Speech Delivered Aboard The QE2
June 1987
By Caroline Kennedy
Leaving the Philippines, in 1984, for what seemed like the final time saddened me. I had spent almost two decades there, on and off, and had assimilated myself so much into its history, its culture and its people that many locals referred to me as their country’s favourite “honorary Filipina”. The advantages were that I could now, from a distance, take a step back and view those two decades objectively. I had always told myself “one day I would write truthfully about the Marcos era” and now here I was in an unique position to do just that.
I had arrived in Manila almost by accident in 1968 and remained there on and off for the next sixteen years. My first decade there turned out to be, perhaps, the most bizarre in my entire life. During that short period I went through more incarnations than most people do in a lifetime.
In those few years I was transformed from budding writer and radio producer, to weekly columnist, to singer, to actress, to TV presenter, to disc jockey, to comic strip heroine, to film star and, finally, ending up annointed as a true “Living Goddess” among a former headhunting tribe in the Philippine’s remote Mountain Province.
The years I spent in the Philippines coincided almost exactly with the years in power of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. So, as a journalist, I was able to observe and write about them at firsthand. It was hard, in fact, to ignore them. They dominated every aspect of Philippine life, particularly since the imposition of martial law in 1972. There was nowhere you could look in Manila without seeing their larger than life posters on giant hoardings. There was nowhere you could go without overhearing endless conversations about them and ambitious plots being forged against them. And there was nowhere you could hide without feeling that your every move was being closely monitored by them or their cohorts. Theirs was an all-pervasive presence, neither benign nor compassionate. On the contrary, theirs was a destructive, intimidating and, for the Filipino nation as a whole, an ultimately catastrophic presence.
I spent much of my time in the Philippines chronicling the excesses of Imelda Romualdez Marcos. I think there has been nobody in contemporary history that has so aptly illustrated the saying that:
“Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Imelda always liked to compare herself with Eva Peron. In fact she took it as a compliment if anyone pointed out any similarities between her and the former First Lady of Argentina. But, despite Eva Peron’s excesses – and there were many – at least she did, in part, help her “decamisados” as the Argentine’s poor were referred to. But, in twenty-one years as First Lady of the Philippines, Imelda Romualdez Marcos did nothing for the destitute in her country.
At the time of my arrival in the Philippines the Marcoses had been in power for only three years and so I was able to see and document their rise, from fairly humble beginnings, to what has been dubbed their “conjugal dictatorship”, outlasting as they did so, four US presidents and three British prime ministers until their final ignominious defeat in February 1986.
I suppose the image that springs to most peoples’ minds when they hear the name Imelda Marcos is shoes. This is hardly surprising since it is now known she owned at least 3000 pairs of them. And it is hard to forget the TV news film, in February 1986, showing row upon row of them left behind in the Palace when she fled to exile in Hawaii.
“Three thousand?“ Imelda protested at the time, “That’s nonsense! I only had 1006!”
Imelda’s shoes have, perhaps, become the very symbol of her excesses. They are currently housed in the Imelda Marcos Museum in Manila, a museum dedicated solely to her greed, her ostentatious lifestyle and her extravagances.
Imelda may have left behind all those pairs of shoes for us to marvel at but many of us probably harbour a secret admiration for what she and her husband, the late President Ferdinand Marcos, did manage to bring with them into the United States under the term “household effects”. The official customs list drawn up when they arrived into exile in Hawaii reads like pure fantasy.
22 Crates of Cash valued at $717 million dollars
300 crates of assorted jewellery Value undetermined.
$4 million dollars worth of unset precious gems contained in Pampers diaper boxes.
$7.7 million dollars worth of jewellery, including a gold crown encrusted with diamonds, three tiaras, 65 Seiko and Cartier watches
A box, measuring 12 feet by 4 feet, crammed full of real pearls.
A 3 foot solid gold statue covered in diamonds and other precious stones.
$200,000 dollars in gold bullion and nearly $1 million dollars in Philippine pesos
Discovered among their luggage too were deposit slips worth $124 million dollars for banks in the US, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.
