$2.4 billion (or 3.0 percent) from the US$77.7 billion level at end-2014. This decline was due to the net repayments (US$2.0 billion) mainly by banks.[57] Other factors that influenced the decline of the debt stock is from the negative foreign exchange (FX) revaluation (US$220 million) arising from the strengthening of the US Dollar against other currencies, and an increase in residents’ investments in Philippine debt papers (US$100 million).Governor Tetangco said, “Key external debt indicators were observed to have remained at very prudent levels in the first quarter of 2015.” Gross international reserves (GIR) of US$80.5 billion as of end-March 2015 represented 6.1 times cover for short-term (ST) debt under the original maturity concept compared to 4.9 times and 4.7 times as of end-December and March 2014.The Philippine’s external debt is mostly consist of medium- to long-term (MLT) accounts which represented 82.6 percent of total.[58]
This implies that FX requirements for debt payments are well spread out and, thus, more manageable.The weighted average maturity for all MLT accounts stood at 17.0 years, with public sector borrowings having a longer average tenor of 22.2 years compared to 8.6 years for the private sector. ST external debt comprised the 17.4 percent balance of the debt stock, consisting largely of bank borrowings, intercompany accounts of foreign bank branches, trade credits, and deposits of non-residents.Public sector external debt stood at US$39.1 billion (or 52.0 percent of total debt stock), slightly lower than the US$39.3 billion level (50.7 percent) as of end-2014 due mainly to negative FX revaluation adjustments (US$209 million) as the US Dollar strengthened against most currencies.Private sector debt likewise declined to US$36.2 billion from US$38.3 billion a quarter ago due largely to the net repayments of bank liabilities (US$2.9 billion).[59]
Foreign holders of Philippine bonds and notes continued to account for the largest share (33.5 percent) of total external debt, followed by official sources (multilateral and bilateral creditors – 30.4 percent), foreign banks and other financial institutions (28.9 percent), and foreign suppliers/exporters (7.2 percent).The country’s debt stock remained largely denominated in US Dollar (64.6 percent), and Japanese Yen (12.7 percent). US dollar-denominated multi-currency loans from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank comprised 10.4 percent of total, while the remaining 12.3 percent pertained to 17 other currencies.[60]
To read the whole thing, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_debt_of_the_Philippines
@Matteo – I’d imagine that the country’s foreign debt ballooned that way due to penalties and surcharges. You’ve heard of those, haven’t you?
At the risk of sounding condescending, penalties are applied to the outstanding debt when you fail to pay for the loan, causing the debt to increase substantially. Death, taxes and credit, the real certainties.
If you expect things to always be logical, then you’re setting yourself up for severe disappointment. I’ve learned the hard way to aim high but to lower your expectations, nothing’s impossible anymore so always expect the unexpected, so your reaction time is a little faster.
Also, the forex rate for US Dollars to Phil Pesos currently stands at 47.83 Philippine Peso as of 1:59 pm today, Jan 14, 2016.
Happy New Year.
Napakatanga mo naman kung ganyan ang opinyon mo. So kung kilala mo pala nagnanakaw sa yo at binibigyan ka ng subi ok lang sa yo. Ang tanga mo! I think I just wasted a few seconds to say something to this person.
U did, Obbie. Sometimes it’s like they almost deserve (and want) to be fleeced. Have been watching the comments re doing something about the ignorance in time for 2016. There is a core group forming in the SF Bay Area…but they’re not ready to show their hard yet. More to follow later.
This Pjlc is really an IDIOT!
Thank you for sharing ms caroline. Very enlightening, indeed.
It’s a pleasure. So glad you enjoyed it.
Bless you, Ms. Caroline & Mike Acuna! Both of you, please write a book so that the younger generation would know…
There’s your challenge, Mike Acuna! I think Susan is right. You have so much knowledge, you should share it in a book, not simply limit it to comments on this page.
After I initially commented I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox
and from now on each time a comment is added I recieve 4 emails with the exact same comment.
Is there a means you can remove me from that service?
Thank you!
Sorry about that. Not sure I know how to prevent this from happening. I imagine that if you pressed the button you might have to uncheck it yourself. I will try to look into it but not confident I will find the solution.
Nakakaawa naman si Pjlc, siguro hindi siya nakakaintindi masyado ng English kaya hindi niya alam ang tunay na issue about the Marcoses. It´s good kung mabasa niya in Tagalog ang history ng Pilipinas during the Marcos Regime para hindi siya maniwala sa naririnig niyang kuwento sa kanto, hehehe.
I can see from some of the remarks here, most recently those of iceofanangel, that a few of you are getting apoplectic from reading these articles. For the sake of your health, perhaps you should not read them. I wrote what I saw, what I heard at the time from people whose word I trust, not as some of you would have it, by rumour and innuendo. Some of you did live through martial law, maybe even benefitted from martial law, but that does not mean to say the majority of Filipinos did well. You need to look at the wider picture before you pass judgment on the era. And, for those of you who say things are worse now than they were then, I cannot make any statement about that simply because I am not there and cannot experience it for myself.
that’s exactly my point, you can’t speak for yourself because you are not here to witness what we, Filipinos, are talking about. It’s not longer safe to live in th Philippines, we fear for our lives, even young ones commit heinous crimes, drug pushers everywhere, police brutality, DAP, PDAF, floods and plagues, and have you heard about LUISITA MASSACRE? part of history you failed to mention. You know, this is a public blog and you insinuate an invitation to read therefore be ready to accept objections because not everything that you know can be true. Some could be true, but not everything. And by the way, you just said I need to look at the wider picture, i did, and i know. The Aquinos are not any better than the Marcoses if that makes sense. Easy for you to speak because you’re not here to experience all of these things.
iceofanangel19, you’re exaggerating the situation in the phils. way too much just because Ms. Kennedy no longer lives here but she did live here for 16 years because she loved this country, maybe more than you or I. What she wrote here is a memorial to a failed dictatorship that SHOULD stand both as a lesson and a warning to any one, Filipino or not, of the dangers of absolute power. Marcos and his wife used to come to my house when he was still a congressman under the Liberal Party. Bongbong was my classmate in grade school. While a part of me respects Marcos, Sr., I was not blind to what martial law did to this country. I will match you fact for fact. Today I walk the streets without fear because I am more aware of my rights now than anyone was during martial law when our rights meant nothing and we could be arrested anytime without a warrant and held indefinitely. How can anyone in his right mind compare the present day with martial law where approximately 4,000 people died as a direct result, and at least 10,000 were unlawfully detained, brutally tortured, raped, maimed, some even killed; men, women, students, farmers, civilians. What we are experiencing now are the birthpains of an emerging economy. more freedom than we know what to do with. The real problem is our attitude towards the govt and each other. More people today are employed and are enjoying their newfound power as consumers. Sadly there are criminals here just as there are and maybe more in New York, Paris, Kuala Lumpur, etc., and if you checked you would know our crime rate is comparably lower than most cities abroad. Your depiction is Overkill. Young teens, and yes even kids, join gangs in the bronx and in L.A., and yes they shoot and kill people, or haven’t you heard of the shootings in several schools in the states? That hardly happens here so why are you painting a picture of the Philippines as if it were Hell itself? Floods? We’re in the typhoon belt and we’ve got people here who throw garbage in our rivers ad canals.Plagues? What plagues?? Police brutality? Sure we have it but come up for air once in awhile and look around you so you’ll know we don’t have a tense situation like they’ve got in Ferguson, Missouri. We don’t have a drug problem comparable to numerous cities abroad, the USA, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, etc. Clearly you HAVEN’T looked at the bigger picture, so maybe you should and until then, you need to show some respect and honesty. And no it doesn’t make any sense what you said about the aquinos not being any better than marcos because the aquinos were not the subject of two Final Decisions by the Philippine Supreme Court, one in 2003 was to junk the Marcoses” appeal to stop the SC from awarding some $680 Million in a swiss bank account to the Phil Govt. because they couldnt prove that they earned that amount legally, Marcos and Imelda earned between 1966 and 1985 a combined income as public officials of less than P2.3 Million, clearly not enough to even afford Bongbong’s stay and study in London, let alone own billions of pesos in real estate, etc. The other final SC decision was to clear the way for the Sandiganbayan to push through with a 200 Billion Peso wealth recovery case against the Marcos heirs. Early this year, the Sandiganbayan also junked with finality the Marcos family’s appeal to prevent the govt from reclaiming the “Malacanang of the North” in Paoay, Ilocos Norte because the One peso per year lease contract promulgated by Marcos over govt land was adjudged to be fraudulent. This is all FACT, not rumor, not hearsay, just like most of what Ms. Kennedy has written here in her page. Sure the sitting president isn’t perfetc AT ALL but we don’t need perfect and we certainly will NEVER find a perfect president, we need somebody who keeps trying to do the right thing. 3 corrupt senators in jail so far and more to come. And yes, I also hope that some of his own party may be found guilty but its all up to evidence. Even if it were Bongbong Mraocs sitting there, he’s going to have a rough time putting things together that he’s going to have a hard time trying to match Aquino’s ratings despite the difficult management of this country. We’re a long way off from best but at least we’re getting better perceptibly. So clearly you’re the one with the problem of being in touch with reality and fact so please go SOLVE IT first but please leave Ms. Kennedy OUT OF IT. She’s just being a guardian of one the worst times in our history, as the greater silent but present majority will agree with.
Thanks again for your support, Mike. You write so fluently and so knowledgeably, I hope everyone reads your comments. Still waiting for your guest blog! But you have written so many detailed comments already that possibly you feel you have said enough! Whatever you choose, your guest blog would be welcome.
Mike, thank you for that. I won’t argue though I do not concede. I have no problem to begin with. It was my mistake to have allowed myself get involved and indulge and my sincere apologies to Ms. Kennedy for the direct attack in my comments. I honestly didn’t have any intention to debate but I don’t understand why most people dwell in the past. I don’t get the rationale why issues from some 30 plus years ago are relived. You and I, live in one small world from the Martial Law era to the present, with different accounts and dealings on situations and events – and I have my very own story to tell. And it is no exaggeration to say that nowadays I have become paranoid, needless to say that I fret the absence of security and the presence of crimes of all sorts – that can be committed, not just by the military, but by any civilian for that matter.
During the Martial Law, I may have indirectly benefited, while others may have suffered, or vise -versa. I don’t discount Mr. Marcos’s faults but his term wasn’t all faulty. There were good sides too. Again, it is not my intent to come running to his defense, rather to point out that we, must not be partial. I can sit all day arguing and debating and never get to the end of it, and copy-paste all the researches I’ve read, but media is dodgy and history and figures can be fiddled with the tips of the fingers.
Nonetheless, for what it’s worth I will stop pushing my stand as I deem it necessary. Call it backsliding but I need to choose my battles, and this one deserves a drop. I realized such discussions will lead nowhere close to amalgamation but hatred and division among us, Filipinos (you and I included). We need to look at the bigger picture to know where to take off and move forward. Today, I have decided not to let the past haunt me, let bygones be bygones. Let’s leave those people in peace (Marcos, Aquino, et al) as they too, have their own spiritual accountability and have probably faced their judgment.
We, the living heirs of the Filipino land, should look instead on how we could help one another in rebuilding this nation. No more blame-games, no more bitterness…how I wish, but things are always easier said than done.
Again, thank you for the interaction. I hope and pray we could sort out our own country’s issues sooner than later.
And to Miss Mylesgarcia, who called me dimwit 🙂 nakakababa naman ng moralidad kung papatulan pa kita. Isipin mo na lang, “ang taong hindi marunong magmahal sa sariling wika, ay higit pa ang amoy sa malansang isda” – naniniwala ako diyan 🙂
It really pissed me when i read someone who will choose an evil to free himself from an evil. ICEOFANANGEL19. Why did you attached angel in your pseudo? If you are comparing now to what has happened, you better study statistics and calculus. Floods and plagues? Are you serious? What about Katrina? Sa USA yun ah. Yung earthquake/ tsunami sa Japan. LUISITA MASSACRE,what? Listen, what about ESCALANTE MASSACRE? Drug everywhere? Eh wala pa coccaine nun, ano ka ba? Marijuana pa lang at LSD. Wala nga kaming bigas na maisaing, mag iisip pa mag droga? Tsaka we were occupied on what was happening during that time. Meaning, we did not just wished a change,we did something. Eh kayo,reklamo dito,reklamo doon. May ginagawa ba kayo? Hmmn. Police brutality? Good. Nabanggit mo yan. May pinatay na bang 70,000 Filipinos ang mga police ngayon? DAP,PDAF. San ba napunta yan? Sa kamay ng mga politiko. At balasahin mo ang mga pangalan o apelyido nila. Hmmn. Kalimitan mga remnants o anak ng mga politikong na-iwan ni Marcos na sa kasamaang palad, ibinoto nyo uli. Bakit? Dahil yung dapat mag sulong ng pagbabago noon, ipinapatay na ni Marcos. Pamilya lang naman ni Marcos ang inilipad ng helikopter palabas ng bansa. Pati nga pala mga alahas at titulo. Yung mga sapatos,naiwan dahil ayaw isakay ng piloto. Malayo din naman yung Hawaii,ano? What about SSS,GSIS,PHILCOMSAT,NSC,NCI.NFA,CCP. Lahatin na natin. O,hala kulang pa siguro ang basa mo. You are correct when you say it is not safe to live in the Philippines anymore. But to tell you, it is global. It is happening in every cities in the world. You can’t trust anyone anymore. GLOBAL. You understand? Well, kung nasa KSA ka siguro,pero safe ka ba run? Yes, you are true. Aquinos are no better than Marcoses. I will campaign with you with that. Pero, kaisipin muli, ang pamilyang Marcos,Ver at Conjuangco ang nakalabas ng Pilipinas. Yung iba? Nanalitili sa Pilipinas. Sa ibang bansa, patay lahat yan. Ngayon,bakit magtataka ka na mahirap pa rin ang Pilipinas? Nandyan ka sa atin, well do something. Magsimula ka sa bayan mo ng proyekto na makabuluhan. Kahit maliit lang. Walang sinuman ang makakapagbago ng Pilipinas dahil sa ka-isipan natin. Watak watak. Kaya enjoy ang mga Marcos (epitome’ na yan). Habang may tao na ipagtatangol ang Martial Law at ikukumpara sa ngayon, maniwala ka man at hindi, walang mangyayaring mabuti. Tsaka, bakit si Aquino ang pinaggigisa ng tao. Hindi naman kandidato yun? Igisa ninyo yung mga kandidato. LAHAT. BAKA NAMAN BRAINWASHED NA ANG STONE-WASHED NA BRAIN.
i just hope you understand where i am coming from..
Do you know George Santayana, iceofanangel? We believe in what he said about ignorance and disregard with history. You probably hated your history class in school and you are like one of those people who made up their minds that history is a worthless pursuit of knowledge…
Iceofanangel19, I respect your gesture towards Ms. Kennedy. It shows maturity. I won’t debate either but I just want to state that her blog remains online as it her right to do so and her purpose is to memorialize the sins of the past in an attempt to sow awareness among contemporary Filipinos. 53% of our population is 24 years old and below. I have observed over the last 2-5 years that there is and has been an organized online campaign to sow historically inaccurate information and paint an overly rosy-colored picture about life under martial law to these below-24 year olds who have little or no clue of how life truly was under martial law. If they believe in and base their opinions on a one dimensiopnal view of history, then we all have a responsibility to them to at least try to give them the other viewpoint, even at the risk of confrontation. I agree with you that we should not dwell in the past, but because certain situations and challenges have only been recently resolved regarding the Marcoses and martial law, and a lot more to be resolved in the near future, for example the news today reported the seizure of multi-million dollar artwork from the Marcos family. Clearly, there is still a part of the past that is still alive in the present and until these lingering issues are dealt with on more than one level, these issues will not remain silent in the archives, even if you and I become mute. Such is our lot as a people colonized and dived by our peculiar history. We must labor through it until its resolution. But you and I, we can agree to disagree, as we do now. Let there be peace between us, no name calling, no disrespect. Let there be peaceful discussion among all of us in a spirit of mutual respect, awareness of and patience with, all points of view. “Ang taon hindi lumilingon sa pinanggalingan, hindi mararating sa paroroonan” (“A man who looks not to his past will arrive not at his destination”). A martyred Filipino visionary left us with this riddle because he saw our culture being erased and supplanted during his time and he foresaw the rise of a generation of divided Filipinos with an unclear image of themselves, and of their identity, because of their disconnect with their history, and he pointed out that the answer to most our present day challenges, personal and national, lies in our past, if we can look and understand. Mabuhay.
Obbie Osias Do I need to know who George Santayana is? Am i required to believe everything that he says? It is my decision to let bygones be bygones, so why do you even care? My mind tells me that it’s worthless debating with you guys simply because of differences. You know nothing about me and how I value history, and my past — but it doesn’t necessarily follow that I must dwell in the painful past. I choose to move forward. Now, please get your focus on the main issue and not on me. Share your knowledge to people….who knows, you’ll get more followers.
i’m gonna leave this thread with hopes that you, too, will consider digging the whole truth. My apologies if some of my words put you off — these are words coming from an eyewitness’ standpoint. Sometimes we need to hear from both sides to discern and be able to weigh things better. anyways, i wish you well in all your wanderings :). God bless you.
iceofanangel, your words do not put me off in the slightest. On the contrary, I am very happy that this blog has provided a forum for the exchange of views and ideas. These are simply chapters from my memoirs, nothing more, based on articles that I wrote and diaries that I kept at the time. They are my views. I am entitled to them as you are most certainly entitled to yours. And, as far as the Aquinos are concerned, I wrote at the time (in another article published here on this blog) that Ninoy was very similar to Marcos and would, without doubt, have declared martial law himself had he been in power at that time. So it doesn’t surprise me at all that Aquino’s son has not been a successful President.
I welcome your views, as I do the opinions of others, whether they agree with me or not. There is room here for everyone’s opinions.
I know this thread is not the right one to post this, but I would like to leave a personal anecdote about a recollection of Ferdinand Marcos’s WW II years, as told by the “Guerilleros” who were with him when they fought the Japanese during that time.
NOTE: This is maybe as what you can call, “apocryphal” as the people who told this just have the story etched on their memories, and ‘never’ wrote anything about it nor made a memoir out of it (for reasons I think I have an inkling, but not sure what it/those was/were).
When I was young (1984, a scrawny 12-year-old back then), my father used to befriend people who fought during the war (He was born in 1943, at the height of it). He always admire the freedom fighters of that era, as his father (my grandfather) in his own little way, provide information/intelligence/support to their cause. Back then they were 60-something-year-olds who retired to being farmers/artisans/laborers, who in their idealistic/nationalistic sense, refused the offers to become American citizens/”pensioners” and decided to stay in the Philippines and live a quiet life ( they settled around the Pembo/Comembo area that was in and around Fort Bonifacio camp grounds, at that time a tranquil semi-secluded area before it became the Bonifacio Global Centre it is today). Two are friends who lived just next to each other; the other two are separate individuals with their own lives but somehow remotely knew the other two as they belong to the same guerilla battalion. Unfortunately I no longer remember their names, let alone their first names. They never talk much about the war, let alone their heroics, as for them they say, is more of a ‘lingering pain’ due to lost loved ones than a glorification of their bravados in war. We somehow got to know them through other people who knew of their past.
Fast forward to the gist of my recollection, my father asks them a lot about their activities and life during those times, and one of those accounts were during their time that they got to know Ferdinand Marcos, who introduced himself to them as a war correspondent). He offered his services to their guerrilla team “to fight for the freedom of the Philippines”, so he told them. He did tag along with them, occasionally engaging in skirmishes (“firing a bullet or two”, as one of them recounted), but the most ‘glaring’ of their accounts, which I hear almost consistently when they’re telling their stories, was that he always carry along a “Makinilya (machinilla)” which is a slang for a heavy iron-clad typewriter that was common during the time. Wherever they go, – mountains, jungles, doing urban warfare, – he just crouch around a nook or corner and types away, whilst bullets and grenades whirl past by them. They were pretty amused that despite the fierce tension of gunfire and ammunition, he still manage to make an articulate report of the battle, without getting grazed or even wounded by any means.
I’d like to emphasize that they never said anything bad or expressed ill will toward him in any way. They’re just amused of his toned physique they say most likely due to carrying the “heavy equipment” around the country, even through leech-infested rivers (carrying it above his head), making sure his stash of paper sheets and “makinilya” don’t get drenched or stained in any way. Though they say nothing bad about him, they don’t have a impressive recollection of his character either, except for the typewriter (*grin*). There’s this uneasiness in their faces though, when they’re telling that part of the story. My father only told me later (when we got home, and talking to another friend of his visiting him) that it’s *possibly* they’re being cautious around with strangers and talk about somebody who’s well-known (or rather ‘notorious’ 😉 ) and be in peril of being ‘visited’ or ‘invited’ by some paramilitary force in the middle of the night and God knows what their fate will be. In a nutshell, he’s a nice, regular guy, kinda brave, but more of a “reporter than a shooter”, as one of them would say.