A week ahead of their departure 2000 tons of gold, worth $22 billion dollars, had been dispatched to Australia but, on a tip off, was intercepted by the vigilant Australian Customs. Weekly shuttle flights, transporting crates containing money, period furniture, antiques and Old Master paintings were reported to have flown to Hong Kong during the six months prior to their downfall in February 1986.
A further $250 million dollars worth of jewellery was also confiscated from a friend of Imelda’s who was caught smuggling them out of the country for her.
And this was probably just the beginning. Over two decades later the Philippines government is still trying to locate all the Marcos assets. Imelda has not helped them. She has claimed the Fifth Ammendment. She has obfuscated. She has bribed. And she has lied. She told the Philippines commission charged with retrieving the stolen funds:
“If you know how rich you are, you aren’t rich. I have no idea how rich I am!”
Following a request from the Philippines government, the Swiss government, for the first time ever in its history of secret banking, froze all assets they suspected of belonging to any member of the Marcos family. In the past five years the Swiss government revealed the existence of yet another Marcos account, holding almost $20 billion! And so it seems quite possible that one day we might actually find out just how rich the Marcoses were.
After my arrival in the Philippines, just three years into her husband’s first presidential term, I became fascinated by Imelda Marcos and proceeded to write about her often, mainly in very unflattering terms. My best friend Betsy Romualdez, a writer and poet, happened to be Imelda’s niece and so I was fortunate to have access to many inside stories about the First Lady, more so than most Filipino journalists at the time.
I was still living in Manila in 1974 when Imelda was hosting the 23rd Miss Universe contest. On the night of the main event the beauties and the foreign Press were lined up for hours in the lobby of Imelda’s brand new Cultural Centre building waiting for the First Lady to show up. Eventually her limousine swept up the driveway and Imelda regally stepped out. As she passed down the line of girls, a bit like royalty, she stopped occasionally to shake hands with them and share a few words.
When she reached Miss South Africa she asked, “What does your father do?” The nervous young woman replied, “Daddy? Oh, he’s in the mining business!”
“That’s a coincidence ! “ Imelda immediately retorted, sweeping her arms around the magnificent lobby of her new Cultural Centre, “I’m in the mining business too! That’s mine, that’s mine and that’s mine. In fact everything you see here is mine!”
This may have been Imelda’s cynical attempt at a joke, and a handful of journalists among our group giggled politely, but it had a portentous ring. For less than 15 years later, Imelda, her husband and their cronies, would own an estimated 85% of the nation’s wealth, commerce, land, produce, dollar and gold reserves. By their departure in 1986, the country would be left reeling, bankrupt and riddled by foreign debt from which it is still recovering today.
Although Marcos had taught Imelda how to play dirty politics, her drive and ambition were entirely her own. As she succeeded in winning votes for him so he rewarded her with jewellery. She, in turn, would tell journalists and friends that these jewels were Romualdez family heirlooms she had inherited along with a palatial home, priceless antiques, paintings and a silver collection.
In the early days, during the 1965 presidential campaign, Marcos was able not only to switch from being the leader of the Liberal Party to being the leader of the Nacionalista Party but also to clinch the election. But political pundits and colleagues agreed it was Imelda who influenced the result. Marcos was a brilliant tactician, they said, but it was Imelda’s charm, persuasion and sweet singing voice that ultimately won him the presidency.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say,” a political aide told me, “that Imelda used plane, motorboat, banca and literally crawled on her hands and knees to reach each delegate who had a vote. She then swayed them with her voice, her tears and her beauty.”
For his part, Marcos wined and dined his supporters at the opulent Manila Hotel, filled their pockets with 100 peso bills and took them to expensive nightclubs. Following their inauguration, Imelda sent US presidential candidate, Hubert Humphrey, some personal advice on how to win an election:
“You’ve got to control the site of the convention,” she wrote, “you’ve got to have your people everywhere. We had the bellhops. We had the waiters. We had the elevator boys. We had the desk clerks. We had everybody talking about Marcos. But the most important thing was that we had all the telephone operators so the other side never received their telephone calls!”