The ‘Maharlika’ thing, that we now all know to be a hoax, was something they never expect to be something the would become a brouhaha of sorts. The ‘survivors of Bataan’, ‘Ruthlessly hunted by the Japanese for their exploits’, ‘bemedalled war hero’ – which upon mentioning (by my father) to them, turned their facial expressions into someone who’s just seen a new kind of creature and were taken aback by its strangeness, one eye widening in disbelief while the other squinting with a snarl of sarcasm. They never said a word of any negative connotations of the claim, but the two friends concur that it really “quite silly” (they said that in English) for that guerilla unit to happen, because if it *DOES* exist, would mean they are *part* of that unit, would have known about the ‘heroic deeds’ and even testified on Marcos’s behalf. One of the latter two mentioned strongly that that would be close to “absurd”, as he didn’t even lead any divisions within the unit, and they’re definitely NOT called ‘Maharlika’.
Nevertheless, they neither harbor contempt nor grudge against Marcos for claiming all glories and fame as allegedly his (“he can have all of that”, some of them said), and for them everything that happened in the past are already a bygone era, and neither do they harbor hatred against the Japanese; in fact they even admire the rapid technological progress they were making and putting their country among the best in the world. They never wished for anything better for the Philippines, nor even putting disdain or expressing disappointment for what was happening to the Philippines at the time. They just want to be left alone in peace, happy to see their children and grandchildren living productive lives, and thankful to be alive to tell their own personal ‘little’ tale, even at the least just to set the records straight, especially on the ‘Maharlika’ subject.
And I consider myself fortunate to have met at least a few of these war heroes that I forever will be indebted with. Without them, would we still be here?
I don’t expect anybody to believe nor even force them to believe my recollections of the conversations my father and I had with them. Again, at best they’re all can be relegated to the “Apocryphal” accounts; after all they are *not* written down – all oral accounts, unfortunately not even inscribed in our history books’ footnotes. If only that “Maharlika unit” were real, and their names be inscribed and given due credit to be immortalized.
I am sorry, Ms. Kennedy, if i commented in Taglish. Since your blog is trending in the public, it is but expected that some like me will write in Tagalog. It is good,in my point of view,because it will be understood by most Filipinos but will put you in difficulty. You see, even in spoken language, Filipinos have a wide gap.
You’re very welcome to write in Taglish or any other of the 87 dialects of the Philippines!
MacG, what a fascinating story. Thank you so much for telling it in such detail. I am a great believer in oral history. Sadly, many people’s stories are never written down. But the tradition of spoken word history, passed down through generations, is very strongly ingrained in many countries, particularly among rural populations who tended to be less literate and most likely had limited access to pen, paper or typewriter. These accounts are no less valid, no less important, no less believable than the written accounts of the day. So it is very possible that the story you tell here is the true story of Marcos’s war exploits. Thank you again. I hope everyone who reads this blog will read your comment too.
You’re very much welcome. It’s unfortunate that I can’t give justice by putting at least their complete names as I’m not a very attentive young kid when it comes to minute details, but surely the essence of their stories linger in my mind, and now as an adult I appreciate listening to people when they tell their life stories and focus carefully on whatever details no matter how mundane or seemingly trivial it is. Since I ‘unwittingly’ put this story in writing I guess this now serves as the *only* written account of their acquaintance with the former strongman/dictator. I wish I still have my father to defer to on some details but he has long since passed on as well.
More power to your blog and will surely point the younger generation (who has very little or no knowledge at all of the what Marcos did or never did) to this page to further expand their awareness of history on that particular point in time. I was ther and I know. The danger still lingers (we know Bongbong M. is not only there to “serve” and “glorify” the Philippines if he comes to power, heaven forbid), Imelda (the ‘significant’ half) is still strong as ever and making statements here and there of her son’s ‘inevitable’ rise to power, her daughters – giving them a chance, – still can carry clout and influence to lots of prospective voters who are unaware, the peril of history being re-written is still potent and possible (they are now insisting the long, dead Marcos to be finally given a hero’s burial at the ‘Libingan ng mga Bayani’ [Heroes Cemetery], which would be the height of inhumanity to their victims and their victim’s families if that happens; and they’re doing it now to crank up the noise come 2016 elections), and we know the cronies are just lying around in wait like a lion to a prey.
Awareness is the key. To forgive is indeed good, but to forget surely *CANNOT* be considered ‘divine’.
Very eloquently stated. I just hope that the Marcoses will not continue to pull the wool over the eyes of the Filipino people. As you so rightly say, a hero’s burial for Marcos would be the ultimate insult to the many who suffered and died under his rule. And the election of President Bong Bong in 2016 (heaven forbid!) would not only legitimize the corruption, the wealth-grabbing, the brutal excesses, the incarcerations without trial and the violent deaths carried out by his father’s regime but also seal the fate of the country for decades to come.
I believe you, MacG…
oh, and for anybody saying that the marcoses built those fabulous infrastructure projects for the people? not really. it’s to feed their vanity. The Philippine Children’s Medical Center has a mural featuring the Marcos kids at play. Imelda often drops by, just to check if that mural is still there.
Hi Caroline, just came upon this story again and there’s something I would like to correct. I don’t believe Elvira Manahan was actually a Blue Lady. Yes, she and Dr. Manahan were friends of Imelda and the Dictator, but remember that her brother-in-law, Sen. Manuel Manahan in 1965, put up a 3rd party challenge to Marcos and Macapagal in that year’s presidential elections. So Elvira was firmly in her in-laws’ camp. I don’t believe I ever saw her in a Blue Ladies’ outfit. (BTW, am still working on the foundations for the 30th anniversary expose book–which I had written to you about a few months ago.)
I stand corrected then, Myles. Thank you for pointing this out. Elvira was very close to Imelda, as was her husband. I believe he delivered all the Marcos children. But you may be right about this point. And, yes, I was wondering about your book. I remember you had mentioned it some time ago. I hope it is coming along well. If I can help at all, please let me know.
Who are these dimwits (like iceofanangel) who insist on posting in pilipino when this is an English-language blog. And even though I read, write and speak tagalog, I find it very cumbersome to plow through. And it really only reaches those parties who are quite insecure in their grasp of English. I know I will get skewered for that…but I don’t care. NOT AT ALL. I speak in the more universal language of English and that reaches a far greater market that some blind, die-hard, idiotic Marcos fools.
That’s a bit harsh, Myles! But, I agree, it is not exactly fair of them to write responses to my blog in Tagalog since it puts me at a distinct disadvantage. I can neither truly understand their comments nor satisfactorily respond to them.. What Tagalog I used to know has been involuntary submerged by my distance from the Philippines and by my need to acquire Spanish due to my residency in Costa Rica.
**log
Don’t worry, Myles. I grew up in Manila and my late mother was from Nueva Ecija. I can lecture them in tagalog for all of you who are not used to expressing your ideas in the language of Balagtas. I know some deep, deep tagalog words that you probably never heard of. Let them babble to their hearts content…
Hypocrisy personified… 🙂
Unfortunately for the Filipino people, most, if not all fo those shouting” Sobra Na, Palitan Na” during the last days of the Marcos regime merely meant ” Kami Na Man! Thus , corruption in government institutionalized by the unlamented Dictatorwas merely democratized by the first Aquino administration as well as her successors. Pity!
A real pity, sadly you are right, Luis.
I guess this recent blog post/article by Ramon Casiple better elaborates what we fear now:
https://ph.news.yahoo.com/blogs/parallaxis/-the-marcos-shadow-052929041.html
Thanks for this article MacG. I fear Casiple is right. From what he writes it certainly appears the Marcoses have strategically placed their family members and cronies around the country to intimidate the voters and bolster the voting process for when Bong Bong runs for President in 2016.
A former classmate from UP married the oldest son of the #1 Marcos hatchet-man, Fabian Ver, a few months back, and is now on a first-name basis with the Marcos children. The new Mrs. Ver has shared the bit with her friends that Imee and Imelda want the younger Ver to run for Congress for one of the Ilocos districts in 2016–but that would mean giving up their rather dull, drama-free life in the U.S. So the new Mr. & Mrs. I. Ver have about a year to think things over before they succumb to the summons from the Dark Side or not.
I would be horrified if the son of the much-detested Fabian Ver ran for any office in the Philippines. Fabian Ver was Marcos’s henchman and, thus, has much blood on his hands.
They have no conscience to live like that,look at the people in the Phillippnes living in the garbage,they stole people’s livelihood.One day they will met the creator face to face and present themselves like robbers and no heart to co-Filipinos.they will difinitely going to suffer in Hell for the rest of thier lives.
sometimes i believe we deserve all the misery are are wading deep in. stupidity in this country is universal.
That’s a very sad and defeatist way to feel, Juan. Surely you can all fight for what you believe in?
Meanwhile, on the other side of the gene pool….
http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/85844-oxford-university-confirms-bongbong-marcos-got-only-special-diploma
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/119383/in-defense-of-bongbong-marcos-and-his-oxford-fantasy/
As they say around here, Jr.’s a poor shadow of Sr. – only poorer. 😉
Thanks for these links, Mac.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
K M, you must be out of your mind! Son of a crony este bitch!
Forget the past, look at the present. Now, which do you think is better.
just a question. if marcos is really that bad? why havent he commanded the military to fire a single shot during EDSA revolution? can you compare now a days that people can be masaccared at one time ? after marcos was ousted from his post, have you considered those who were murdered in masses like mendiola masaccare? the hacienda luisita? the saf 44? the maguindanao masaccare?. and a lot more…pls enlighten me…
I saw Marcos’s conversation with Gen. Fabian Ver on live tv. Ver told marcos that he will send in troops with long arms (assault rifles or armalites) but Marcos countermanded him, saying “No. small arms only.” Which means that he gave permission to troops to fire on the people but with small arms in order to keep the injuries or casualties to a minimum. But although Marcos gave the permission to shoot, the troops themselves could not bring themselves to fire their weapons at defenseless people. There were 2 waves of soldiers. The first were from the National Capital region. They were in armored personnel carriers and tanks when they were confronted and stopped by throngs of people, young, old, male, female, in rags, in barongs, tshirts, etc. They came out of their vehicles and saw literally an ocean of people calling out to them not to shoot them. These soldiers saw something that overwhelmed them that a number of them broke down in tears. Some of them turned back but some of them joined the rebels.
The second wave was flown in from the battlefront in the southern Philippines, on chartered PAL planes. They were told that communists had taken over the streets and were ordered to disperese them and to shoot anyone who resisted.
But they too were overcome by the sight of tens of thousands of people that filled the length and breadth of EDSA from Ortigas Avenue all the way to Cubao and the intersections in between. A number of them came to tears and like those before them, they truned back or joined the rebel soldiers holed up in the camp, shielded by the people.
Now consider that up to 30,000 Filipinos were arrested and detained without warrant during martial law. About a forth of that number were killed. Many were brutally maimed during torture, many of them either died from their injuries and many more never fully recovered from sustained injuries. These are mostly well documented and those details are available online. This is the reason why 10 Billion pesos was earmarked for reparations to martial law victims and their families.
The money came from the $700 Million swiss bank account belonging to the Marcos family which was turned over to the philippine government based on a 2003 decision by the Philippine Supreme Court which dismissed the petition of the Marcos family which tried to claim those funds as their property.
http://www.newsflash.org/2003/05/hl/hl019259.htm
The Mendiola massacre that happened in 1987 was unfortunate, to say the least. less than a year since Cory Aquino was in office, militant farmers’ groups led by Jaime Tadeo and the KMP demanded genuine agrarian reform from the govt. The farmers barricaded the Ministry of Agrarian Reform offices on January 21, 1987 and prevented government employees from exiting the building.
The then marched to malacanang instead of talking to the negotiating panel.
The marchers numbered 10,000–15,000 by the time they reached Recto Avenue. They clashed with the police, and the police lines were breached. At this point, gunshots were heard and the marchers disengaged from the melee, retreating towards Claro M. Recto Avenue. Sporadic gunfire could be heard amidst the withdrawal. Alfredo Lim, now Mayor of Manila, maintains that the Marines were responsible for the shooting.
Today, we have learned from past experiences that militant leftist groups infiltrate farmers groups, labor groups and incite people to confrontations that they know will end up bloody but the leaders sacrifice their followers in order to attain to their real agenda: Destabilize government and sow disorder because in such environments, their ideology can take root and spread.
The other situations you mentioned, Hacienda Luisita, SAF 44, Maguindanao massacre have varying circumstances but there are also common denominators. Evil is not present in one person alone. It is in all of us. Good, too.
But it would be tremendously hypocritical for me, as I can only speak for myself, to state that Marcos was truly bad or evil. No, he was flawed because he was human and thus he had failings, just like each and every one of us.
To this day, if I meet anyone who speaks badly of Marcos, I point out to them that, roles reversed, if it had been us in his place, with absolute and total power over the military, business and civil society, we too would most likely fall prey to the temptation that Marcos gave in to, and thus we too would have reaped what we would have sown.
The lesson is to empower as many people as possible with the ability and right to choose those who will serve as stewards over the country in order to avoid or prevent tragedies such as those mentioned here.
With absolute certainly there will never be a perfect government or country but we cannot give up in the trying and striving for the best that we can accomplish. Whether we live here or abroad, this is the only country and the only race of people that we have and belong to.
Thanks again, Mike, for your eloquent response in my “defense”! I am not sure what I have done to deserve such chivalrous support! I am again impressed by your expertise on the subject. I do wish you were a Political History teacher rather than an estate agent. So many students would benefit from your vast knowledge. I think you missed your vocation! But I’m glad this site has given you an opportunity to share your wisdom.
i get or don’t get that this is not the Caroline Kennedy, sister of John Jr, is she? I don’t think she is this rude…
You are right. I am not “the” Caroline Kennedy, sister of John Jr..but no one has accused me before of being rude. So you are in a minority, I’m afraid. Even if people don’t disagree with what I write, they respect it is my opinion and that, since I am writing about my own experiences, it is the truth. And if you can’t handle the truth, then this is not the right page for you, Mango.
The truth is rude only to those who are misinformed or to those who have an alternate reality. What happened happened. The Marcos camp has been lying to people all these years. And when this sort of thing is perpetuated the ones spinning the tales begin to believe the tales themselves. You lie, you live with the lie, you live the lie. Then the alternate reality sets in permanently. To them they are no longer lying. It becomes truth. It is truth.
Absolutely, you are right, JC. Speaking and living the lie makes it the truth to some people. Not to those of us who know, though.
I fail to see how publishing the truth is rude. I am quite certain that if any members of the Kennedy clan had witnessed the manifestations of the abuses and excesses during Martial law as Ms. Caroline did, they would be reiterating the very same things that have been written here. Such is the forthright nature not only of the Kennedys but of americans in general.
Very informative. Thanks to those people who wrote this article for us who never knew the situation before and can now share and hopefully, history will never repeat itself. Hand in hand let’s help each other as we are hoping for a true change in our country. I am deeply sad of what’s happening today, it is so heartbreaking seeing our Filipino brothers and sisters living unemployed in the Philippines and lead nowhere. Surely, those uneducated individuals this time who never exist during those times of Marcos knows nothing, these people needs guidance from those knowledgeable about the real history.
I was living in the Marcos Regime before, when I was a kid you don’t need to lock all your doors and windows. It was so peaceful before, there’s no robbers or akyat bahay gang.. But right now seems like too many crimes piled up in the Philippines..
That may be, Kiriza, but then everyone was living in fear. Freedoms were curtailed. If that is the way you prefer to live then you have to be prepared to give up your freedoms. How about meeting friends in cafes in those days? If there were more than three of you you could have been apprehended by the Manila Metrocom and carted off to Camp Crame. More than three people constituted a “conspiracy” and that was not legal. How about your male friends with long hair? If they were caught on the street with long hair policemen had the right to cut their hair off, right there on the street. So don’t look at that period through rose-tinted spectacles or simply remember the nice things and not the unpleasant ones. The Philippines under Marcos was not some kind kind of Utopia. There were huge prices to pay. You may have been fortunate and not had friends or family members who were rounded up and taken to Camp Crame or “disappeared” without trace, assumed dead, never to be seen again.
@Kiriza Rubi Corn – I was 16 years old when martial law was declared. The Philippine population then was less than 38 million. Today it’s 100 million. I don’t have the figures for metro manila then or now but these can be easily retrieved from the internet but the huge gap in population explains in large part the difference the incidence of crime then and now. But we don’t have racial shootings like in Ferguson or gun shootings in schools or in cinemas. I think that if we compare the crime here and abroad we would come up with some interesting realizations.
I lived in Bel Air village then, an exclusive village in Makati City. Where did you live? Thinking back, I realize I was relatively insulated from the reality of martial law by a certain degree of wealth or privilege then. But just because I “felt” safe didn’t change the reality of martial law one bit. Basic human rights were still suspended or non-existent. My feeling “safe wasn’t the reality for the whole Philippines or for most Filipinos.
Anyone could be picked up or “invited” without a warrant (technical arrest) and taken to the police or military headquarters where you could be detained for as long as they needed you to be. That alone would have been enough to denounce martial law. We could talk about the 20,000 – 30,000 people who were detained, many tortured (how they were tortured is the stuff of nightmares) about 4,000 were “salvaged” or killed, their remains never found by their families. We’re talking about students, professors, labor leaders, student leaders, newsmen and journalists, male, female, young and old.
Were THEY “safe”?
It didn’t matter if you left your doors unlocked because if the dreaded metrocom came for you, you would likely be among the approximately 15,000 martial law victims who have filed claims for martial law reparations. Or your heirs, if in case you didn’t survive.
Today, arrests can’t happen without a warrant. Illegal detention will result in jail without bail for the guilty. Innocent until proven guilty and the right to due process is available to everyone under the law, today, including lawbreakers.
In recent years, when the arrest was defective because it didn’t follow the prescribed procedures, the arrestees were released by the judge because their rights were violated. Not so during martial law.
But that the incidence of crime in the Philippines was lower then than it is now is precisely because human rights were unavailable to everyone. Criminals or those who were inclined to commit crime were in fear of punishment or death at the hands of abusive police or military personnel.
The higher incidence of crime today reflects many things. rapid growth in the economy, population, the lack of decentralization of the central business districts, the aftermath of many years of plunder, graft and corruption among those elected to safeguard the people’s money which could have been used to address many needs, lack of education, classrooms, health care, etc., etc.
There is now a new war, one on corruption in all its forms but most specially in public service. A war on impunity by those elected few to be in power over the many who abuse the trust and authority bestowed upon them. The war on these incorrigibles has begun but it is in its infancy. But the message has been delivered. I have seen, felt and observed a greater level of efficiency and professionalism in government offices with surprisingly no demands or attempts to extort money from taxpayers. But of course there are still those who are compelled to enrich themselves unlawfully if their acts can be hidden from the public eye. The Bureau of customs, for example, can use a lot of sanitizing. But even that has improved, comparatively.
But our romantic notions of martial law, even if they were real, does not change the actual history of it.
That we felt safe then may be subjective. That there were tens of thousands of martial law victims, is objective.
I wonder why this blog has suddenly making rounds. News about the Marcoses were also published left and right in almost all media outlets (print and digital) of which the Aquinos have direct connections with. This so-called ‘diary’ is baseless; nothing but a bored housewife’s story while she’s having her hair done in a salon. These people call the Marcoses thieves when in fact Ferdinand Marcos was already rich even before he became president. I mean, what’s the point? Why now… Again? Clearly, this blog site is nothing but part of an elaborated smear campaign. By the way, love the story-telling; sounded like a real writer wrote those words. Felt like I was reading a drama series.
Question, how was Imelda able to dodge all the cases filed at the international court against her? Did she like pay all the jury — which I doubt? Even until now, the Philippine government could not present a single solid case against the Marcoses, especially with regard to the alleged ill-gotten wealth. If my memory serves me right, I think they were accusing Marcos of stealing more than a trillion dollar off the Philippine treasury which was absurd considering the Philippines didn’t have that kind of huge budget.
Lastly, Edsa People Power 1 – that was just probably 10% of the representation of the whole Philippine populace, mostly the rich who want to secure their businesses and the uneducated bunch who would climb the mountains for a dime.
I really wonder how much they paid this writer to reblog this again and cultivate new conversations online. I’m a PR professional, and I know a fake story when I read one, and I know a campaign when I see one. Been doing this shit for 20 years now, here and abroad.
For someone who calls herself JennyTheSuperWhore I am not sure I should take your comment too seriously. In your first paragraph you refer to my article as “a baseless diary, nothing but a bored housewife’s story” but then, two lines down you say you loved the story-telling which sounded like it had been written by a real writer. Glad you enjoyed it and happy you recognized that I am a “real writer”. But you can’t have it both ways. The Marcos trolls are out today in full force, I see. As a PR professional how does JENNYTHESUPERWHORE go down with your professional colleagues and clients, I wonder? I certainly wouldn’t purchase your services with that name…But then there are, perhaps, some men who would.
@Jenny – You should read ALL the comments here so you can get updated. But no worries, i’ll be glad to oblige by answering your questions. This blog site as you call it has been around for many years but for some reason it may have showed up only recently in your inbox.
Marcos already rich before he became president? True. But not the way you think. As a congressman, he made a lot of money “selling” importation licenses.
Imelda won the cases against her in the early stages because all courts require one thing in common: The ORIGINAL documents which were the basis for the “probable cause against them. All the phil. government had then were photocopies of bank accounts, ledgers, etc. In order for the courts to render a favorable decision, the original documents had to be submitted but these were in the possession of the Marcoses.
So in correction, solid cases were presented but the final proof could not. Courts everywhere operate on the basis of probable cause.
Probable cause is a level of reasonable belief, based on facts that can be articulated, that is required to sue a person in civil court or to arrest and prosecute a person in criminal court. Before a person can be sued or arrested and prosecuted, the civil plaintiff or police and prosecutor must possess enough facts that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the claim or charge is true. (legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary)
“Even until now, the Philippine government could not present a single solid case against the Marcoses, especially with regard to the alleged ill-gotten wealth.”
That statement is no longer true. Yes, Imelda won her early cases on a technicality. No or insufficient original documents could be presented by the phil govt. But in recent years, the phil. govt has been winning their cases against the Marcoses.
“SUPREME COURT DENIES MARCOSES’ PLEA ON $658-M SWISS ACCOUNT”
MANILA, November 19, 2003 (STAR) By Aurea Calica – The Supreme Court (SC) upheld with finality yesterday its earlier decision to award to the government more than $658 million (roughly P36 billion) in Swiss bank deposits of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, throwing out petitions by his widow and children.
The Swiss deposits would be the single largest amount recovered from the billions of dollars the Marcoses allegedly amassed.
The tribunal said the government was able to establish prima facie presumption that the Swiss accounts were ill-gotten and thus the burden of proof shifted, by law, to the respondents to show by clear and convincing evidence that the Swiss deposits were lawfully acquired and that they had other legitimate sources of income.
In its July 15 decision, the SC said the Marcoses failed to justify that they lawfully acquired the Swiss deposits that reached the estimated aggregate amount of $658,175,373.60 as of Jan. 31, 2002.
Section 2 of RA 1379 explicitly states that “whenever any public officer or employee has acquired during his incumbency an amount of property which is manifestly out of proportion to his salary, the said property shall be presumed prima facie to have been unlawfully acquired.”
The SC ruled that since the total amount of the Swiss deposits was considerably out of proportion to the known lawful income of the Marcoses, the presumption that the dollar deposits were unlawfully acquired was duly established.
Records showed the late President Ferdinand Marcos only received a salary of P1.5 million from 1966 to 1985 while his wife, who served as Metro Manila governor and minister of human settlements, got only P718,750 from 1976 to 1985.
Based on the legitimate salaries of the Marcos couple, the Sandiganbayan also ruled that they could not have afforded the schooling of Bongbong Marcos in London, not to mention the personal, family and household expenses and their lifestyle.
The court pointed out Mrs. Marcos failed to give specific details as to how the funds were supposedly acquired legally. The Marcoses also did not present and attach any single document to prove their claims.
As for the Marcos children, the court said their denial could not rightfully be accepted as a defense because they are legal heirs and successors-in-interest of their father and are therefore bound by the acts of the late dictator vis-a-vis the Swiss funds.
Mrs. Marcos also admitted in her manifestation before the Sandiganbayan on May 26, 1998 that she was the sole beneficiary of 90 percent of the money and 10 percent belongs to the state of Mr. Marcos.
“The admission of respondent Imelda Marcos confirmed what was generally known: that the foundations were established precisely to hide the money stolen by the Marcos spouses from petitioner Republic. It negated whatever illusion there was, if any, that the foreign foundations owned even a nominal part of the assets in question,” the court said.
The rest of the details are in the link below. This decision of the SC is a matter of public record and can be found on their website.
http://www.newsflash.org/2003/05/hl/hl019259.htm
“Sandigan Junks Marcos Family Claim to Paoay Property” – Philippine Daily Inquirer
April 23rd, 2014
“PCGG Recovers $29M from Marcos Loot” – PDI February 13th, 2014
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/577304/philippines-recovers-29m-from-marcos-accounts
“Supreme Court: Marcos Kids must face wealth case” – inq.net July 30th, 2012
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/238953/supreme-court-marcos-kids-must-face-wealth-case
“The Supreme Court has affirmed with finality its February ruling reinstating the children of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos as defendants in the government’s P200-billion ill-gotten wealth case against the Marcos family.”
“With the finality of the decision, the civil suit against the Marcos children—Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos-Manotoc, Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Irene Marcos-Araneta—and their mother, Ilocos Norte Representative Imelda Marcos, may proceed in the Sandiganbayan.”
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/596857/sandigan-junks-marcos-family-claim-to-paoay-property
The Phils didn’t have that kind of money that the Marcoses “allegedly” stole but the goverments who lent the money certainly did, specially the US govt. They gave loans, grants and military monthly “payments” in the billions of dollars. This doesn’t include the annual “royalties” paid to him by the different industry leaders, or the padded purchases of the AFP for arms ans supplies.
As for EDSA 1, you said “that was just probably 10% of the representation of the whole Philippine populace, mostly the rich who want to secure their businesses and the uneducated bunch who would climb the mountains for a dime.”
By “probably” you reveal your youth, meaning you weren’t there and therefore you’re just making assumptions based on your personal values or loyalties.
I was there from Day 1 of the EDSA revolt. During the first wave of the tanks near Ortigas Avenue, the people who stopped them were mostly in shorts and slippers. They were there without having had dinner but they knew that something was going on and from deep in their chests they acted. Like me. I had a very small business, yes, but I was there because it was time to put a stop to all that.
No one was there “climbing mountains for a dime” as you so cheaply put it, parrotting someone else’s words. I know because I read the original line when it first came out. You’re in a very long line of people to quote it. You have absolutely no idea or concept of what happened at EDSA. You have no credibility to pseak thereof.
What happened is exactly what made those hardened soldiers climb out of their tanks and break out in tears.
From Ortigas Avenue to Cubao and the intersections in between, a vast teeming ocean of people filled the length and breadth of EDSA, overflowing it. I climbed the electric pole at the crest of P. Tuazon and saw what made those soldiers cry. I saw the face and hand of God. Laugh of you wish but i don’t care. I saw what it was that drove people out of their homes and act as a human shield between the govt and that small group of soldiers holed up in Crame. Hunger, thirst and fatigue no longer mattered. Something else, not easily captured by human language, took place. That’s all that mattered to those who were there and shared that living experience.
Years after, different groups would attempt to clone or replicate the original Spirit of EDSA, but failed, using tactics as you described, preying on people’s needs and making them forfeit their morals for “a dime”.
You’ve been doing your shit for twenty years now, here and abroad? No wonder you believe your own shit.
Mike Acuna: Thank you very much for all of this. I hope that the younger generation will be able to read this.
Thank you, Angeles Lopez, for the acknowledgment. I hope the younger generation will throw off centuries of indolence embedded by our colonial experience and realize that the truth is close to their fingertips, in the ether, available to the determined souls who seek and find and thereby redeem their true selves.
@Angeles Lopez – Those who do not look back to their origins which shaped and molded them shall by no means arrive at their true destiny. – A paraphrased translation of Jose Rizal’s, “Ang taong hindi lumilingon sa kanyang pinanggalingan ay hindi mararating sa kaniang paroroonan”.
You are so eloquent and so well read, Mike. I am determined to meet you next time I am in Manila. It will, in fact, be sooner than expected as my daughter, Jasmine, is having a baby there in March.
Excellent news, Caroline, both about the coming baby and your visit to Manila. I shall look forward to it. Happy trails.
@@Mike. Born in Mindanao in Misamis Oriental. All I remember before every 4AM, I saw battalions of Military jogging on the street going to the beach for their daily routine exercise, I don’t see guns they wore army green shorts and sleeveless tops tank..
@Kiriza Rubi Corn – That explains it. The action was mostly, but not completely, in the national capital region. How could you have known what really happened in the NCR? But Look up the Jabidah Massacre also known as the Corregidor massacre.
“The Jabidah Massacre, which is also known as the Corregidor Massacre, was the alleged killing of Moro soldiers by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on March 18, 1968.[1] The Moro soldiers were said to have been deceived to believe that they were recruited to become part of an elite unit of the Philippine Army and were only told their real mission, which was to foment chaos in Sabah,[2][3] in the latter part of their training. Consequently, they refused to participate in the mission because it would involve killing fellow Muslims and Sabahans, to whom they were related by blood (the recruits were mostly Tausugs and Samals).[4] The superiors of the Moro soldiers feared leakage of the Philippine’s intent to forcibly retake Sabah and decided that they had no choice but to execute all the Moros.”
“Witness accounts of the massacre vastly differ. The number of victims, for example, was sometimes reported to be as low as 11, while others estimate that up to 400 were massacred.[5] Some authors[6] believe that the massacre never existed.[12] The Jabidah Massacre is widely regarded as having been the catalyst behind the modern Moro insurgencies in the Southern Philippines.[3]”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabidah_massacre
Thank God for people like you Mike and Caroline. I just recently been reading the exchange. Caroline was here during the Marcos years. You were here. I was here. I am amazed at the lack of correct information most people suffer from. Add to that belief in the perpetuated lies of the Marcoses. I was 12 yrs old when Martial Law was declared. I lived through it.KAWAWA TAYO KUNG WALANG MAGSASABI NG KATOTOHANAN! And to label the telling of truth as rudeness… I wanted to shout BUT THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED, YOU DORK! Thank you Again Caroline and Mike. I just want to say, whenever you encounter loyalists, or simply people who don’t know truth from error, remember there are still millions of us who know the truth of Marcos’ regime.
Thank you, JC. I appreciate your words.
Reblogged this on mixlablog.
hahaha, I was born in the 60’s in the Philippines, was an anti-Marcos but realized that life was much better back then than now. You should go visit Philippines NOW, and see the difference. I hope you don’t get rape, beat up, or even take your belongings. Check for yourself.
I visit the Philippines regularly. I have a daughter living there. I know the difference. And life was not much better then, I assure you. You could get whisked off the streets then, escorted out of restaurants, pulled from your beds at night – never to be seen again. Was that so great? All the money that is being poured into the country now, in investments, new developments, new infrastructure would have been grabbed by the Marcoses if they were still in power.
@Alex: The Philippines isn’t even on the 2014 or 2015 list of Top Ten Countries with the highest crime rate. Heck, it’s not even on the list of Top 25 countries with the highest crime rates in the world. Here, I’ll even provide you the link or you can find out for yourself what the FACTS are so you’ll learn to establish them first before you speak. http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-with-highest-reported-crime-rates.html
Reblogged this on the beauty disease.
this would really be good if translated to Tagalog,Ilocano,bisaya etc… to encourage pinoys to know/learn the real history, forgive and move on to our destination as we lift each other up…
If anyone is willing to try translating it they are welcome to do so.
MacG-just because you did heroic acts during WW2 doesnt give you the right to plunder the govt. coffers. We can give you the benefit that Marcos is indeed a war hero. But such wont excuse him from responsibilities for all the atrocities that happened during his dictatorship. Had she been a normal president with limited powers, maybe he can be excused.
The comments of some of the Marcos loyalists here are so pathetic, not worth replying to at all. Its like discussing quantum physics with someone in kindy.
Noel Padilla – I;m not sure if your response is really for me, as I’m quite confused with the construct of your sentences.
First things off – I just gave my own piece of mini-history involving the Marcoses via the old veterans of WWII who had met and interacted with Marcos up-close and personal. They knew the real score, and I’m just relaying what was told to me and my father.
Second, I’m not here to defend the Marcoses, as much as I try to be objective, the tilt of the scales weigh more heavily against them. What I fear is that the old generation of ‘loyalists’ who still at their age don’t ever want to concede on the truth are doing their ‘darn best’ to re-write history about them sans the atrocities they committed.
Third, – “Had she been a normal president with limited powers….”
– And who is “She”? (who suddenly popped up on your response)
Marcos loyalists, being loyal as they are,would defend them to the death notwithstanding the cognitive dissonance they were presented with.
I really don’t mind them loyalists on their opinions even without supporting evidence (as it always was), but once they start spreading that opinion as a fact, I would be compelled to lock horns with any of them to prove they are *liars* 😉
.
Supporting facts without even a tinge of evidence to boot, would make them *liars and frauds*.
Thank you for reposting this story. Perhaps if you can also post stories of deaths and missing people during Martial Law. Or how the Marcoses shopped while our country was pushed under the brink of default. Or how you can’t speak your mind AGAINST THE GOVT or the Marcoses lest you find yourself in jail or dead. MAYBE this would awaken those who think the Marcos era was better than what we have today.
#neveragain
#neveragain yes, indeed.
Martial Law Stories Young People Need to Hear
http://www.bantayog.org/?p=924
Martial law through a child’s eyes – NEVER AGAIN
It all started with hushed tones and repressed messages in our household. There were furtive glances down the street; even the blaring radio stopped. Even as an 8-year-old I could feel that something was wrong. The silence was shattered by loud knocks on the front door, and then soldiers started walking into our home with their Armalites drawn ready to fire.
I could only see their muddy boots treading on our shiny wood floor. They went from room to room; I could hear noise from overturned beds and cushions being ripped apart. Then I saw one soldier cut open our new green living room set. Books were scattered carelessly from the bookcases, and drawers were opened, their contents thrown on the floor. Then one soldier with a lot of patches on his shoulder yelled and called everyone, he asked Mama where Papa was; she answered with a strong voice that she didn’t know.
I was standing beside my oldest sister and I could hear my heart pounding so loud in my head. I could smell gun powder, mud, sweat, fear and most of all danger. I was so scared for our lives and tried to stifle my tears, but they kept on pouring from my eyes, non-stop and soundless; they just kept on flowing until my shirt was soaked and I was too scared to either move or wipe them with my hands.
Then, I remember we rode a jeepney for so long I lost track of time. I woke up on a farm; it was the house of one of the tenants who graciously shared their two-bedroom home with us. Mama slept on the bed with my two younger sisters while my oldest sister and I slept on the bamboo floor with my two older brothers sleeping closest to the bedroom door.
I could hear unfamiliar noises at night, insects chirping, pigs grunting and dogs barking incessantly. Mama told us to very quiet and just try to sleep. In the morning I lost one of my rubber slippers, but I never complained and tried to stand on one foot alternately until one of our house help noticed and let me use hers; she walked barefoot.
Then, Mama told us that Papa, Antonio Suzara, was arrested for bad-mouthing President Ferdinand Marcos during a rally, so they charged him with “sedition and unauthorized possession of guns,” and he would be detained at the Philippine Constabulary Camp. He was a known supporter of Senator Benigno Aquino at that time. Papa was the administrative assistant to the Mayor in Jose Panganiban, Camarines Norte, when Martial Law was imposed.
I never saw our house again. We had to move closer to the camp in a place without electricity and running water. We were informed that we were being watched and so we should be very careful what to say.
Our paternal grandfather Governor Fernando Argente Suzara (the first postwar governor of Camarines Norte) through his personal friend, Foreign Service Minister Carlos P. Romulo, was able to petition or beg Malacanang Palace to convert Papa’s jail time to house arrest. Later on I learned that his maternal uncle-in-law Congressman Pedro Venida helped out in his jail time conversion. .
After a year, a military jeep stopped in front of the farm, and I saw Papa walking towards Lolo (my grandfather), escorted by two soldiers. He was carrying a plastic bag. His was head bowed and his eyes were dull and he looked broken. Lolo just stood there and then signed some documents from the soldiers and shook their hands. Lolo’s eyes were tender and sad; his posture looked like he was carrying a lot of Papa’s burden. They both stood there for a while until Lolo told Papa to rest for now. Papa was never the same, he never talked about what happened in jail nor did he mention it again.
I write this narrative with the permission of my siblings, who agreed to share our story with our countrymen because of the recent campaign from the Marcos’ camp that the atrocities of Martial Law, declared on September 21, 1972, did not happen.
There are countless articles of propaganda that brainwash the youth and attempt to rewrite history, and from a teacher’s perspective, I know this has to stop. It is important that those of us who were directly affected write and tell the truth.
True, it is not fair to judge the son with the crimes of the father, however, it is a miscarriage of justice to let the truth be covered by lies and falsehood.
It is the intent of my article to challenge the Marcoses to show remorse by not changing facts and, more importantly, to return the money that legitimately belongs to the Filipino people. If Senator Bong Bong Marcos can do all of these, then he will be ready to be separated from the legacy of his father; but until then NEVER AGAIN.
Jennifer Suzara-Cheng teaches honors and AP biology courses at a nationally renowned environmental high school in Southern California. She was recently invited by the White House, among 200 outstanding teachers, students, scientists and philanthropists, to participate in its national Back-to-School Climate Education event.
See the story with pictures thru this link:
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/129438/martial-law-through-a-childs-eyes-never-again#ixzz3oMA9wme2
This is wonderful, thank you. I would love to post it properly here and give it more prominence, if you are OK with that. I won’t do it unless you give your permission.
Caroline, please go ahead and repost the story “Martial law through a child’s eyes” so it can be given more prominence. Thank you for doing that. 🙂
Unbelievable.. egotistical stupid cow.. Bloody annoying.. This is probably one of the many reasons why PAL was not allowed to fly in EU for a long time. What I heard is that PAL couldn’t conform to the strict safety protocol of EU. EU is very strict with time and take safety very seriously especially in England. It is totally very disrespectful to never come on time. Filipino time doesn’t apply in this country and people never give a damn sh*t whoever you are. Be punctual. What the heck? bringing your bodyguards with guns exposed. If this was true. She’s defo an effing tw*t. In the UK we believe in a gun free zone even UK Police Officer doesn’t hold a gun when arresting someone. Or if they do it is never exposed to show power. If Philippines want change, Filipinos must change. The corruption must stop. And Filipinos must stop electing corrupt government. Don’t sell your vote. If these politicians are in the UK they definitely will not be able to get away nor survive. I don’t hate politician. I just hate an evil corrupt government officials.
#NoToCorruption
#NoToTrapo
#NoToTraditionalPolitician
#NoToPoliticalDynasty
#NoToVoteBuying
#ForTheGoodOfTheFilipinoPeople
#VoteWisely
#HalalanParaSaPagbabago
#Halalan2016
Unbelievable.. egotistical stupid cow.. Bloody annoying.. This is probably one of the many reasons why PAL was not allowed to fly in EU for a long time. What I heard is that PAL couldn’t conform to the strict safety protocol of EU. EU is very strict with time and they take safety very seriously especially in England. It is totally very disrespectful to never come on time. Filipino time doesn’t apply in this country and people never give a damn sh*t whoever you are. Be punctual. What the heck? bringing your bodyguards with guns exposed. If this was true. She’s defo an effing tw*t. In the UK we believe in a gun free zone even UK Police Officer doesn’t hold a gun when arresting someone. Or if they do it is never exposed to show power. If Philippines want change, Filipinos must change. The corruption must stop. And Filipinos must stop electing corrupt government. Don’t sell your vote. If these politicians are in the UK they definitely will not be able to get away nor survive. I don’t hate politician. I just hate an evil corrupt government officials.
#NoToCorruption
#NoToTrapo
#NoToTraditionalPolitician
#NoToPoliticalDynasty
#NoToVoteBuying
#ForTheGoodOfTheFilipinoPeople
#VoteWisely
#HalalanParaSaPagbabago
#Halalan2016
Those who still want to believe that the Marcoses are better than today’s crooks never realized how vast were their power and their abuses before…..comparing that to PDAF is like comparing an apple with a watermelon. We are talking of billion of dollars worth of money, gems, jewelries, art works, etc. If you cannot imagine how huge those all are, I pity you.
Black propaganda against Marcoses!. Totoo man ito or hindi i think mas masahol pa ang ibang naging presidente after marcos regime.. Kahit nagpapasasa noon ang mga marcoses at least hndi namn pinabayaan ang bansa natin.. Binusog naman ng mga marcoses ang mga taong bayan hindi tulad ngayon lalong nalugmok sa khirapan ang bansa natin..