The presidential election of 1963 had been the costliest, dirtiest and most vicious campaign in the country’s history, “a year long propaganda orgy” as the American Embassy in Manila discreetly described it. But the foreign press were already referring to the Philippines as the “new Camelot” and to the beautiful, young First Lady as the “Asian Jackie Kennedy.” And a few months after the election the Marcoses paid the customary state visit to America. Imelda took the States by storm. “A photographer’s delight” the newspapers called her as she sang a Filipino love song to a bemused President Johnson at a gala dinner. Washington was mesmerized. Politicians and press alike were seduced by her beauty and her charm. For the first time Imelda witnessed the power of her own personal magnetism.
The newspapers quoted her on her return to Manila saying:
“The Metropolitan Opera House – it was fabulous – those chandeliers, those paintings…My God, the Rockefellers, the Duponts, the Fords, the Magnins, the Lindsays, the painter Marc Chagall – you know he wanted to paint me. And the jewels the women were wearing… strands and strands of diamonds around their necks!….Wow, in America when they’re rich, they’re really rich!”
Back home Imelda set to work to create her own opulent environment worthy of entertaining her new super-rich friends. She began a massive building programme that, in time, came to be known as her “edifice complex” – not to house the poor and the dispossessed – but to forward her aims of making Manila into the cultural and financial capital of Asia. Neither she nor Marcos cared for the underprivileged. If the squatters’ huts presented an eyesore to her or her foreign guests, she had them obliterated with a bulldozer. She had once been poor herself and she never wanted to be reminded of the fact.
And the sad truth is that Marcos, too, cared little for the majority of his people. During his rule as president graft and corruption flourished, rural poverty became more crushing, the gap between rich and poor widened and these conditions were exploited by the emerging Communist Party. This was painful to the U.S. because the Philippines was the country America had tried to model after its own democratic image. It was where, in 1899, the Americans had fought their first counter-insurgency war in the name of protecting freedom and defeating what they saw as the growing threat of communism.
On his election to the presidency Marcos had promised a redistribution of the country’s wealth – on that he certainly delivered. But he redistributed the wealth from the poor to his business colleagues, his Army generals, his friends and his own family. Overall, by the mid-1970’s seven out of ten Filipinos were worse off economically. Real wages for workers had fallen about 30% while consumer prices had tripled. Two out of every three Filipinos were surviving below the poverty line and a staggering 40%, 21 million Filipinos, were homeless.
The per capita calorie intake, too, was less in 1976 than it had been in 1960. This, despite the fact the U.S. had provided the Philippines with more than $300 million under the Food for Peace Programme. In the 1950s Filipinos had probably been the best fed people in Asia. Now people in India, Indonesia and, perhaps, even Bangladesh were eating better than they were. 40% of all the nation’s deaths were caused by malnutrition. An American journalist visiting the Visayas Islands (near Imelda’s birthplace) in 1979 reported:
“The young patients I saw in the hospitals there seem to have been transplanted from the famines in Bangladesh and the sub-Sahara earlier in the decade. Big eyes staring from skeletal heads, matchstick limbs and bloated bellies. But they were the fortunate ones. They were receiving treatment.”
Impervious to any such domestic problems, Imelda started her infamous shopping sprees in
Rome, Paris, New York and London – at Bulgari, Harry Winston, Tiffany’s and Cartier. On October 13 1977 she parted with $384,000 for diamonds. Two weeks later on November 2 she spent over $1 million for more diamonds. In July 1978, after her third visit to the Soviet Union, nine days of spartan communism had, apparently, proved too restricting for her and she flew directly to New York for a retail therapy binge. On her first full morning there she paid out $194,000 for antiques and the following week in a one-day spree she spent over $2 million on more diamonds and emeralds. And all this on her husband’s official presidential salary of just $6500 a year!
Nothing and no one would get in her way. When the world press criticized her for being profligate, she would answer that she was only carrying out the wishes of her people.
“They want me to shine like a star in their midst. Who am I not to carry out their wishes?” she asked.