In a 24 y/o point of view
Ms.kennedy this article caught my attention as it took me an hour to backread the exchange of thoughts and opinion.
But not all people my age would take the time to read the entire forum
Your article deserves to be heard as well as the opinion of others
Please make these facts known, please help us know the truth as the people my age are blinded by the false ideas presented using social media
I myself do not know what exactly happened 30 yrs ago but the people who were directly affected back then may share their experiences in a medium that can be easily understood
Pardon my grammar as i’m trying to communicate the best way i can, i can say that i belong to a not so intelligent group who can speak and comprehend the english language well.
But i care. Kung totoo man po itong mga nakasulat at nabasa ko dito, with all due respect mas maganda po siguro na ipaalam natin sa nakararami (yung mga mahihirap na tulad ko) sana po malaman ng mga tao at mga ka edad ko yung totoo. Wag po sana natin solohin yung mga nalalaman natin. Karamihan po sa mga botante ngayon hindi nakaranas ng martial law
Like me if i did not spend an hour or 2 reading this forum, i would have voted a marcos without a doubt.
Please spread what you know in a manner that other people would easily understand, binasa ko lng po ito out of curiosity hindi ko na realize na magiging affected ako to the point na mag ko comment ako and will let other people/give the right to bash me (like most people in social media do)
I am writing now because i care. If this is really true why not share this? Published or create a video out of this?
People my age lalo na yung mga taong katulad ko na wala naman masyadong nalalaman ay nagiging visual at pinaniniwalaan agad ang mga bagay na nakikita ng mata.
Please help us make the right decision for the 2016 election
P.S
I would really appreciate if someone can translate (in english) my thoughts in tagalog for Ms.Kennedy’s convenience
Respectfully,
24 yrs old gen
What a truly inspiring response. Thank you. You are very brave to read through all the comments! And you are right, of course, it is only with knowledge that you can make an informed decision. An emotional choice is rarely the right one. So keep reading and learning and I am sure you will make the right decision for 2016. Best wishes, Caroline.
Reblogged this on BD7AOnline.
NETIZEN: “Miriam was right: Marcoses do not owe this country an apology”
By Isabel Rodriguez on October 19, 2015
Recently, Presidential candidate Miriam Defensor-Santiago was quoted as saying that the Marcoses don’t owe the Filipinos an apology for Martial Law. Facebook user Joel Pablo Salud reacts to this statement on a Facebook post. The text is reproduced below:
AN APOLOGY FROM THE MARCOSES, however sincere (though I highly doubt they will ever apologize, let alone show sincerity for it), proves insulting in the first place.
Martial Law, despite its supposedly “good intentions,” murdered the very democracy it allegedly sought to preserve. These were Sen. Ninoy Aquino’s words. With the declaration came a string of abuses overwhelmed only by the brutality of Uganda’s former President Idi Amin.
It’s alleged that 100,000 to 500,000 of the Ugandan people and other foreigners had been murdered during Amin’s presidency.
As for Marcos, based on Amnesty International estimates, a little over 3,000 were murdered, 70,000 imprisoned, close to 400 disappeared, 1,500 massacred and roughly 34,000 tortured under the regime of the New Society.
“Economic development” became a buzzword, or rather an excuse, if you will, to strengthen ties with international financial institutions in cahoots with the government.
The sole purpose is to leave the public with a national debt Filipinos—its children and grandchildren—would all be paying way past the 35 years after Marcos’ ouster from Malacañang.
As for the Marcoses, it would leave them with a treasure chest enough to feed them to their artery’s content and keep them in modish apparel well beyond their years, sourced from the broken backs of Filipinos.
Miriam-Marcos
The New Society’s draconian policies under the guise of Presidential Decrees opened the doors for the Philippine military to breach the lines of service and obligation to the public good by adopting abduction, torture and wholesale rape as its national policy.
According to the paper, TORTYUR: Human Rights Violations under the Marcos Regime, everything that can be employed to further pain and suffering—from ordinary everyday stuff like ballpens, water, pliers, thumbtacks and flat iron to electric shock, Russian roulette, pistol whipping, cigar burns, caged like animals and sexual torture—were employed.
Hilda Narciso, a church worker detained and tortured under martial law, suffered gang-rape under military detention. She was said to have been fed soup wriggling with worms and made more inedible by rotten fish. She was only one of hundreds tortured and molested under constabulary and military custody.
That the military was given a freehand to instill discipline outside the limits of the law tells us in hindsight that Marcos’ brand of democracy offered freedom only to those under his crony leadership. No Filipino—man, woman, child—felt safe.
Highly maintained peace and order in the streets, so touted as one of Marcos’ brilliant accomplishments, was a sham, instilled by the force of a gun on one’s back. The “need for discipline” scenario, which justified the declaration of martial law, was as old as tyranny itself.
What Marcos hardly raised was the issue of who will discipline those in power.
The most unpardonable examples of impunity happened years after the said regime had tumbled over after the ouster of the strongman. None of those who spearheaded Marcos’ torture campaign faced justice. Some, in fact, held higher office after martial law.
“Etta Rosales, a teacher at the José Rizal College, was brought to a safe house in Pasig where she was tortured. She was stripped naked when she suffered the Russian Roulette, electric shocks, strangulation, and candle burns. His torturers only stopped when she pretended to be dying. Years later, one of her torturers, Lt. Rodolfo Aguinaldo, even became her colleague at the House of Representatives (Magsaysay 1999).” (Tortyur: Human Rights Violations under the Marcos Regime).
Much of what followed after martial law changed little even under new administrations. Tortures and disappearances even under Cory Aquino’s administration and that of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo continued.
The book, Torture and Impunity: The U.S. Doctrine of Coercive Interrogation by Alfred W. McCoy, explains in detail how succeeding chief executives took the process of impunity right into their terms of office.
It says, “Of greater significance, [Fidel] Ramos provided the substance of law and the stuff of politics that perfected the process of impunity […] Moreover, he effected the reintegration of former torturers into societyand their elevation into positions of authority—a central element of impunity.”
Ramos worked as chief of Marcos’ Philippine Constabulary for 14 years of the dictatorship, remaining “legally responsible for the brutal, systematic tortures carried out by the special intelligence units under his command,” the book says.
“President Benignoo Conjuangco Aquino III’s administration is no stranger to impunity and extrajudicial killings. A TIME magazine report in 2011, penned by the publication’s senior editor and editor of TIME World Ishaan Tharoor quoted Human Rights Watch, saying, “ During his campaign for president, Benigno Aquino III pledged to end serious violations of human rights in the Philippines. Yet since taking office on June 30, 2010, the Philippine military continues to be implicated in apparently politically-motivated extrajudicial killings—deliberate unlawful killings by state security forces—and enforced disappearances. These abuses persist in part because of the Philippine police’s failure to conduct thorough and impartial investigations, particularly when evidence points to military involvement.”
But it was Marcos who beat them all to the draw.
Today, a little over four decades since Proclamation No. 1081, Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago and Bongbong Marcos are counting on the ignorance of a generation of young Filipinos to give them a head start in the 2016 race to Malacanang.
Unknown to many, Santiago was a columnist for the Marcos crony newspaper, the Philippine Daily Express, from 1972 to 1975. That she survived this long only goes to show how much of a Marcos apologist (and later, an Estrada and Arroyo apologist) Santiago has become.
No, the Marcoses do not owe the Philippines and Filipinos an apology. At the very least, given the abuses, thefts, murders and rapes committed under Marcos’ regime, they owe Filipinos their severed heads.
These senators should know better than to treat Filipinos like fools.xxx
Do you agree?
Read more at http://www.wheninmanila.com/netizen-miriam-was-right-marcoses-do-not-owe-this-country-an-apology/#c9LBos8rdB7CwAHI.99
From the Facebook post of Susan F. Quimpo:
LIFE UNDER MARTIAL LAW – Personal Account #02
In trickles, men and women laid their bodies on the asphalt road, hugging the dust in front of the first truck. “Do not retaliate, do not fight back,” they repeated amongst themselves. In quiet defiance, they formed three barricades, three lines of human flesh.
[Author’s Note: Given that revisionists and Marcos apologists continue to spew lies about the Marcos dictatorship, historian Dr. Vince Rafael encouraged me to post excerpts from our book, Subversive Lives:A family memoir of the Marcos years. The following is a first -person account of the Globe Steel Inc. strike bust, the longest factory strike in Philippine labor history. – Susan F. Quimpo] [Photos by Candy Gourlay and Susan Quimpo]
Subversive Lives Excerpt #02
From the Chapter “Globe Steel”
“P___ ina,” I swore repeatedly as I fumbled with my camera lens. I peered into the viewfinder, it was cloudy. “Don’t fail me now!” I quietly chastised the equipment and, desperate to clear my view, rubbed its lens with the helm of my shirt. Again, I pressed the viewfinder against my eye, its rim was moist. There was nothing wrong with the camera. I just could not focus; there were tears in my eyes.
September 25, 1984 – the day started innocently enough. It was a dry, hot day, dust clouds rose from the jeepney’s tires as it maneuvered the Angono-Cainta route. It was unfortunate that my cousin Candy Quimpo (now Gourley) could not borrow her father’s car. To get to the suburban steel factory meant taking two jeepney rides for two hours and needing two, scarf-sized handkerchiefs to protect one’s face from the billowing dust…
That warm September morning, we planned on taking still pictures of the strike area surrounding the 10- hectare compound of Globe Steel Incorporated. The workers and their wives welcomed us like old friends. The mood was jubilant despite the dire consequences brought about by the strike.
It had been nearly three months since the Globe Steel workers heeded the call for a “work stoppage.” At three in the morning, the evening shift laid down their tools and walked away from their assigned posts. For the first time in its 25 years of existence, the steel mill was quiet and void of the human energy that operated its 10- and 15-ton smelters.
Globe Steel’s management favored employing migrant workers from Bicol and the Visayas. Desperate for jobs, these workers and their families lived in squalid shantytowns that dotted Metro Manila. They were only too eager to trade their manual labor for less than the minimum wage. Globe Steel workers were hired as “casuals” whose contracts were renewed every six months. It was not unusual for workers to still be on the casual payroll even after five years of continued service. On their first day of the job, workers were asked to sign a blank sheet of paper. And in the future, should the worker be a source of “trouble,” the signed document would re-surface with a “letter of resignation” appearing above the employee’s signature.
Management sought mostly illiterate workers; those with a high school diploma were considered “overqualified.” It was common among the manufacturing industries to hire workers from Manila’s slum districts. The truism – the less educated and the more marginalized, the less likely to organize and protest – was one management adhered to.
But at Globe Steel, even the most docile of employees were fully aware of their exploitation. Labor organizers affiliated with the most militant of Manila’s labor unions joined the ranks of the steel workers. Skilled and experienced, the organizers soon had the workers demanding a union that would press for fairer conditions. Management refused and terminated the would-be officers. On June 27, armed only with resolve, 528 workers had walked past the baffled security guards and out the factory gates to begin a long and tenacious battle for their rights.
Unable to afford rent, the workers and their families erected shelters of cardboard and scrap wood outside the factory walls. A large canvas tent stretched over bamboo poles became the “new union headquarters.” Without wages, the workers had to forego even the barest necessities. Their families were dressed in rags; malnutrition was evident in pot-bellied children with gaunt limbs. The wild cogon grass that flourished on the sides of the road leading to the factory was cleared to make room for kangkong. Food was scarce and potable water unavailable. On our first visit, the workers graciously offered us lunch. They said we had picked a special day to visit – for once they had meat which they readily served. Candy and I later learned that they had found a dog that died from an infection and its carcass had been made into stew…
“Mga truck, mga truck!” an alarmed voice interrupted the women’s cajoling. A convoy of seven trucks with a delivery of raw materials for the steel mills was spotted headed for the factory gates. Some of the trucks bore human cargo – scabs. Escorting the trucks were jeeps and small buses of nearly 200 armed personnel in Philippine Constabulary uniforms. The trucks stopped about 50 meters from the factory gate, their drivers awaiting further orders from their military escorts.
As protest mounted against the state’s anti-labor laws, it became common to use the police and military to break picketlines to protect “vital industries.” Eventually, it became apparent that all industries were vital to national interests, and that all strikes, though often warranted, were in effect, illegal.
The union officials pleaded with the PC Lieutenant in charge of the troops. The other workers knew it was futile. “They will use force,” one of the workers cautioned.
It was then I heard women sobbing softly, almost inaudibly. The boisterous sound of the truck mufflers drowned out everything else. A curious sight was unfolding before me, first filling me with awe, then horror as I grasped its full intensity. In trickles, men and women laid their bodies on the asphalt road, hugging the dust in front of the first truck. “Do not retaliate, do not fight back,” they repeated amongst themselves.
In quiet defiance, they formed three barricades, three lines of human flesh. The women formed the first blockage, scorning the machismo of the men in uniform. A woman with salt-and-pepper hair had suspended herself from the truck’s fender, positioning her head close to one of its front wheels.
“I have only one child,” she cried. “You are killing us slowly with hunger. It is better that you kill me now, it will be a quick death. Go ahead,” she continued between sobs, “order the driver to start your trucks!” Inspired by her courage, more women left their toddlers at the wayside to join the barricade.
The PC lieutenant seemed unnerved. He convened with a few of his men, a courier was dispatched and within minutes, a number of policewomen were summoned. The workers’ wives were dragged away from the barricades while the PC’s sneered victoriously. From the ranks of the policemen who ogled the arrests, I overheard, “I’ll take than one, yes, that young woman!”
“Kapitbisig!” Link arms. The men on the ground, forming the second barricade, steeled themselves. The police responded by forming a single file, brandishing metal shields in front of them. They moved forward toward the human barricade, aligning their shields like a solid wall, pressing the steel frames close against the workers heads. A steady thud emanated from behind those shields, like the sound of hammers on metal sheets.
“He’s bleeding!” gasped a bystander. Blood was trickling down a worker’s forehead, staining the shield pressed against his face. By then it was apparent, the steady thud I heard were truncheons, solid batons that the police hammered against the shields, hitting heads with doubled potency.
As the workers weakened and the police hauled them away by their waistbands; but comrades took their vacated spot on the asphalt road. The human barricade was holding for it seemed there was no lack of volunteers eager to take the blows. Frustration was etched on the policemen’s faces, and tempers rose, overpowering their restraint.
Truncheons, now without the camouflage of metal shields, struck heads and shoulders with full severity. Some truncheons were laced with barbed wire, causing the skin to rip on contact. At the corner of my eye, I saw electric sparks searing the arms of the workers. Later I learned, the police used cattle prods that emitted charges potent enough to burn human flesh, potent enough to break the hold of human arms linked in a common struggle.
That was when I realized I was weeping, overwhelmed by the flagrant brutality displayed before me. I fumbled with my camera, unable to take more pictures.
“Miss, take cover, now!” a worker whispered in my ear as he attempted to pull me away from the melee. I was surrounded by truncheon-wielding cops bashing the shriveling bodies that lay at my feet. The noonday sun was in my eyes, metal shields, swinging sticks, ripped shirts on sweat-drenched bodies, sipped skin. A collective moan rose as the truncheons fell with increased frequency. “Stop, stop. Enough, please!” I muttered as I slowly retreated fully expecting a blow to my head.
In a split second, a hail of huge stones descended, hurled from both sides of the road and aimed at the men in uniform. The laborers’ wives and children who initially stood inert broke their vow of passive resistance. Horror was replaced by anger and fists were unclenched to grab and hurl stones barely missing my face. I sank knee-deep in mud, protected by sharp sheaths of cogon, thankful for my temporary refuge.
“Candy!” my thoughts raced wildly as I distanced myself from the police who were scampering toward the factory gates warding off the barrage of stones with their shields. Her journalist instincts served Candy well; she was a safe distance away from the fracas among the reserve police corps.
I waddled through the mud toward Candy.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I nodded. “Where were you?”
“I got out before the stoning started. I’m out of film,” she said. We expected our visit to the factory to be uneventful and it did not occur to us to carry spare rolls of film.
“Here, I have about six shots left. You’re bound to take better pictures,” I replied, handing Candy my camera, deferring to her experience.
Strange hollow, popping sounds suddenly emanated from the factory gates. The police reserve corps dropped their mocking stares and assumed defensive positions behind their military jeeps.
“What was that?” Candy surveyed the gates.
“Gunfire!” I answered, again feeling the panic swell inside me.
“They have guns! They have guns!” cried a policeman pointing to a clutch of women and children nursing their wounded kin. I drew my gaze in the direction he was pointing to and saw women and children armed only with stones. The only guns I spotted were those in the hands of men in uniform.
At that point I felt a body brush against me and instinctively I stepped aside. A stocky man from the ranks of the police had stepped right in front of us and, with tenacity, drew his revolver from his black leather holster. With his arm straight and steady, he aimed at a fleeing worker then pulled the trigger, thrice.
“Candy!” I signaled my cousin to take the man’s picture. She already did. Still with the pistol in his hand, the man turned toward us. He then realized that a camera had documented his deliberate aim. He grimaced and sought a quick exit.
The man’s arrogance and conscious disregard for human life triggered something within me. I grew up hearing words like “state fascism, police brutality, dictatorship…” said in hushed tones during clandestine meetings and later incorporated into angry chants and slogans repeated at protest rallies. Torture and illegal imprisonment, stories of summary executions and the disappearances of student and labor leaders – all the abuses of the state were made possible by men like this who could, without flinching, take deliberate aim and fire at unarmed civilians… The graphic scenes I witnessed that afternoon had been unprecedented in my experience – these affixed a hard face on oppression. I felt I had to do something.
“Hey, you…wait!” I was at the man’s heels quite unsure of what I was doing. I caught up with the man, grabbed him by his collar and shook him repeatedly. I glanced at his nameplate, “Diaz,” it read.
“Diaz! Diaz, so that’s your name! Those weren’t warning shots you fired back there… you took direct aim. You were firing directly at that worker; we have pictures to prove it! You’ll see your pictures in the papers!” I loudly admonished him, my grip tightening around his collar, forcing him to face me. I was trembling, my words delivered in choking phrases. But I correctly gambled that Patrolman Diaz would be too stunned upon being admonished in English, that he would be unable to respond or hurt me.
Candy was pulling my sleeve. “Susan, stop it. Let it go!” she pleaded. The man still had his revolver in his right hand and the impetuous scowl on his face. I expected him to pull the trigger on me and, for a moment, I didn’t care. I was more upset than afraid. Candy dragged me away from the scene while Diaz disappeared into the crowd.
The barricade had been broken. Candy and I watched all seven trucks roll through the factory gates amidst the cheers of the military.
Twelve workers were seriously hurt that afternoon. Their friends and family brought them to the Angono General Hospital for treatment. There they were met by members of the same PC battalion. The military waited until the strikers received medical treatment then arrested them for “direct assault on persons of authority.” That same evening, these strikers were mauled by their arresting officers.
The following morning, the remaining workers were back at their picketline restoring the tent that covered their makeshift headquarters. The Globe Steel strike would hold strong for four years making it the longest worker’s strike in Philippine history.
I kept my promise to Patrolman Diaz. His picture – scowl, gun and all, together with our other pictures of the strikebust, had made to the papers.
(The above is an excerpt from the book “Subversive Lives: A family memoir of the Marcos Years, Susan F. Quimpo and Nathan Gilbert Quimpo (eds.), Anvil Press, 2012.
Thank you, Mike, for posting this. Your long-awaited guest post! I will repost it and give it due prominence closer to the election. Meanwhile I hope everyone reads the chapter on this blog or goes out and buys the book.
some people say Pilipinos have “short memoryl” hope we do not forget the excesses of the past…Your story is an eye opener for me.I salute you for doing such a great job!!
Thanks, Dee, I hope you’re right.
I continue to blog anywhere/anytime to spread the real reason crooked politicians continue their dirty trade in Philippine politics because they are so sure they will be re-elected with full confidence of the stupidity of the majority of Filipinos. The Binays, The Marcoses and hundreds more of them thick faced dynasties in politics. Even the Catholic Church continue to look the other way. If you recall the fiasco dubbed: The ” Mitsubishops: The Catholic Bishops aftderf they were exposed in the media, were told to return the SUV’s gifted by Pres Arroyo from her slush fund. I recall reading one of the daily papers at the time the Marcoses were under siege in Malacnang Palace. So Imelda slipped with her entourage and of course the convoy of armed bodyguards and visited Cardinal Sin seeking for his guidance or perhaps assistance to turn off the Radio Veritas. The word on the street was that Imelda left a suitcase: we need not wonder the content. The next day, that newspaper’s headline read: First Lady visited the house of Sin. Again, many thanks Ms Kennedy for sharing with us the atrocities of this Pseudo Royalty.
Thanks for your contribution to this article, Bing.
Thanks for this story. I only hope
People who read this will finally
Enlighten them. Thank you again .
May God’s blessings be upon you
ALL YHE TIME.
Thanks, Jean. Let us hope!!
This may have been written years ago, but it has remained, if not more, relevant today. I hope Filipino voter’s will consider this kind of culture on which the Marcos’s were raised before they fill in their ballots. A lifestyle you were conditioned to is definitely difficult to unlearn.
troy m … you’re an idiot, the marcoses are not the enemy … in fact they tried to defend this country from a far more bigger monster, who actually got what they wanted after they successfully kicked marcos out of the country … a lot of people talk about politics who knew nothing about how the system works … nakakhiya ka para sa isang pinoy, sa mga katulad mo bumagsak ang pilipinas, im sure sa media mo lang nakuha ang mga impormasyon na alam mo, media na nakokontrol ng may pera … validate the source bago maniwala …
A copy of the Supreme Court order below is available to the public on their official website. It proves shows that Marcos earned a total salary of P1,500,000.00 from 1966 to 1985. Imelda Marcos earned just under P800,000.00 as Minister of Human Settlements. They could not prove their claom to that swiss bank account because they could not show proof that they earned it legally.
SUPREME COURT DENIES MARCOSES’ PLEA ON $658-M SWISS ACCOUNT
MANILA, November 19, 2003 (STAR) By Aurea Calica – The Supreme Court (SC) upheld with finality yesterday its earlier decision to award to the government more than $658 million (roughly P36 billion) in Swiss bank deposits of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, throwing out petitions by his widow and children.
The tribunal also criticized a ruling by a US District Court imposing a global freeze on the funds now being held in escrow at Philippine National Bank, saying it has no jurisdiction over the Philippines.
President Arroyo hailed the decision and said it was a victory for the Filipino farmers who are the designated beneficiaries of the recovered Marcos wealth.
“The P30-billion Marcos ill-gotten wealth will go to our land reform program,” the President vowed. “This is a very important SC ruling. Ang nakaw na yaman ay yaman na ng ating mga magsasaka ngayon (The ill-gotten wealth now belongs to our farmers),” she added.
The President herself broke the news to farmers in Lipa City in Batangas where she distributed certificates of land ownership to the latest batch of farmer beneficiaries of the land reform program by the government.
In a unanimous decision, the high tribunal also junked the “global freeze order” on the Marcos assets issued on Sept. 2 by Judge Manuel Real of the Hawaii District Court, saying it was a “transgression not only of the principle of territoriality in public international law but also of the jurisdiction of this Court recognized by the parties-in-interest and the Swiss government itself.”
In its 21-page resolution penned by Justice Renato Corona, the court denied the motions for reconsideration filed by the Marcoses to its July 15 decision.
Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., Justices Jose Vitug, Reynato Puno, Artemio Panganiban, Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez, Conchita Carpio-Morales, Adolfo Azcuna, Romeo Callejo Sr., Dante Tinga, Leonardo Quisumbing and Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez concurred with the decision.
Justice Antonio Carpio did not take part in the deliberations because as former presidential counsel, he acted as chairman of a committee that oversaw the transfer of the funds to the Philippines while Justice Josue Bellosillo had retired on Nov. 12.
In their separate appeals, former first lady Imelda Marcos and her children, Maria Imelda or Imee, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Jr. and Irene accused the tribunal of denying them their constitutional right to due process by issuing a summary judgment on the case.
The Marcos heirs said the high court did not give credence to the respondents’ arguments that they should be given the chance to defend themselves and that the case should be remanded to the Sandiganbayan.
The US court issued the freeze order to stop banks holding the funds from transferring them to the Philippine government so that Filipinos who won a class-action lawsuit against the Marcos estate for human rights violations could be compensated.
The Swiss deposits would be the single largest amount recovered from the billions of dollars the Marcoses allegedly amassed. Prejudice?
Mrs. Marcos also said the July 15 decision would prejudice the other criminal cases filed against her by the government. But the SC said this forfeiture proceeding was entirely different as it required no more than a preponderance of evidence and not a trial to establish sufficient proof to convict.
“For 12 long years, the Marcoses tried to stave off this case with nothing but empty claims of ‘lack of knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief,’ or statements like ‘they were not privy to the transactions,’ or ‘they could not remember (because the transactions) happened a long time ago‚’ or that the assets ‘were lawfully acquired‚’” the SC said.
The SC earlier said in its July 15 decision that the Marcoses could not deny the fact they would try to delay the case forever if allowed.
“It will be a mockery of justice to allow them to benefit from it. By their own deliberate acts — not those of the republic or anybody else — they are deemed to have altogether waived or abandoned their right to proceed to trial,” it said.
Noting the Marcoses’ failure to raise any new matters, the court said it had painstakingly discussed in its July 15 decision why a summary judgment was in order to finally put an end to the case.
But according to the respondents, Republic Act 1379 or the law on forfeiture of ill-gotten wealth was penal in substance and thus they should be accorded the safeguards enjoyed by the accused.
The SC disagreed saying the forfeiture proceedings did not violate the substantive rights of the Marcoses as the case was civil in nature.
The tribunal said the government was able to establish prima facie presumption that the Swiss accounts were ill-gotten and thus the burden of proof shifted, by law, to the respondents to show by clear and convincing evidence that the Swiss deposits were lawfully acquired and that they had other legitimate sources of income.
Due process does not always and in all situations require a trial-type proceeding, the court said. It pointed out the Marcoses were given all the opportunity to be heard as they participated in all stages of litigation.
In its July 15 decision, the SC said the Marcoses failed to justify that they lawfully acquired the Swiss deposits that reached the estimated aggregate amount of $658,175,373.60 as of Jan. 31, 2002.
Section 2 of RA 1379 explicitly states that “whenever any public officer or employee has acquired during his incumbency an amount of property which is manifestly out of proportion to his salary, the said property shall be presumed prima facie to have been unlawfully acquired.”
The SC ruled that since the total amount of the Swiss deposits was considerably out of proportion to the known lawful income of the Marcoses, the presumption that the dollar deposits were unlawfully acquired was duly established.
Records showed the late President Ferdinand Marcos only received a salary of P1.5 million from 1966 to 1985 while his wife, who served as Metro Manila governor and minister of human settlements, got only P718,750 from 1976 to 1985.
Based on the legitimate salaries of the Marcos couple, the Sandiganbayan also ruled that they could not have afforded the schooling of Bongbong Marcos in London, not to mention the personal, family and household expenses and their lifestyle.
The court pointed out Mrs. Marcos failed to give specific details as to how the funds were supposedly acquired legally. The Marcoses also did not present and attach any single document to prove their claims.
The Supreme Court contended Mrs. Marcos’ privity to the transactions was in fact evident from her signatures on some of the vital documents attached to the petition for forfeiture, which she failed to deny as required by the rules.
“How could respondents therefore claim lack of sufficient knowledge or information regarding the existence of the Swiss bank deposits and the creation of five groups of accounts when Mrs. Marcos and her late husband personally masterminded and participated in the formation and control of the said foundations? This is a fact respondent Marcoses were never able to explain,” the Court argued.
As for the Marcos children, the court said their denial could not rightfully be accepted as a defense because they are legal heirs and successors-in-interest of their father and are therefore bound by the acts of the late dictator vis-a-vis the Swiss funds.
The Marcoses initially denied ownership of the Swiss deposits but they agreed to negotiate in the hope of finally putting an end to the problems besetting the family.
Mrs. Marcos also admitted in her manifestation before the Sandiganbayan on May 26, 1998 that she was the sole beneficiary of 90 percent of the money and 10 percent belongs to the state of Mr. Marcos.
“The admission of respondent Imelda Marcos confirmed what was generally known: that the foundations were established precisely to hide the money stolen by the Marcos spouses from petitioner Republic. It negated whatever illusion there was, if any, that the foreign foundations owned even a nominal part of the assets in question,” the court said.
The court said almost two decades have passed since the government initiated its search for and reversion of such ill-gotten wealth and that the definitive resolution of the case was long overdue.
“If there is proof of illegal acquisition, accumulation, misappropriation, fraud or illicit conduct, let it be brought out now,” it said.
Marcos fled to Honolulu after he was toppled in a people power revolt in 1986. He denied any wrongdoing until his death in exile three years later. — With Marichu Villanueva, AP
Thanks for these, Mike. They can leave absolutely no doubt in anyone’s mind that the Marcoses stole from the Philippines and stole a lot. Hopefully, you and I can meet up very soon – finally! Perhaps the week after next, the first week of March? And maybe, just maybe, you are ready to write a guest article here as discussed some months ago.
Here’s the link to the Supreme Court Order cited in the news report above.
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2003/jul2003/152154.htm
Here’s a news report re the FINAL decision of the Supreme Court affirming the reinstatement of Mr. marcos’ heirs as defendants in the government’s P200-billion ill-gotten wealth case against the Marcos family.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/238953/supreme-court-marcos-kids-must-face-wealth-case
The Marcos heirs tried to reclaim the Paoay property, a.k.a. the “Malacanang of the North”. This too was dismissed by the sandiganbayan.
http://www.mb.com.ph/sandiganbayan-junks-marcos-claim-over-ilocos-land/
Sandiganbayan junks Marcos’ claim over Ilocos land
by Jeffrey Damicog
April 23, 2014 (updated)
The Sandiganbayan has junked the Marcos family’s claim over a more than 50-hectare property in Paoay, Ilocos Norte.
In a 33-page decision, the Sandiganbayan First Division said that the resort property in Barangay Suba was not legally owned by the late former President Ferdinand Marcos.
The decision was penned by Associate Justice Rafael Lagos and concurred by Associate Justices Rodolfo Ponferrada and Efren de la Cruz.
Declaring the 1978 lease agreement between the late dictator and the former Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) as null and void, the decision pointed out that Marcos did not legally own the property in question because the area covered by the contract was an “inalienable public domain” being a national park.
“The Paoay Lake and lands within one kilometer from its water line…was declared to be a national park and therefore considered public land. These were therefore outside the commerce of man,” the Sandiganbayan said.
With this, the graft court also declared that all 154 lots covered by the Marcos-PTA lease deal as well as structures found on them were property of the Republic even those that are already covered by approved patents to the children and grandchildren of Marcos and any other third-party.
The Sandiganbayan also told state lawyers to immediately pursue an action with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Land Management Bureau (DENR-LMB) for nullification of adverse claims by other parties on parts of the Paoay property.
“Section 101 of the Public Land Act provides a remedy whereby lands of the public domain fraudulently awarded to the applicant may be recovered or reverted back to its original owner, the government. An action for reversion has to be instituted by the Solicitor General, in the name of the Republic of the Philippines,” the court said.
Since the Marcos-PTA lease deal was signed just after four months Marcos issued in August 1978 Presidential Decree No. 1554 that reclassified stretches of land surrounding Paoay Lake as “alienable public land”, the graft court noted that more than half of the lots already have approved and/or pending patent applications by the Marcos heirs and other persons following the issuance of PD No. 1554.
Based on records submitted, the court added that no less than 79 lots are already under free patents or have pending free patent applications by Ilocos Norte provincial governor Imee Marcos and her children.
Even other members of the family, including former First Lady now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos, Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Irene Marcos-Araneta were found to have already executed waiver of rights over the subject lots in favor of Imee Marcos and her children.
Though Senator Marcos opposed the government action on the Paoay property it was never subject of any sequestration move by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), the graft court affirmed the government’s stand that it was establish that the assets subject of the case previously belonged to the government and that the same assets went to the Marcos family and their associates through illegal means.
The Sandiganbayan pointed out that “…(I)t does not matter that the PCGG never sequestered the property.”
“What matters is that the petition alleges that the former president used all his powers and influence to appropriate to himself all the lots covered by the lease with scanty claims of ownership,” the court stressed.
The court cited that among proofs of unlawful financial interests by then President Marcos was the “hundreds of millions of pesos” development undertaken on the Paoay property shortly after the lease agreement was signed – all accomplished with taxpayers’ money.
Whether the Philippine media is controlled or not, the above facts are covered by official court documents. The above news reports are actually that: Reports of facts, available to anyone on the web to verify. The topic of this blog is Marcos. You say they are not the enemies of this country yet the above are just samples of what they have done to sink the people into a staggering external debt that they left unpaid. Even if they didn’t leave, they were already incapable of servicing the huge debt. There was much less income coming in than was being spent. The peso-dollar rate was P6.77 in April 1972 and peaked at P52 to $1 in 1985. The bank interest on borrowing hit as high as 32% before 1986. there was a Marcos decree limiting salary increases to P1 per year. That’s because the economy was so bad, it couldn’t support a wage increase. OFWs, originally called OCWs )overseas contract workers) were given special permission to travel (as our basic right to travel was taken away) were allowed to seek employment abroad precisely because there were little or no jobs available domestically.
While there may still be corrupt gov’t officials, they have been given a message, heard around the world: Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla, Jr. – They are reaping the fruits of corruption. Enrile’s controversial freedom is both temporary and conditional. His plunder trial continues. Justice will come as it comes for all of us.
And there are more officials who have been formally charged with graft and corruption, including allies of the ruling party.
On the bright side, I can tell anyone and back it up historically from personal experience, that this country, despite its current troubles, is in the best shape of its history. Things could have been much, much worse. But they’re not. Some of its problems are actually good ones.
The Phils is the 2nd fastest growing economy on the planet.The no. 1 country is actually slowing down. The Phils has shown unprecedented resiliency in the face of global economic instatbility. Its stock market is the best performing bourse in SEA, if not the world, breaching 8,000 points on more than one occasion.
Infrastructure is on underway to address the traffic, an obvious by-product of rapid growth. Programs have been launched and applied nationwide at the grassroots level to stop the slide into poverty of our lesser capable brethren. This is happening despite the burden of having to pay off the external debt left behind by Marcos.
I do not condemn Marcos. It’s not my place to do so. He and his wife ate at least once in my house. when I was a young boy. Imelda was a friend to my mother. Marcos, jr. was a classmate at La salle in grade school. But this is not about who they are, but what they have done.
And our actions define, and will judge, who we are.
Not true…simply.. Black propaganda. .
Absolutely true, Jhanne. You may not want to believe it but it is an absolutely honest account.
So the truth hurts, huh, Jhanne? It’s not too late to give it more thought and be at peace with yourself. As they also say: Fooled me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me.
Yes, it’s sad when people cannot face the truth. Better to face the truth and admit it than to hold on to a lie and not face up to it.
@Jhanne: Belief systems are powerful. To the degree we believe in something, it controls our lives completely. When we’re confronted by information that goes against those beliefs, despite evidence establishing its veracity, we deny the possibility that it could be true.
That’s because our minds are programmed to defend us. To ensure our “survival, based on the information it has stored and BELIEVES. And if information is presented that conflicts with its conclusions, it deems that information as a threat to its survival, and goes into self-defense: Fear, Fight or Flight.
If we continue to believe the lie after being presented the truth…that’s sad. Tragic even. Those with less patience may possibly call it stupid. But I can’t judge you because I can see your situation, where you’re coming from.
But in the end, it’s up to you to decide, to chose, whether to find out the truth for yourself, and change your life, hopefully ofre the better. Or, deny the truth and continue believing, and living, the lie.
Our choices in life will determine our destiny.
Research the truth and see it with your own eyes. At least you’re assured that no one is trying to deceive you. I assure you, with all the empathy and compassion, my eyes were once closed to the truth but they have been opened. I chose to find out on my own so that whatever I discovered, I knew that I knew, it was the truth.
I survived the revelation. So will you, IF you choose the truth.
There’s a line in the movie “The Matrix”, when the hero is offered the choice of taking the blue or the red pill:
“You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
The term ‘red pill’ refers to a human being that is aware of the true nature of the Matrix. In this case, the ‘Matrix’ is anything we were made to believe in to keep us from knowing and seeing the truth.
Dear Mike,
You should consider writing a book, or putting up a museum about the martial law days. Once the election is over, and Marcos disappears for some time, we will take it easy again. If ever they re-write the textbooks for the schools, it has to be written, pass through how many commissions, and by that time we will be in 2019 when BBM will run again for the Senate.
Yes, I agree. Mike should write a book. And a museum is a great idea but not something one person alone can do.
Very nice read bit I doubt that the London authorities will alow anyone even Marcos himself to walk around the streets of London with a gun….let alone a rifle(s)
Wouldn’t it make better sense for the British authorities to just assign MI6 agents!!!We all know that 1 MI6 agent = 1 James Bond.
Just saying
Yes, I was very surprised myself that armed bodyguards were allowed. But it happened. So Marcos must have got permission from the government and the Metropolitan Police.
The Bac: How will the London authorities disallow someone from carrying guns or rifles if they’re not informed of the firearms in advance and the carriers don’t walk, rather they’re tooling around London in bulletproof limousines and vans with diplomatic plates? For that matter, what could the Bobbies do even if they catch them guns in hand, shielded by diplomatic immunity, and the London police don’t even carry a sidearm? At least, not then; possibly unarmed even today
Wow…. I did not realise how lavish their lifestyle was.. or still is? Thanks for sharing this suspenseful, if I may say, piece of memoir. This is what I keep on saying in response to those who say WE WERE RICH DURING MARCOS TIME, AHEAD OF OTHER COUNTRIES so on and so forth, that you can assess only the severity of the damage done by the storm after it devastates a place.
Now that they are no longer in power, we no longer have what we used to have. The storm named MARCOS took everything away.
We have storms lurking around, waiting for the right time to attack, is there something we can do?
We can stop these storms in MAY before they make devastating effects in the months and years to come.
1965 una naging Presidente si Marcos. Barely three years pa lang si Marcos sa office in 1968, wala pang Martial Law, inorganisa na ni Sen Ninoy Aquino ang Moro Secession (MNLF-MIM ni Nur Misuari) and Communist Insurgency (CPP-NPA ni Joma Sison) in collaboration with Malaysia para guluhin ang gobyerno ng Pilipinas. Pinondohan ng Malaysia ang panggugulo ni Ninoy, binigyan ng armas, training, at propaganda machinery ang mga rebelde.
Simula 1968, apat na taon ang sakit ng ulo sa pagdedebate ang Congress ng gobyerno kung ano ang dapat na government action against the insurgency. So in 1972 the Congress recommended that the President will declare Martial Law — kaya 1972 ang Martial Law. At first blow of the Martial Law in 1972, Ninoy Aquino was immediately arrested by the government in the same year (1972), si Joma Sison in 1974, pero si Misuari ay tumakas na sa ibang bansa 1972 pa lang.
In Nov 25, 1977 after five years of trial, Ninoy Aquino was finally convicted of TREASON for the crime of collaborating with Malaysia in organizing the Moro Secession (since March 1968) and Communist Insurgency (since March 1968).
So you see, ang Martial Law start ay 1972, at si Ninoy ay nakulong na agad in 1972 pa lang for crimes committed in 1968-1972. Ninoy’s insurgency was before the Martial Law. Kung hindi nanggulo si Ninoy, hindi nagkaroon ng Martial Law. Si Ninoy ang cause ng Martial Law.
The Martial Law was a legitimate government decision recommended by the Filipino people and for the Filipino people in 1972. Pero ang struggle ni Ninoy, all for MALAYSIA, to make Philippines weak and incapacitated in recovering SABAH. Yang pag brand ng Martial Law as “dictatorship”, propaganda yan ng Malaysia-Aquino-MILF Triad.
Nice fiction, YellowRibbon. Can I have the rights to turn it into a comedy series? 🙂
NotoYellowribbon: I could respond to you in Filipino but our host doesn’t speak it so out of courtesy and good manners, I’ll continue in the King’s english.
But the fact that you’re communicating in Tagalog makes me wonder, are you from Davao, like Duterte, and, like him, are you a leftist?
That’s right, Duterte is a leftist. I knew it even before he publicly admitted it due to my own sources. Anyway, just wondering.
Here is a link to an interview with Joma Sison, the retired former leader of the CPP/NPA. In this revealing interview, he clearly denies the story provided by notoyellowribbon that Ninoy Aquino provided arms and funds to the CPP/NPA. It does show that Ninoy networked with different groups but only to counter the regime of Pres. Marcos, who, in 1968, had begun to be repressive in his delaing with student protests and rallies. Joma Sison himself reveals that Ninoy Aquino had no hand in organizing the CPP/NPA. They were doing it without the knowledge of Ninoy.
http://josemariasison.org/on-ninoy-aquinos-relations-with-cpp-npa/
God forbid, someone worse than the Marcoses mabigyan ng pagkakataon maging Presidente ng Pilipinas! Kawawa ang taong baya.
It made me sick to my stomach thinking about the “dairy plane” Caroline.
I love your article, gave us a glimpse of just how atrocious this family had been.