When hauled before a U.S. Congressional Committee of outraged congressmen, her charm no longer seduced them. They demanded to know where her money came from and threatened to cut off aid to her country if she continued to spend so lavishly. Back home she referred to them as “barbarians.” She compared them to the Spanish Inquisition:
“I have been to Peking. I have been to Moscow. I have been to Libya,” she fumed, “and nobody ever treated me so rudely!”
Her husband pacified her with a gift of the world’s largest blue diamond, the notorious “Idol’s Eye”, said then to be worth $5 million.
The following year while her Ferdinand Marcos was negotiating the renewal of the U.S. bases agreement and promising a massive austerity campaign at home because of the spiraling inflation and a huge foreign overseas debt, Imelda again went on a shopping spree in the US. She bought a multi-million dollar estate in Long Island, named Lindenmere. She shelled out $328,000 on more diamonds, $717,000 on a house in Hawaii, $5.3 million on a hotel in San Francisco, $1 million on another house in Hawaii and, on August 25, 1981, she bought a heart-shaped diamond for over $1million and two necklaces for $400,000.
Two days later she spent another $616,000 on antiques and, in September of that same year, 
she bought the Fan Fox Samuels estate on Long Island for almost $6 million. In that period too she acquired a townhouse on 66th Street and Madison in Manhattan and she negotiated the purchase of one of New York’s most famous landmarks, the Crown Building, on 57th Street and Fifth Avenue. In her personal collection too, I was told by my friend, Jun Gonzalez her private art restorer, she owned Old Master paintings and sculptures worth in excess of $20 million. Jun told me Imelda had invited him to the Palace to see a 12 foot X 12 foot painting by Holbein. He asked if I would like accompany him.
“How could she have bought a Holbein?” I was incredulous. “Surely, the whole world would know when a Holbein had been purchased on the international art market ? Where had it come from ? Who had sold it to her – or had she been duped – yet again?”
That was not all she owned, Jun told me. In her collection I would see Canalettos, Chagalls, El Grecos, Rubens, Rembrandts and Titians, to name just a few.
At the time of these infamous shopping sprees it was estimated that 30% of the population were struggling on barely $200 a year, not enough to afford the barest necessities of life, such as food, shelter, clothing and medicine – the very things that Imelda, in her new capacity as Minister for Human Settlements, was expected to provide.
In their 21 years in power, it has now been established, the Marcoses salted away between $18 and $30 billion, most of it intended for aid programmes but much of it from personal “donations” Imelda had successfully extracted from intimidated local businessmen. There is no doubt the Marcoses certainly robbed in style, particularly Imelda.
Many of my wealthier friends were constantly receiving visits from the Manila Metrocom, Imelda’s own private police force, with a personal note saying,
“Congratulations! You will be delighted to hear you have been selected to appear at the Palace with a cheque for $10,000, (or shares in your company or deeds to your properties) to donate to my favourite charity.” and it was signed, Imelda Romualdez Marcos.
It was a novel kind of reverse lottery.If they refused to cooperate they would automatically receive a visit from the Bureau of Internal Revenue. If this tactic still failed to convince them then their businesses were taken over by one of Imelda’s friends or family.
But, with an armed police escort, threats of imprisonment and promises of in-depth investigations into their business affairs by the tax authorities, few dared to refuse such a subtle and seductive invitation. In fact one of my friends said he received so many of these “congratulation notes” that he wallpapered his entire downstairs bathroom with them.
Parrying questions by American journalists about her extravagances, she explained:
“I must confess that once upon a time Marcos’s family and mine were oligarchs. But we are reformed oligarchs. The Romualdez family has been in office for many years and thank God there is a family who is willing to serve our country. Thank God they know how to make money. Otherwise if Marcos did not know how to make money before, what experience would he have to make his country prosper? The United States is ashamed that it is rich. Why should we be ashamed? We have some gifted members in our family. Good. They want to serve our people. Wonderful!”