Dear Ms. Kennedy,
Thank you for this article. I never knew about this incident (and had no clue you were married to our National Artist wow!!! until there was a reference to this as a must-read in a local food blog http://www.markemanila.com) and while I wasn’t born during Martial Law and was a toddler during the People Power Revolution, I’m fairly aware of the atrocities committed during the dictatorship and aghast at the perpetrators.
I’m in complete disbelief how millennials think that Bongbong should be the next VP and somehow history has been re-written for them to think the Marcoses aren’t that bad, or how his masterful PR machinery has worked in subtly distancing himself from his dark past (yes, our Department of Education’s flaw completely for being complacent that such a tragedy would probably be etched in the collective consciousness for generations. It’s akin to people believing the Holocaust never happened).
I think your personal story (and its ilk) will resonate well with the youth (since they seem to be impervious to the tales of torture and human rights abuses) as it clearly shows how the Marcos scions (who were actually adults during the dictatorial rule and cannot feign ignorance) were equally culpable in amassing the ill-gotten wealth pilfered from our coffers while basking in this lavish lifestyle without a hint of remorse. I hope this gets syndicated in our mainstream media. And fast. Before our May 2016 elections where Bongbong is apparently leading.
Thanks for your kind words. I agree with you. I do think the educational system has failed the youth of today by not teaching them about the true facts of the Marcos era. The fact that Marcos’s own rewritten version of history was allowed to be promoted was also an abject failure by those whose work it was to make sure history of that period was accurate and truthful. I am currently reviewing a new book “Thirty Years Later” by Myles Garcia, which has many new and disturbing facts about the Marcos years, with some confirmation by diplomatic staff of the US Embassy about the US’s attitude towards the profligate spending of Imelda, in particular. Fascinating stuff.
Just copy/pasting what I uttered earlier on the other post:
And there’s this freaky quote attributed to Goebbels: “If you repeat a lie long enough, it becomes the truth.”
And we can see that from the current Marcos Jr.’s rhetoric today.
And so many believed.
Hi, I just want to share to you a story of my late father who was a chief commander during the Marcos time and a colleague of Mayor Lim in WPD Manila’s Finest.One time there was an occassion at Manila Hotel where the First lady attended, my father was part of the Presidential entourage. The First lady was washing her hands at one of the suite where her diamond ring dropped down the sink’s drain. She asked for the maintenance facility of Manila Hotel to wreck the sink drainage. She never left until they got the ring.
I love that story. Thank you so much sharing it with me – and all of us – on this page. It is a wonderful anecdote and so typical of Imelda. Ruin the hotel plumbing so she can be reunited with her precious ring. I might ask your permission to use it in my memoirs if I ever get around to finishing them one day!!
The writer is not a Filipino in the 1st place, then who she is to have written this type of crap about the Marcoses? You know nothing about the history. So stop pretending that you know everything.
@Nityage, pretty defensive and touchy are we? Unless you were Imelda’s social secretary or confidante, I think Ms. Kennedy has MORE inside perspective than you have. Besides, with the worldwide web, there is NO more such thing as being only “Martian,” therefore qualifying one as the sole, allowed expert on things Martian. Ever heard of another POV viewing and seeing things more clearly and objectively with MORE perspective than one up close?
Caroline, if you happen wonder of the current elections, here’s a link or two for your convenience.
http://ph.rappler.com/elections/2016/results
http://ph.rappler.com/elections/2016/results/map
Look at the Vice Prez part. I know it’s scary but the fears are real. Just like what I said two years ago. Let’s just hope it fizzles out and ran out of juice in the end.
Thanks.
Major Myths About Martial Law (from League of Filipino Students – UP Diliman Facebook Page)
https://web.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1685701508329120.1073741893.1502474466651826&type=3
I hope I am responding to MacG’s great response to Noel Padilla’s post (which showed up as a separate entry in my email). What a great response, MacG. So objective, uncluttered in its delivery that makes it quite unassailable in its simplest logic. Bravo!!
Wow! The backreads was tiring but very gooood! Thank you. Hoping and praying that BBM will lose.
Medyo OA. Nagpadala lang ng breastmilk sa Pinas via airplane, cause na agad ng delay/cancellation ng flights to Europe. OA. Helloooo? Ano yun? isang bote ng breastmilk per plane? Wag OA. “Now I understood why all my friends had been complaining during that time that all the Philippine Airlines flights to Europe had either been delayed or cancelled. The solution was obvious. The presidential dairy run was abducting the planes and flying Imee’s precious breast milk back to Manila.”
“Now I understood why all my friends had been complaining during that time that all the Philippine Airlines flights to Europe had either been delayed or cancelled. The solution was obvious. The presidential dairy run was abducting the planes and flying Imee’s precious breast milk back to Manila.”
Medyo OA ha. Okay, I get you hate the Marcoses pero OA naman na sisihin sa pagdeliver ng breastmilk ang delay/cancellation ng airlines to Europe. Helloooo? Iisa lang ba eroplano sa Pilipinas? Rather, isang bote ng breastmilk ba per plane? Most people find it difficult admit that when you side with someone, your judgment at one point or another could be biased.
Not biased, May Ann, the truth. But if you don’t like the truth, that’s your problem.
//pero OA naman na sisihin sa pagdeliver ng breastmilk ang delay/cancellation ng airlines to Europe//
Well May Ann, I’m not sure how old you were when these things came into your consciousness, but wait til you become a frequent traveler yourself and encounter such brash display of impracticality and arrogance that you may one day wish “teleportation” ala Star Trek become possible.
So it’s not OA for you to have your breast milk exclusively delivered via chartered plane from Europe to Manila huh? As long as you got billions of ill-gotten wealth to pay for it, I see…..;)
I won’t be surprised if the devil himself sides with the truth over that monumental Marcos antic. 😀
Having lived and survived that era, I can tell you that the Marcos family’s excesses were truly mind-boggling May Ann. This one is relatively petty.
May Ann Dulay: If you think this is about hate, you’re sadly misguided. This is a factual report that gives the readers an idea of how the minds of the Marcoses had progressed, or regressed, to the point that they believed they could use the national flag carrier to shuttle Imee’s breastmilk across Europe to feed her baby in Manila, while she and her husband treated London like her personal backyard, spending the Filipino people’s money for their extravagant lifestyle. It’s not how many planes are used to do that, it’s the fact that national assets were treated like personal property and done s with IMPUNITY, and at the inconvenience of all the passengers. It is this very same impunity with which they ruled the Philippines for almost 20 years, running its economy into the ground and leaving us to pay the bill. It’s calculated that our children’s children will continue to pay for the huge national debt the Marcoses left unpaid. You need to expand your awareness beyond the dairy milk run and see how it reflects the bigger picture. Marcos told us we needed martial law to combat a growing communist insurgency. Instead, we were all used to fuel his appetite for the good life, at our expense. We haven’t even begun to talk about the atrocities and murders. If you can’t see that, then it is your obvious bias that is blinding you to the truth. In any case, you’re entitled to your opinion but the facts are scared and unchangeable. This page is history for all the people to see and know, simply because they deserve to. It also serves as a reminder of what we need to look out for in the future administrations. This is also a history lesson which will never be taught in schools. Like Caroline said, if you have problem with the truth, then that’s YOUR problem, and you need to solve your problem elsewhere, but leave the rest of us out of it. Thank you.
I think the story perfectly demonstrates just how out of touch with everyday people’s lives the Marcoses were. It is sadly symptomatic of their arrogant attitude towards their country and their constituents.
Reblogged this on life@itsBest and commented:
wow. There are no words.
First of all ,it was Ms Kenedy’s fault because she tolerated the action of Imee.If she was a righteous woman she should reprimand that the later was so late so they started the play.If they complain then that the way it is because they are in London so they need to act like one.
Secondly, its already twenty first century PAL’s flights still delayed as always. And the administration is Aquino who is the cousin of the owner.It happened to me one time, only my first and last experience in PAL, my flight was delayed from Manila via Narita due to the late arrival of one of the actors in GMA so at the end I spend overnight in Tokyo to wait for my next flight back to USA .And that fouled looking guy who thinks he owns the whole world looking down on us saying ” is that cheaper to get this flight ,how much $200 or $400 .I just said to him I do not know what are you asking but all i know that i paid full price .I about to screamed on his face” because you are late”, but i held my tongue . I do not want to stooped on his low level .Again because of our hereditary character ” TOLERATING ” then we complain after days, weeks , years and decades . We love to harbour those bad feelings for many years which is not significant anymore for today.
Thirdly , the patriarchal organization of a family composed of a father a mother and their children .The role of a father is a provider, the mother is the post of the house and the children are the joy and the laughter of the family.So the responsible of the mother is see to it the proper clothes , the jewerly, the travel expenses and protection of her kids. And I do not agree that the father knows about the breast feeding nor child rearing . It was easy to use the word PRESIDENT because it was so powerful to all FILIPINOS ears.
To close there, we are fanatics of the POPE just like god, we are lunatics of CELEBRITIES and we kisses feet of every PRESIDENT ( politicians or bosses)and we are easily tempted of diffrent forms of idolization and egoistic approach like the snake and Eve in the garden of EDEN .God give us will lower than the animals , if we only use our mind and heart ,open eyes and listen with ours ears then we will find the way and the truth , a peaceful and blissful path. First of all ,it was Ms Kenedy’s fault because she tolerated the action of Imee.If she was a righteous woman she should reprimand that the later was so late so they started the play.If they complain then that the way it is because they are in London so they need to act like one.
Secondly, its already twenty first century PAL’s flights still delayed as always. And the administration is Aquino who is the cousin of the owner.It happened to me one time, only my first and last experience in PAL, my flight was delayed from Manila via Narita due to the late arrival of one of the actors in GMA so at the end I spend overnight in Tokyo to wait for my next flight back to USA .And that fouled looking guy who thinks he owns the whole world looking down on us saying ” is that cheaper to get this flight ,how much $200 or $400 .I just said to him I do not know what are you asking but all i know that i paid full price .I about to screamed on his face” because you are late”, but i held my tongue . I do not want to stooped on his low level .Again because of our hereditary character ” TOLERATING ” then we complain after days, weeks , years and decades . We love to harbour those bad feelings for many years which is not significant anymore for today.
Thirdly , the patriarchal organization of a family composed of a father a mother and their children .The role of a father is a provider, the mother is the post of the house and the children are the joy and the laughter of the family.So the responsible of the mother is see to it the proper clothes , the jewerly, the travel expenses and protection of her kids. And I do not agree that the father knows about the breast feeding nor child rearing . It was easy to use the word PRESIDENT because it was so powerful to all FILIPINOS ears.
To close there, it not their fault but ours!
Just my humble opinion.
First of all ,it was Ms Kenedy’s fault because she tolerated the action of Imee.If she was a righteous woman she should reprimand that the later was so late so they started the play.If they complain then that the way it is because they are in London so they need to act like one.
Secondly, its already twenty first century PAL’s flights still delayed as always. And the administration is Aquino who is the cousin of the owner.It happened to me one time, only my first and last experience in PAL, my flight was delayed from Manila via Narita due to the late arrival of one of the actors in GMA so at the end I spend overnight in Tokyo to wait for my next flight back to USA .And that fouled looking guy who thinks he owns the whole world looking down on us saying ” is that cheaper to get this flight ,how much $200 or $400 .I just said to him I do not know what are you asking but all i know that i paid full price .I about to screamed on his face” because you are late”, but i held my tongue . I do not want to stooped on his low level .Again because of our hereditary character ” TOLERATING ” then we complain after days, weeks , years and decades . We love to harbour those bad feelings for many years which is not significant anymore for today.It is not their faults but ours!
Thirdly , the patriarchal organization of a family composed of a father a mother and their children .The role of a father is a provider, the mother is the post of the house and the children are the joy and the laughter of the family.So the responsible of the mother is see to it the proper clothes , the jewerly, the travel expenses and protection of her kids. And I do not agree that the father knows about the breast feeding nor child rearing . It was easy to use the word PRESIDENT because it was so powerful to all FILIPINOS ears.
To close these , we love to IDOLIZE in many forms like , we see POPE like god, we treat CELEBRITIES like lunatics and we kisses feet of PRESIDENTS , POLITICIANS , BIG BOSSES like maniacs, we easily tempted with our egoistical approach like ADAN and EVE in the garden .God give us a will that differs us from animals so if we really use them , then we can open our minds, heart ,eyes and ears inorder to learn the truth.
Just my humble opinion , correct me if I am wrong.
Firstly, Di, not the lady Di, but somewhere on a lower rung, you DO need correction because you ARE wrong. Ms. Kennedy already told them BEFORE the play that they would have to be on time. That was enough, for any reasonable and considerate person to understand. What you didn’t GET is that Imee didn’t like being told what to do so she deliberately arrived late, accompanied by bodyguards carrying assault rifles. Read the last part. Now, please tell us, are YOU stupid enough to complain to someone surrounded by armed men? Whose boss’s dad caused up to 70,000 people to be imprisoned without warrant, up to 10,000 people tirtured, maimed and raped? You can talk as if you could do it so easily because you weren’t even there. Like an armchair general who’s never seen real action. The performance of PAL has improved and in fact they have levelled up their brand to a class way above budget flights, and they are operating at a profit, unlike before. Secondly, you shouldn’t copy-paste twice or thrice because your comment looks as if it contains more words than sense, which is actually spot on. Third, you need to eat some more fiber so your thoughts can be composed more coherently. Read more carefully before posting so you’ll ake more sense next time.
Reblogged this on creativeculture.
Reblogged this on Big Splashes.
Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan at not learning from history will surely doom this country to repeat same mistake.
Thank you Caroline for sharing and to Mike and all who concetned citizens of this country whose existence are our hope despite thes existence also of people who prefer to be blind and act like slaves of their master Marcos despite all the atrocities done to our people and the plundering to our country. Until there are those who think and act like slaves, corrupt politicians will surely perpetuate in power. But history have taught us emancipation from slavery made possible thru education and when more people decided and stood up against slavery. We can only prevent Marcos” back to power and end the power of more corrupt officials thru education, so we can have more citizens of this country than slaves of politicians.
I’m glad you appreciate Mike Acuna’s words. He is not only very knowledgeable but extremely eloquent and wise. It’s a pity he’s not an educator by profession. With more people like him within the education system of the Philippines there would be no way another dictator could pull the wool over people’s eyes and hide the horrors of their regime.
Reblogged this on Sunflowers for Moira and commented:
A snippet of the hell my country, the Philippines, went through under the Marcoses…and may yet go through again with this new president. God, in Your infinite mercy, please, #NeverAgain to the Marcoses. #NeverAgain to Martial Law.
Stupid Flips, you are bound to repeat history. Bongbong Marcos almost made it to the Vice Presidency.
we have to be informed..
Can i share this in my FB account?
Sure you can.
Well, I am not surprised by this. The Marcos’ has a special place in hell.
THE FAKEST, FULL OF LIES AND MOST FRAUDULENT STORY OF ALL TIME.
PINAKA HINDI TOTOO, PUNONG-PUNO NG KASINUNGALINGAN AT PANLILINLANG NA KWENTONG BARBERO SA BALAT NG LUPA.
Not fake. All true. I have enough witnesses to prove it. I am sorry you are so blind to facts.
THE FAKEST, FULL OF LIES AND MOST FRAUDULENT STORY OF ALL TIME.
PINAKA HINDI TOTOO, PUNONG-PUNO NG KASINUNGALINGAN AT PANLILINLANG NA KWENTONG BARBERO SA BALAT NG LUPA.
WALANG MANINIWALA RITO KAHIT NA LANGGAN NA DULING. BWA HA HA HA.
This is an absurd, ignorant comment. You may not want to believe it but, since you weren’t there, you have no right to pass judgment. My then husband, Ben Cabrera, (National Artist BenCab), was there and can confirm every detail. I am being indulgent leaving your comment here for all to see. But it does help to demonstrate how blind are the supporters of the Marcos family. As for the YouTube video of Gerry Spence you posted here, he was being paid handsomely by Imelda Marcos so, in the famous words of one of the characters of my book, “He would say that, wouldn’t he?” Sorry to disappoint you, Amanda, but you are the one writing rubbish here.
@” Amanda Paige” – July 3, 1990 – “If Ferdinand Marcos was present in this trial, the jury would have convicted him,” said juror Theodore Kutzy. And juror Sandra Albert, a paralegal, said that the government “had nothing on her and everything on her husband. He should have been the one on trial.” The former President, who was accused of looting his nation and indicted along with his wife in 1988, died 28 Sept 1989 before he could be arraigned”. Most, if not all, the court documents named the former president as the principal accused, not Imelda Marcos. Gerry Spence was scolded several times by the judge for ‘rambling’ and appearing to be unprepared but he is well known for his convincing court performance. Marcos’ death made it easier for Spence to defend his widow who was acquitted on technicalities. Several jurors remarked that the Philippine prosecution panel’s case was insufficient, having been caught unprepared to try his widow. Marcos’ death made criminal charges untenable. However, a 2003 civil case tried by the Philippine Supreme Court dismissed the Marcos family’s claim on a $658-million Swiss bank account on the grounds that Mr. & Mrs. Marcos’ total combined official income from 1966 to 1985, his at P1.5 Million and hers less than P800,000, was far less than the amount they claimed to own. They also failed to provide proof that they had legally earned the $658-Million.
@ Amanda Paige SUPREME COURT DENIES MARCOSES’ PLEA ON $658-M SWISS ACCOUNT
MANILA, November 19, 2003 (STAR) By Aurea Calica – The Supreme Court (SC) upheld with finality yesterday its earlier decision to award to the government more than $658 million (roughly P36 billion) in Swiss bank deposits of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, throwing out petitions by his widow and children.
The tribunal also criticized a ruling by a US District Court imposing a global freeze on the funds now being held in escrow at Philippine National Bank, saying it has no jurisdiction over the Philippines.
President Arroyo hailed the decision and said it was a victory for the Filipino farmers who are the designated beneficiaries of the recovered Marcos wealth.
“The P30-billion Marcos ill-gotten wealth will go to our land reform program,” the President vowed. “This is a very important SC ruling. Ang nakaw na yaman ay yaman na ng ating mga magsasaka ngayon (The ill-gotten wealth now belongs to our farmers),” she added.
The President herself broke the news to farmers in Lipa City in Batangas where she distributed certificates of land ownership to the latest batch of farmer beneficiaries of the land reform program by the government.
In a unanimous decision, the high tribunal also junked the “global freeze order” on the Marcos assets issued on Sept. 2 by Judge Manuel Real of the Hawaii District Court, saying it was a “transgression not only of the principle of territoriality in public international law but also of the jurisdiction of this Court recognized by the parties-in-interest and the Swiss government itself.”
In its 21-page resolution penned by Justice Renato Corona, the court denied the motions for reconsideration filed by the Marcoses to its July 15 decision.
Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., Justices Jose Vitug, Reynato Puno, Artemio Panganiban, Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez, Conchita Carpio-Morales, Adolfo Azcuna, Romeo Callejo Sr., Dante Tinga, Leonardo Quisumbing and Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez concurred with the decision.
Justice Antonio Carpio did not take part in the deliberations because as former presidential counsel, he acted as chairman of a committee that oversaw the transfer of the funds to the Philippines while Justice Josue Bellosillo had retired on Nov. 12.
In their separate appeals, former first lady Imelda Marcos and her children, Maria Imelda or Imee, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Jr. and Irene accused the tribunal of denying them their constitutional right to due process by issuing a summary judgment on the case.
The Marcos heirs said the high court did not give credence to the respondents’ arguments that they should be given the chance to defend themselves and that the case should be remanded to the Sandiganbayan.
The US court issued the freeze order to stop banks holding the funds from transferring them to the Philippine government so that Filipinos who won a class-action lawsuit against the Marcos estate for human rights violations could be compensated.
The Swiss deposits would be the single largest amount recovered from the billions of dollars the Marcoses allegedly amassed. Prejudice?
Mrs. Marcos also said the July 15 decision would prejudice the other criminal cases filed against her by the government. But the SC said this forfeiture proceeding was entirely different as it required no more than a preponderance of evidence and not a trial to establish sufficient proof to convict.
“For 12 long years, the Marcoses tried to stave off this case with nothing but empty claims of ‘lack of knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief,’ or statements like ‘they were not privy to the transactions,’ or ‘they could not remember (because the transactions) happened a long time ago‚’ or that the assets ‘were lawfully acquired‚’” the SC said.
The SC earlier said in its July 15 decision that the Marcoses could not deny the fact they would try to delay the case forever if allowed.
“It will be a mockery of justice to allow them to benefit from it. By their own deliberate acts — not those of the republic or anybody else — they are deemed to have altogether waived or abandoned their right to proceed to trial,” it said.
Noting the Marcoses’ failure to raise any new matters, the court said it had painstakingly discussed in its July 15 decision why a summary judgment was in order to finally put an end to the case.
But according to the respondents, Republic Act 1379 or the law on forfeiture of ill-gotten wealth was penal in substance and thus they should be accorded the safeguards enjoyed by the accused.
The SC disagreed saying the forfeiture proceedings did not violate the substantive rights of the Marcoses as the case was civil in nature.
The tribunal said the government was able to establish prima facie presumption that the Swiss accounts were ill-gotten and thus the burden of proof shifted, by law, to the respondents to show by clear and convincing evidence that the Swiss deposits were lawfully acquired and that they had other legitimate sources of income.
Due process does not always and in all situations require a trial-type proceeding, the court said. It pointed out the Marcoses were given all the opportunity to be heard as they participated in all stages of litigation.
In its July 15 decision, the SC said the Marcoses failed to justify that they lawfully acquired the Swiss deposits that reached the estimated aggregate amount of $658,175,373.60 as of Jan. 31, 2002.
Section 2 of RA 1379 explicitly states that “whenever any public officer or employee has acquired during his incumbency an amount of property which is manifestly out of proportion to his salary, the said property shall be presumed prima facie to have been unlawfully acquired.”
The SC ruled that since the total amount of the Swiss deposits was considerably out of proportion to the known lawful income of the Marcoses, the presumption that the dollar deposits were unlawfully acquired was duly established.
Records showed the late President Ferdinand Marcos only received a salary of P1.5 million from 1966 to 1985 while his wife, who served as Metro Manila governor and minister of human settlements, got only P718,750 from 1976 to 1985.
Based on the legitimate salaries of the Marcos couple, the Sandiganbayan also ruled that they could not have afforded the schooling of Bongbong Marcos in London, not to mention the personal, family and household expenses and their lifestyle.
The court pointed out Mrs. Marcos failed to give specific details as to how the funds were supposedly acquired legally. The Marcoses also did not present and attach any single document to prove their claims.
The Supreme Court contended Mrs. Marcos’ privity to the transactions was in fact evident from her signatures on some of the vital documents attached to the petition for forfeiture, which she failed to deny as required by the rules.
“How could respondents therefore claim lack of sufficient knowledge or information regarding the existence of the Swiss bank deposits and the creation of five groups of accounts when Mrs. Marcos and her late husband personally masterminded and participated in the formation and control of the said foundations? This is a fact respondent Marcoses were never able to explain,” the Court argued.
As for the Marcos children, the court said their denial could not rightfully be accepted as a defense because they are legal heirs and successors-in-interest of their father and are therefore bound by the acts of the late dictator vis-a-vis the Swiss funds.
The Marcoses initially denied ownership of the Swiss deposits but they agreed to negotiate in the hope of finally putting an end to the problems besetting the family.
Mrs. Marcos also admitted in her manifestation before the Sandiganbayan on May 26, 1998 that she was the sole beneficiary of 90 percent of the money and 10 percent belongs to the state of Mr. Marcos.
“The admission of respondent Imelda Marcos confirmed what was generally known: that the foundations were established precisely to hide the money stolen by the Marcos spouses from petitioner Republic. It negated whatever illusion there was, if any, that the foreign foundations owned even a nominal part of the assets in question,” the court said.
The court said almost two decades have passed since the government initiated its search for and reversion of such ill-gotten wealth and that the definitive resolution of the case was long overdue.
“If there is proof of illegal acquisition, accumulation, misappropriation, fraud or illicit conduct, let it be brought out now,” it said.
Marcos fled to Honolulu after he was toppled in a people power revolt in 1986. He denied any wrongdoing until his death in exile three years later. — With Marichu Villanueva, AP
PH gov’t wins ill-gotten wealth case vs Marcoses, Alfonso Lim’s family
UPDATED) Among the assets awarded to the state – already sequestered by the PCGG – are vast tracts of land in 5 areas worth P511M as of 2006
MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – A division of the Philippine anti-graft court on Monday, January 4, ordered the Marcoses and the Lim family that owns Taggat Industries to return all the properties claimed by government.
The Sandiganbayan Second Division decided Civil Case Number 0030 that the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) filed in 1987, a year after dictator Ferdinand Marcos was ousted.
The original defendants in the 28-year-old case were Alfonso Lim Sr (who died in 2002), Alfonso Lim Jr, Marcos-time Environment Minister Teodoro Peña, Ferdinand Marcos and First Lady Imelda Marcos, and several corporations.
The Marcoses’ 3 children – incumbent Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos, Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, and Irene Marcos-Araneta – were also named substitute defendants through a Sandiganbayan order in 1991.
Among the properties sequestered by the PCGG and awarded by the Sandiganbayan division in favor of the state are vast tracts of land in Cagayan, Manila, Tagaytay, Batangas, and Rizal. In 2006, they had a total appraised value of P511.12 million.
Also awarded to the state are two Cessna planes that had been grounded since 1994, a sea vessel owned by Sierra Madre Wood Industries Incorporated, and various assets in the name of Alfonso D. Lim.
A Newsbreak report in 2005 says Lim Sr was a close friend of Marcos. He claimed ownership of Fuga Island, a 10,000-hectare property in Aparri, Cagayan, after World War II and also owned the defunct Pamplona Redwood Veneer Incorporated and Taggat Industries. These logging companies operated in western Cagayan and the Cordilleras in the 1950s up to the time the government imposed a moratorium on commercial logging early in the 1990s.
A report from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) dated November 20, 1986 also stated that Lim simultaneously held, operated, and managed 7 separate timber concessions with a total area of 533,880 hectares.
With the “access areas” between Lim’s timber operations taken into account, the DENR report said he effectively held 633,800 hectares of forest land. Back then, the maximum allowable concession area for a timber license was only 100,000 hectares.
“For one Filipino out of 55 million to own, operate or in one form or another be financially interested in more than 600,000 hectares out of a total forest land of 14 million hectares is certainly unfair, unacceptable, and unconstitutional by any standard,” said the Sandiganbayan decision, quoting the DENR report.
“So influential was Lim Sr that he and Taggat and sister companies received certain timber-related benefits without the knowledge, let alone approval, of the MNR [Ministry of Natural Resources].”
While the Sandiganbayan ordered the return of all properties claimed by government, it dismissed the state’s claim for damages for lack of proof.
Former Minister Peña was absolved of any liability due to lack of evidence.
The 35-page ruling was penned by Associate Justice Napoleon Inoturan. Associate justices Teresita Diaz Baldos and Oscar Herrera Jr concurred. – Rappler.com
Sandigan Junks Marcos family Claim to Paoay Property
By: Cynthia D. Balana – Reporter / @cynchdbINQ Philippine Daily Inquirer / 07:56 PM April 23, 2014
MANILA, Philippines—The Sandiganbayan has dismissed the claim of the family of the late President Ferdinand Marcos to a 57.68-hectare lakeside resort in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, because the area specified in an impugned contract was an actually an “inalienable public domain,” it being a national park.
In a 33-page decision by the anti-graft court’s First Division dated April 21, 2014, the court declared the 1978 lease agreement between Marcos and the defunct Philippine Tourism Authority null and void.
“The Paoay Lake and lands within one kilometer from its water line… was declared to be a national park and therefore considered public land. These were, therefore, outside the commerce of man,” the court said.
The verdict was penned by Justice Rafael Lagos, and was concurred in by Justices Rodolfo Ponferrada and Efren de la Cruz, division chairman.
The court said the late dictator had no right to bind the property in any agreement or proprietary transaction as supposed owner because he did not own the property.
Presidential Decree No. 1554, issued by Marcos on Aug. 11, 1978, reclassified stretches of land around Paoay Lake as “alienable public land.” The Marcos-PTA lease deal was signed on Dec. 20, 1978.
“Section 101 of the Public Land Act provides a remedy whereby lands of the public domain fraudulently awarded to the applicant may be recovered or reverted back to its original owner, the government,” the court ruling said.
“An action for reversion has to be instituted by the Solicitor General, in the name of the Republic of the Philippines,” it added.
This means all 154 lots covered by the lease agreement, structures found on them, and even those that are already covered by approved patents to the children and grandchildren of Marcos and any other third-party, were property of the Republic.
Aside from the lots, the court also placed under the control of the government, through Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), the Malacañang Ti Amianan (Malacañang of the North), Maharlika Hall building, Suba Sports Complex, the Old Motor Pool, swimming pools, tennis court and an 18-hole golf course.
Court records showed that no less than 79 lots in the questioned property are already under free patents or have pending free patent applications by Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos and her children.
Former first lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos, Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Irene Marcos-Araneta had executed waiver of rights over the subject lots in favor of Imee Marcos and her children.
More than half of the lots already have approved and/or pending patent applications by the Marcos heirs and other persons.
Senator Marcos had insisted to the court that the Paoay resort estate was not the subject of any forfeiture move by petitioner Presidential Commission on Good Government and therefore cannot be considered ill-gotten wealth.
He also questioned the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan over the case.
The court said state lawyers should now ask the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Land Management Bureau to nullify adverse claims by other parties on parts of the questioned property.
The court said lawyers from the Office of the Solicitor General and the PCGG were able to establish that the property previously belonged to the government and was thus transferred to the Marcos family and their associates illegally.
But the court said the fact that the PCGG never sequestered the property was immaterial.
“What matters is that the petition alleges that the former president used all his powers and influence to appropriate to himself all the lots covered by the lease with scanty claims of ownership,” it said.
The court cited as proof of unlawful financial interests by the late president the “hundred of millions of pesos” development undertaken on the Paoay property with the use of taxpayers’ money shortly after the lease agreement was signed.
It likewise cited the patent applications made by the Marcos heirs over the developed lots covered by the lease.
“T)he Marcos heirs have concentrated their free patent applications on the lots where most of the improvements are situated. Just on this score, the lease contract should be declared void,” the ruling said.
The court took more than four years to resolve the case after it was filed by the PCGG on March 3, 2010.
Sandigan orders forfeiture of Imelda Marcos jewel collection
By: Tetch Torres-Tupas – Reporter / @T2TupasINQ INQUIRER.net / 05:59 PM January 13, 2014
MANILA, Philippines—The Sandiganbayan First Division has ordered the forfeiture of one of the three jewelry collections of former first lady Imelda Marcos known as the Malacañang collection with a value of about $150,000 in 1986.
In an order signed by Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Efren De La Cruz which was made public Monday, it declared that the pieces of jewelry belongs to the government.
“…The pieces of jewelry known as the Malacañang collection [is] ill-gotten and are hereby forfeited in favor of petitioner Republic of the Philippines,” the anti-graft court said.
The anti-graft court in its ruling said the Marcoses failed to show proof that the jewels were lawfully acquired.
The Malacañang collection is the last of the three collections with pending case. It was left behind in 1986 by the Marcoses in haste at the height of People Power 1.
The other collections include the Roumeliotes Collection composed of 60 pieces of jewelry and is dubbed as the most expensive of the three collections, and the Hawaii collection which was confiscated by the authorities when they landed at the Honolulu Airport after they left the country in 1986.
PCGG Seizes Marcos Paintings
Janvic Mateo (The Philippine Star) – December 26, 2014 – 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines – The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) this year closed in on numerous paintings that were allegedly part of the ill-gotten wealth of the family of former President Ferdinand Marcos.
But while the raid conducted on the Marcos residences yielded 15 minor artworks, none of the expensive paintings was recovered.
NBI agents swooped down on four known addresses of the Marcoses in Metro Manila on Sept. 30. However, they only recovered paintings in the Marcos residence in San Juan City.
Among the artworks recovered were three copies of the “Madonna and Child” by Michelangelo Buonarroti, 11 works by Paule Gobillard and a Picasso replica Bass Strokes.
The artworks, some believed to be replicas, were turned over to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
The PCGG has since requested the Sandiganbayan to allow the transfer of the paintings to the National Museum.
Meanwhile, no painting was recovered when agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raided the museum of the Marcos family in Batac, Ilocos Norte on Oct. 3.
The Sandiganbayan issued a writ of attachment ordering the confiscation of some 140 paintings that were allegedly part of ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family.
Included in the list were masterpieces such as the LaBaignade Au Grand Temps by Pierre Bonnard, Madonna and Child by Michelangelo Buonarroti, Vase of Red Chrysanthemums by Bernard Buffet, Still Life with Idol by Paul Gauguin, Portrait of the Marqueza de Sta. Cruz by Francisco de Goya, L’Aube by Joan Miro, Femme Couche VI (Reclining Woman VI) by Pablo Picasso, and Jardin de Kew pres de la Serre 1892 by Camille Pissarro.
An earlier report of The STAR said the camp of former first lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos is looking into two possible legal options following the raids that include the filing of a motion for reconsideration or appeal before the Sandiganbayan, or questioning the anti-graft court’s order before the Supreme Court.
Crony properties auctioned
Meanwhile, the PCGG also successfully auctioned off three properties seized from an alleged crony of the late dictator.
In September, the PCGG said it successfully sold through bidding real estate properties in North Greenhills in San Juan City (727 square meters), Valle Verde III in Pasig City (721 square meters) and Capitol Hills in Quezon City (582 square meters).
The three properties, sold for P157.7 million, were seized from the estate of former NBI director Jolly Bugarin.
PCGG Chairman Andres Bautista said the selling price of the properties was higher than the combined initial bid of P114 million.
In November, the PCGG also took possession of a portion of the 18.5-hectare Payanig sa Pasig estate.
The Payanig estate was surrendered by Marcos crony Jose Yao Campos to the PCGG in 1986.
The PCGG said it has also recovered a 1.1-hectare lot located at the corner of Meralco and Julia Vargas avenues by virtue of a court order.
On Oct. 21, Pasig Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 72 Judge Marilou Runes Tumang issued an order that granted the motion for execution to take over the property occupied by 25 families.
The PCGG and the Mid-Pasig Land Development Corp. (MPLDC) – a corporation surrendered to the government – are now in control of the property.
The court order stemmed from the complaint filed by the PCGG and MPLDC against Gold Park Inc. (GPI), where they sought to recover the possession of the subject properties.
The court earlier ruled in favor of the government, and ordered GPI to vacate the subject premises and restore physical possession to the government.
The defendant was also ordered to pay over P44.6 million in arrears from December 2001 to October 2006 and additional P770,000 per month plus interest covering the period when it remained in possession of the property.
PCGG said the government continues to lose income from the Payanig property as a result of the illegal tenants occupying a significant portion of the estate. It said total losses amount to over P1 billion as of June 2013.
The commission said similar cases against illegal tenants are pending with the Pasig regional trial court.
Amanda Paige, here is another dose of the truth for you:
Last month of this year, November, the special anti-graft court Sandiganbayan 5th Division found Imelda Marcos GUILTY BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT on 7 counts for violating an anti-corruption law of graft and corruption and sentenced to 6 to 11 years in prison for EACH of the seven counts when she illegally funneled about $200 million to Swiss foundations in the 1970s as Metropolitan Manila governor. Although a bailable offense, the conviction will be on her record. You can look it up if you haven’t already heard the news.
There, that should trigger another ineffectual rant from you.
You have been shown the facts but you insist on remaining blind to it. So be it. Another sad truth is nobody cares whether you accept the truth or not because the whole world knows it. Everyone except you. Imagine how you look in their eyes. That’s the saddest thing.
You have believed in the lie for so long, it has become your personal reality. You’re like an ostrich with its head buried in the sand.
But despite what you say, think or do, the truth will stand on its own, redardless. You can run and hide from it but it will always, always, confront you down the road of your life until you accept it, and only then will you know what true peace really is.
Adieu, Amanda. I wish you well.
There are just some stubborn, blinkered people who refuse to accept the truth. Doing so would crash their whole belief system so it’s easier to combat or simply ignore the facts. It’s happening every day in the US right now.
Unfortunately Imelda is still free as a bird due to her enormous wealth and influence that a P100,000 is quite a laughable pittance tantamount to mockery of the law and their victims.
How I wish they raised it up amounting to the current worth of the wealth they stole in their 20+ years in power.
Amanda can’t face the truth, it seems. It will be very hard for her to combat this honest and detailed account by simply posting another Gerry Spence video defending Imelda!
anywhereiwander, who are you to write an article about the Marcoses, you are paid handsomely by the Aquino and the yellow oligarchs…don’t try to mislead the readers, we know what the Aquino and the yellow oligarchs have done to the Filipinos people, it’s all over now the mask of the Aquino who was painted as hero and the Marcos as the evil is done…who is evil the Aquinos..the fake hero of the yellow…so don’t you dare say that you know everything..why don’t you write an article about the Aquino how they acquired their wealth? you don’t know?…search and don’t dare paint the Marcoses as the culprit…don’t be one-sided..Aquino is the real evil..not the Marcoses…
Your comment, sadly, proves how uninformed you are. If you bother to read my other articles you will see I wrote a scathing article about Ninoy Aquino too. Go and do your homework before attempting to comment on something you know nothing about. Your knowledge about the Marcos era is woefully lacking. So, do,you yourself a favour. Read some books about the period. Talk to historians. And learn the truth about what happened.
Please don’t show your ignorance, Karen. If you bothered to read other articles of mine you would see that I also wrote a scathing article about Ninoy Aquino. You would serve your cause better if you actually bothered to read some history books about the Marcos era, talk to experts on the subject and learn the truth about martial law before you make an uninformed comment.
@Karen: Nice try Karen but no cake for you. Read your comments again. It’s full of empty words without presenting a single fact. You’re preaching to an empty room. What happened to the Marcoses, they totally did to themselves. We reap what we sow, without fail. Yet the Aquinos remain highly esteemed, not because of who they are, but because of what they did, what they sacrificed, for the Philippines and its people. The Marcoses still keep trying to revise history but the Filipino people know much more than they ever did before, especially the youth. Imelda Marcos will forever remain on record as having been convicted of graft & corruption beyond reasonable doubt. This, only because her husband, Ferdinand, Sr., died before he could be tried in any court. The ownership of that Swiss bank account with illegally obtained money was in the name of the Marcos spouses. The designated beneficiaries were the Marcos heirs including Imelda. We don’t even have to discuss the jewelry, paintings, estates, buildings, and other assets that were acquired with money they never earned. Their existence is all part of the 2003 SC decision which established their guilt and Imelda’s conviction. It’s all on record. It’s forever part of Philippine history, never to be forgotten. Ironically the Marcos name will be remembered but in a manner reserved for thieves & vagabonds. Even the Guinness Book of Records agrees. Your attempt at replacing what is with what isn’t is so empty & forlorn, that I actually commiserate with you because of your staunch but blind, misplaced loyalty. And to a certain point, I could respect that, up to the point where I love the truth and my country more. So sorry… but not sorry.
@mgotanco I’m certain many share your frustration and dismay. But stepping into our objective view, the charge of Graft is bailable, unlike Plunder. Unfortunately, many Philippine laws remain antiquated particularly in the amount of bail concerning this specific charge. Hence the graft court doubled the bail amount to 300K Pesos but no further. Still ridiculously low but to increase it further may put them in a position of circumventing the very laws they seek to uphold.
So Imelda is still free as a bird due to the bailable charge but with this conviction, anything’s possible. The tables have turned. Few realize the far reaches of this conviction. To understand this better you’d have to read the full text of the 2003 Supreme Court decision which dismissed the Marcoses’ claim on the Swiss bank account. The details of that decision served as the basis for her conviction.
The conviction of Imelda is a conviction of her entire family. If you read the 2003 decision you’ll understand.
“the Filipino people know much more than they ever did before, especially the youth.”
I don’t think so. Just look at who won the presidency: A stub – nosed guy from Mindanao that is a Marcos admirer, who is now proverbially selling our land to the Chinese (for free), and a lot of former Marcos relatives and cohorts still winning in the elections.
The Filipinos tend to be forgetful of their history. That, I believe needs to be fixed first. And the clever politicians know how to exploit this flaw very well.
I’m sure you know who those “clever” ones are. 😉
Talk about someone who’s forgetful about history. It’s not the politicians who knew how to exploit the Filipinos’ vulnerability. They’re too stupid for that. It’s China. They’re the ones who stood to gain by Duterte’s win. They want to take over the world, replace the US as the dominant country. And the Philippines is important to them for the same reason it was to colonial Spain: Prime real estate. A perfect military launching pad from which to conquer others. The trillion-dollar trade routes that pass through the West Phil Sea and the natural resources that China needs to fuel its dying industries. They planned everything. How to manipulate the Filipinos through their flawed culture which they studied for years. They chose Duterte because he was a willing pawn. They helped train a troll army for him much like the one they use in Chna to control their citizens. They used their technology, spyware, malware, tweetbots, to create a support network that controlled the campaign narrative and subvert public perception just enough to help Duterte win as the lowest minority president in the history of the Republic. The Marcoses were just willing allies who had been conducting their own campaign since they came back in 1991 to deodorize their name and try to revise history. It worked to get Marcos, Jr. to the senate by, again, deceiving people, but failed to get him within striking distance of the presidency. Close, but no cigar. Now he’s out of a job. Even his election protest to gain the vice-presidency is all over but the official announcement. But Duterte and the Marcoses didn’t really win anything. Duterte, with the help of China, cheated the Filipino people by deceiving them into handing over 39% of the votes to get elected. The Marcoses are nothing more than willing pawns, just like Duterte, in the real game being played by China. As we speak, China’s economy is eroding from within. The US trade war is intentionally disassembling China’s ability to generate and access new money. The giant companies are shutting down and leaving China to avoid huge tariffs, while The US, Japan, and Australia have launched their own version of China’s Belt & Road Initiative with friendlier terms for borrower nations. They didn’t win the midterm elections for the senate fair and square, of course not. The early returns showed only 10% of the votes in followed by a seven-hour blackout and, when the lights came back on, 95% of the votes had miraculously been counted and there was a shutout of the opposition. The leading administration senator got over a million more votes than there were registered voters. Everyone knew there was foul play but no one could prove it and the only way that could happen is if it was done digitally. And which country on earth has the ability to hack giant corporations, the US Navy, and the Pentagon? China. Hacking the computer system of the Philippine Commission on Elections could’ve been achieved by China’s trainees. The prize is much bigger for China than it is for the Dutertes and the Marcoses, all of whom don’t really the communists on the mainland. The latter have sold their souls for power and position by a foreign entity whose fate and days are numbered. History shows that every time a bully seeks to expand his territory through military strength, the rest of the world join forces and at the opportune time, overpower that bully. How can the Filipinos remember their history which was intentionally brainwashed out of them by Colonial Spain? At least the Philippines has an excuse, having been colonized. But China is the one who really has not learned the lessons of history and will suffer the same fate as Hitler’s Nazi Germany, because history always repeats itself when the wrong choices are made. There is no escape, for any of us. We are all the prisoners of our choices, whether they are good or bad. And time is running out, Mikey B. — From Mike A. Because I came first.
@MikeyB: Sorry, but not sorry.
The Chinese, yes they are cunning. Yes, they don’t (or rather refuse to) learn from history. And it’s their envy of the existing superpowers that they’re dying to become one – but for all the wrong reasons. And I don’t want to digress further to that topic.
(The Politicians) “They’re too stupid for that.”
That’s the secret. Making themselves look stupid for everyone not to notice. But I do. 😉
Mike (without the B): Sorry, but not sorry, either.
Is that it?
That’s all you’ve got?
You echoed my words for the sake of having a reply and you twist it around to make it sound like it means something. But clearly it doesn’t.
Because you have no reply. You just want the last word to save face.
Now everyone knows your true measure.
If you reply again I’ll give you a pass so you can have the last word.
We can all pretend I’m not ignoring you.
“If you reply again I’ll give you a pass so you can have the last word.”
So I guess this reply of mine will be my pass form you. How sweet. Thank you!
And my position still stands – those “stupid” politicians… They’re really that clever at looking so stupid, eh?
There’s money for being stupid. Just look at those who won the latest senatorial race. 😉 😉 😉 😉 😉 😉
That’s just….. FACTS.
Oh, Oh, I thought this is my pass for me to have the last word? Don’t tell me you’re going to reply back??!? 😉 😀 😛
Again, Mike, you are demonstrating so well that you have no meaningful response to either Mike Acuna’s points or my article. Like many Trump supporters you simply use bluster and rudeness to prove your case. No facts. No data. No evidence. Your knowledge of history is woefully lacking. You would do well to take a class from someone such as Mike Acuna who has a full grasp of all the facts, dates and proof to substantiate his words.
Hi Caroline, replying in between your messages,
“…Again, Mike, you are demonstrating so well that you have no meaningful response to either Mike Acuna’s points or my article.”
You are talking about the Marcoses. We are on the same page when it comes to them. I have my share of misgivings about them and their hardcore in-your-face lies and denials, especially for my friends’ relatives and colleagues that went missing just by going against them.
My original post was a disagreement to, “the Filipino people know much more than they ever did before, especially the youth.”
And to reiterate, I don’t think so. It’s a sad *fact* here. I’m a man of the streets and always in contact with the common folk, talking to them, listening to their opinions. and as you know 70% or more Filipinos are living on the poverty line. And with poverty, comes the lack of education and critical thinking to discern deception, which contributes to their gullibility. And they happen to be the majority who will make or break the future of any individual who will try to woo and make their presence appeal to them or so. It’s exactly the kind of people that opportunistic and a few cunning politicians need to grab the juiciest spots in the government seat. As you know the current president right now is running the government like hell (maybe in keeping with the late Prez Quezon’s wishes, LOL, but I digress), and don’t dare disagree or go against the grain of his warped blabberings. I’m sure you’ve read his antics all over the news on an almost daily basis. 😉
Again, the Filipinos tend to be forgetful of their history. Most I see, were products of brainwashing and continuous propaganda fed to them by the loyalists and those that will benefit from their ignorance.
And if I burned the guy whom I disagreed with, I have no intention to do so. Maybe he just stood too close to the flame. 😉
“…Like many Trump supporters, you simply use bluster and rudeness to prove your case. ”
Nope, with all due respect, you jumped to conclusions there. I am no fan of his brash trash-talking, immigrant-hating rants, let alone his pathetic hairstyle, but again, I am digressing :-D. For me, he and Duterte are products of a gullible population raised from ignorance and lack of education, which are ripe for mining votes. 😉
“No facts. No data. No evidence.”
I can always copy/paste facts and data out from the web to pad up my statements, but I’m just too lazy haha. I’ll let the other guy do that for me ;-). I am just blurting out my thoughts on the state of affairs the Philippines had at the moment, along with the dirty tactics of some politicians who can always come to give you ‘something’ that would make it look like an accident; and believe me you I even had a close shave with one of them, and it’s scary :-D.
“You would do well to take a class from someone such as Mike Acuna who has a full grasp of all the facts, dates and proof to substantiate his words.”
I happen to have my own school of thought on the matter, which either criss-crosses or go along/against his own. I am quite happy and content with what I know and learned from the other keyboard warriors in the neighbourhood, but hey, I’m just a mere spectator here, I’m not supposed to join the esteemed web gladiator and his ilk and slug it out, I’m just guilty of throwing a bottle cap or two of my opinions onto the arena. I guess I should have known the dude can jump up the bleachers to chase me out of my seat, hahaha!
But I’m enjoying my popcorn moment right now reading back some old posts. #munching 😉
@Mike I’m very well aware the charge of Graft is bailable, unlike Plunder. I’m just airing out my frustrations, as the Marcos Family are so skilled at delaying and dodging the cudgels of justice. Money indeed can even buy you “innocence” and freedom from accountability.
I know, and he even has a Marcos daughter at his party. That’s why I don’t read much about the news anymore especially about him. More disturbing is his popularity is higher than ever at ~80%, which reflects the mind of the majority right now. Looks like the generation today is oblivious. Scary.
Saw what you did there again, Caroline ;-)… but of
course keep on deleting this reply, no matter how
legit it is. And I know you WILL delete this again.
100% DEAD SURE
I know you don’t want your attack dog to get hurt
but hey, this post is not about him. Unless he’s a
snowflake. 😉 😉
@mgotanco Your countrymen loves to forgive and
forget. The result is… Well, your frustrations
already tell the story. 😉
Oh, and here are the Chinese! And there goes your
Marcos-admiring prez, letting them in, because
they’re your “friends”.
I wonder how much ‘take-home pay’ he’s getting in
exchange for your country’s dignity and honour….?.
😉 😉 😉
Maybe you can ask a resident expert here for the
*last word* on the Philippines current State of
Affairs. 😉 😉 😉 ;-).
@mgotanco Your countrymen love to forgive and forget. The result is… Well, your frustrations already tell the story. 😉
Oh, and here are the Chinese! And there goes your Marcos-admiring prez, letting them in because they’re your “friends”.
I wonder how much ‘take-home pay’ he’s getting in exchange for your country’s dignity and honour….?. 😉 😉 😉
Maybe you can ask a resident expert here for the *last word* on the Philippines’ current State of Affairs. 😉 😉 😉 ;-).
Tama ka MikeyB, at news flash, nanalo na naman ang pamilya nila. Ibinasura lang ng Sandigang Bayan ang kaso nila for 30 years. Malaki nagagawa ng kaalyado mo pa ang kasalukuyang namumuno ng bansa.
Politicians now know even if you get convicted for so many years there is still a fighting chance you can get away with it. Just let the people forget over time.
An inspiring story for the corrupt individual. 😀
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1175085/imee-marcos-it-took-over-30-years-to-prove-our-innocence?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3ho-Y31_jR0D1PxfC2IFlxJcgDwQQ8QzkFdLIWIvdjgYq4MTHSwFe-VWU#Echobox=1570526670
Agree, Politicians are devilishly cunning. They will make statements like, “I am poor with little education, so when they say I’m dumb, it’s a slight to you all!”, then people readily identify with them. They pretend to be dumb to get the majority votes. And those are the poor masses of the Philippines.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, it’s easier to deceive than to convince people they are being deceived.
Hi Caroline, I see you filter my replies to mike Acuna. Filtering people who goes against their opinions is not a fair way to encourage discussions. If you are for equal share of giving out opinions on your forum, filtering people who are on the opposite end doesn’t help. Unless it helps to feed Mike Acuna’s ego 😉 😉 . Hey @Mike, shout out here 😉 lol! I know you’re on his side because he tends to patronise you and your blog, but he has to learn a lesson or two that not everything he says is right all the time. You should know. You bring out the faults of the Aquinos as well as the Marcoses. Therefore…
If you are into playing fair, and I’m sure you are – Leave our discussions to make a fair ground of intellectual discourse. And I’m sure you can read this before you filter this message. 😉
@mgotanco: “Money indeed can even buy you “innocence” and freedom from accountability.” – That’s sad but true. In a country with the current political situation like the Philippines, yes, a LOT of money can buy you freedom. Innocence, I don’t know, maybe. You’re aware that Mrs. Marcos was convicted of graft beyond reasonable doubt, so that’s that for her innocence.
I empathize with and share your frustration. Let me tell you what happened back in 1985. I was trying to comfort a friend whose long-time family business had gone belly up, as did many others, due to the poor state of the economy.
The inflation rate was bordering on 50% (you can google this, it’s amazing) and while everyone who was on the outside looking in was feeling it, the Marcos family and their circle appeared insulated from it all.
My friend cried out in frustration that they (the Marcoses) had all the power and would rule forever while the rest of us would end up in economic oblivion.
I wanted to tell her that everything would be alright but I couldn’t because I didn’t know that for myself, having my own set of problems to resolve, so those woords would seem empty.
But I did say that Mr. Marcos was still just a man and that for all his vast power and wealth, he would have an ending, an accounting, as we all would. We all would have to be accountable for what we’ve done, no matter who we are. I didn’t know what else to say.
About seven months later, people massed at EDSA in February of 1986.
Some thirty years later, Imelda Marcos is convicted of graft.
History is still being written. I don’t know what’s going to happen next.
Perhaps to us ordinary mortals, justice seems to take so long that it becomes unjust, even cruel, and definitely frustrating. But finally, whether we like it or not, whether we believe it or not, it will come and it will come for us all.
The next thing to fear is when this character runs for the presidency and wins.
They are now winning court victories left and right. To the point they want history to be revised. Again.
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/721747/bongbong-marcos-wants-history-textbooks-revised-to-include-family-s-court-wins/story/
Yes, I agree, Tomas. It is very worrying. But there are still court cases in the US pending. If either Imelda or Bong Bong set foot in the States, they will be arrested.
Their recent cases were dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence. If you read the details of the courts’ decisions, the prosecution lacked the original documents which is a basic requirement of courts to render a decision. All that the prosecution had were photocopies of the evidence. This is the same reason why the prosecution lost the first case in the US against Imelda Marcos. But remember that she was convicted on 7 counts of graft last December 2019 but is out on bail. However, the fact remains that the current Solicitor General of the Phil Government, Jose Calida, is a self-confessed Marcos loyalist, which may or may not have been a factor in the recent acquittals vs the Marcos family. Although time seems to be running out against Imelda Marcos, the question of whether illegal wealth recovery against the Marcos family will prosper or not remains an iffy question given the present pro-Marcos stance of the current government. We can only hope and pray for the country’s well-being.
September 29, 2021 Sandiganbayan orders Traders Royal Bank to return ill-gotten wealth https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/09/29/2130448/sandiganbayan-orders-bank-return-ill-gotten-wealth
Thank you, Mike, for explaining the current state of the court cases. My offer to you is still open to write a guest article for this blog site so everyone can be enlightened on the current legal situation of the Marcos family. It would be very helpful.
All these years and our prosecution aren’t even prepared nor at the very least familiar with handling their cases. Bad thing is the Marcoses has some of the best lawyers money can get. Worse, you have a president that seems to idolize the late dictator. And from what I heard he’s grooming a successor that would give the Marcos families greater leverage in future politics. Not sure if it’s from the Marcoses or an ally, but it seems the liberals and other parties can’t seem to make or convince the people that there are better alternatives to the incumbent regime.
Thank you, Tomas. I agree. The Liberals must wake up to the very obvious dangers of another looming Marcos presidency. The Marcos children show no humility, no regrets and no remorse.
Just leaving this article here, even if this is not enough to convince whoever is reading it:
https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/film/a30280747/imelda-marcos-the-kingmaker-documentary-philippines-stolen-wealth/
Thanks for your contribution, Tomas
Bold prediction of mine: come 2022, this country will be riddled with Marcos Loyalists occupying the seats of government. At the rate this current government is going (shutting down a major TV station, threatening the corporations they consider ‘oligarchs’, Imprisoning/blackmailing protesters against the government, etc.) with surprisingly ‘full support’ of the vast majority of the ill-educated populace. Unless the liberals find a ‘wise’ and ‘skillful’ ruler with prudence and political will power to overturn the current administration’s vindictive approach to governance, I would not be surprised a second wave of Marcos dynasty (or something similar to it) might occur. I won’t be surprised as well if another military junta occurs on or before the end of this government’s term – if someone in the military are sensitive enough to sense the folly of this government and where it’s pushing this country into.
“Unless the liberals find a ‘wise’ and ‘skillful’ ruler..”. Perhaps they already did. https://scontent.fmnl9-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/p526x296/244280819_10226794352430684_386499670457752825_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_eui2=AeEtYA3v9FHac5TFcuD4HEBwCzhCfwElFlcLOEJ_ASUWV9FXSPsDmkAzhsuubQu7z4M&_nc_ohc=YWz-rxLAlTUAX9LYlSD&_nc_ht=scontent.fmnl9-2.fna&oh=0fa919fa14c3602486e017c129025a11&oe=61896976
The color pink has always been there pero kung kahapon mo lang napansin ang pink, then here’s a fact about Facebook’s algo…
Your newsfeed is primarily composed of posts of real people.. more than 90% in fact.. 10% are pages and groups and ads.. and most of us dont have bot or troll account friends..
Bot and trolls can control the conversations on news and political pages but they can’t flood your newsfeed with a certain color..
The flood of color you saw in your newsfeed yesterday was an deluge of people who were mostly quiet these past years simultaneously deciding that this color was going to be the color of that represents their convictions in the coming year.
I have rarely posted about supporting Leni.. same goes for my wife who is much more reserved in posting about politics.. and the same goes for a lot of my friends who I did not see posting about politics these past few years but decided to post pink yesterday..
The Pink you saw yesterday was not about the color nor was it about a woman running for president..
It was a simultaneous outpouring of hope, rage and pent up frustrations..
Of silent rage against what happened to our country in this pandemic..
Of rage about the stupid and juvenile discourse that is being perpetuated.. “kung ayaw mo ng dolomite, gusto mo ng basura” “kung ayaw mo sa anti terror law, gusto mo sa NPA”
Of rage against the government itself using disinformation to control the people..
Of frustration against the rise of tiktok and youtube as valid alternative sources for history and news..
Of hope that finally we can get sane people back in the government again..
If your newsfeed was flooded with pink yesterday, it was primarily because of your FB friends breaking their silence.. choosing a color that represents their desire for change..
Get this.. real friends.. real people.. flooding your newsfeed pink..
No troll farm or bot army can do that no matter how well funded it is..
The Pink Flood was not a politically funded strategy.. It is a MOVEMENT..
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but a looming victory by bongbong Marcos (bbm) for the presidency is imminent now. more than 70% of the electorate in Mindanao are for bbm, 64% from the Visayas are rooting for him and the rest of the percentage are shared as scraps by the rest of the candidates, and a huge majority of the lower and middle class and even some upper middle class (in particular the Chinese-Filipino community) are for the instillation of bbm as the next president. bbm at >50% compares to the closest rival Leni Robredo at 20%. The opposition are grossly disorganized and bbm cleverly capitalize on the opportunity by brainwashing the millenilas who are nonethe wiser. If you talk to most college level youths in the Philippines today, they are all so convinced of bbm and the lies of his propaganda. I think that’s how dumb Filipinos have become. I was hoping what I am seeing are fake news but unfortunately they are gathered from legit sources. His trolls and the trolling activities of his supporter since the late 2000s has finally paid off. No amount of blocking them on soc med will stop the propaganda. It’s already embedded deep in their brains, and the Marcos family are now seen as the victims and their aptriarch the hero. It’s like a religious cult. No amount of presenting facts will stop them and you will even be proverbially bludgeoned on soc meds and daily face to face convos if you go against the flow. I already saw their activity’s potential in the 2000s, unfortunately the Liberals and other opposition parties don’t have the foreknowledge to see how effective it will be for someone like bbm to capitalize on it through lies and deceit and make it appear true on social media. Just a whole and a half generation has passed and they all totally forgot history.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Philippine-elections-2022/Marcos-firms-up-lead-in-latest-Philippine-presidential-poll
https://www.rappler.com/nation/marcos-outstrips-rivals-robredo-clear-second-placer-pulse-asia-presidential-survey-december-2021/
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1164427
I agree. Very sad for the Philippines.
I disagree with your narrative regarding the college level youths but I understand your pessimism about the country’s condition. The Filipinos are forgetful but in my perspective it is not the youth who drives the Bong(2x) campaign, it is the older generation. Other than that, I think age is not the factor we should consider but the income bracket of the voters. Months had passed since you posted your reply and there are only a few days left before election. It’s not over until it’s over. Now more than ever, is the time to fight for this country. I wish that a few months after posting you can now see a glimmer of hope. If we lose atleast we know that we did what we can do.
There are still people who remembers. Have faith in our youth.
Same thoughts here.
Only 1 Uni endorsed Marcos. Student orgs of Uni and other learning institutions (esp Catholic ones) that endorsed the VP Leni-Kiko tandem are unequivocal in their support. So I am afraid it is true; the older gen drives the bbm candidacy- educated and otherwise. THIS is a really SAD phenomenon. How a gen that lived thru the atrocities of a marcos era can just either forget or simply remember-but-dismiss that harrowing part of our history.
I agree with another point. The opposition is not united, and the Liberals didn’t really see this coming. VP Leni’s camp saw what was happening; it just didn’t lift a finger to thwart the undermining efforts.
One thing ‘though… sara d. jumping into marcos jr’s wagon spelled the difference because on his own, the latter would not have made it this far. The duterte clout is still there, and the narrative “continuity of ‘progress’ by PRRD” reverberates within the unity cult. Take the case of the actor senator-wannabee. He was nowhere near the senator magic slate. But his populatity was catapulted when PRRD endorsed him.
It would have been a different story if Sara did not join marcos jr.
We as a people are who we vote for. Another marcos era is foreboding.
I hope and pray I am wrong.
I expect the disagreement, but I myself have seen it first-hand as a University instructor and on Senior High – a HUGE number of them are. It’s shocking to seethe *gross misinformation* that they are spewing out of their lips; I interact with the younger folks everyday. Sad and disheartening as I am, but they also form part of the majority among with the old folks – take note, majority of the population today are on the roughly 25-40 age range, most of the loyal old folks have either already died or are incapable of voting. I would want to change their thinking and be objective of what the reality is, but they have been blinded already. If you still have faith in the youth, then I’d expect you and your kind to continue carrying the baton of reforming them. I’ve tried, but the culture of fake news have run deep in their veins. I feel sorry for them.
I wish the you and the current generation good luck.
Alas, gentlemen, all your predictions have come true. Brilliant analysis, albeit results are indeed going to the dark side as you have forecasted.
No amount of ‘oppositioning’ will stop the blatant fake news. You are right on the dot mgotanco, et al. I hate that it came true but unfortunately you folks were right.