She left the reporters as perplexed with this explanation as she did a group of scientists from the august National Academy of Sciences whom she invited to Malacanan Palace to discuss energy conservation. When they arrived she said energy conservation bored her and she really wanted to talk to them about love, truth, justice and beauty. She then entertained them with folk songs, beautiful women, local celebrities, a banquet dinner and dancing.
After the sumptuous meal she took them upstairs and spoke to them for three hours. She told them about her project of giving each prisoner a rabbit, a dog or a plant to love. She then drew a circle on a blackboard representing the universe. She made a hole in the circle and drew some lines. She explained that this represented where cosmic forces entered the Philippines:
“And my scientists tell me,” she said, “that these forces are so powerful that we can use them to protect you – our American friends – against Soviet missiles!”
Imelda’s forays onto the world political stage were equally successful in grabbing the
international headlines and she was dubbed, “The Iron Butterfly”. A typical trip abroad might include a visit to Tripoli to dissuade Colonel Gaddafi from financing the Moslem rebellion in the Southern Philippines (for which she later campaigned to receive the Nobel Peace Prize), a short stay in Moscow with the intention of sending shivers down the spines of the domino-theorists in the State Department, an exhaustive tour of Cuba accompanied by Fidel Castro, who fell for her charms. And then, homeward-bound, with a final stopover for an audience with the Pope, to remind him that even an impoverished, developing nation like the Philippines can be the fifth largest contributor to the Vatican coffers.
To prevent boredom at home she pursued her “edifice complex” with a vengeance. Perhaps, like the Pharaohs, she intended to leave the world monuments to remember her by. She built the Cultural Centre in 90 days as a venue for the Miss Universe contest, then came the International Convention Centre to give a forum for overseas investors and businessmen, a Folk Arts Centre, ready in time to accommodate the Ali-Frazier “Thrilla in Manila” world heavyweight fight, a fortress-like Metropolitan Museum to house her personal collection of paintings, a University of Life, a Heart Centre for Asia, a Lung Centre, fourteen luxury hotels and a coconut palace to accommodate her jet-setting guests and to permanently display – although not to the general public – her priceless collection of jewels and Russian icons.
But the building that tops them all is the Parthenon-like structure dominating the center of Manila Bay and housing her Film Centre, built for an international film festival, conceived by her to rival Cannes.
I watched mesmerized as the mammoth building was constructed in 90 days by literally thousands of underpaid workers struggling day and night to make sure it was completed on time.
A week or two before the grand opening a catastrophe happened. A huge section of the native bamboo scaffolding collapsed resulting in hundreds of workers plummeting headlong into the quick-drying cement. And as their fellow workers scrambled desperately to free the victims, the order came from Imelda that there was no time to dig them out, work must continue otherwise the opening deadline would have to be postponed and her foreign guests would be “disappointed”.
Offending legs and arms that were not completely buried by the cement were ordered to be chopped off and destroyed while the widows and families started assembling at the scene for an impromptu candlelight vigil which was to last for several months.
The opening was a surreal event. Cocteau himself could not have dreamt up a more grotesque one. Despite violent police attempts to remove the grieving families, the vigil outside defiantly continued. As hundreds of demonstrators were forcibly removed, hundreds more arrived to take their place – a never-ending stream of wailing mourners.
Meanwhile I watched as minor celebrities from the United States and ex-royalty from Europe began arriving at the Centre in their stretch limos, ignorant of the disaster and unaware of the grim reception committee that awaited them.
Despite last-minute threats and financial inducements by Imelda to the hostile workers to finish the building on time, the roof was incomplete on the opening night. And, despite the fact that the rainy season was long over, that particular night, of course, it chose to rain. Journalists huddled to keep dry outside as guests were ushered inside to their seats. Some seats that were exposed to the open roof were already soaked, but there was nothing Imelda could do. That night there was no let up. It seemed to those of us watching the event that heaven was resolved to mourn its dead that night.
Imelda was, as usual, the last to arrive. On stage a chorus of hastily assembled patients from her Heart Centre began to sing as she entered the hall and swept down the aisle. They sang The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah, “And he shall reign for ever and ever!” Except they replaced the word “he” with the word “she”.
At the end of their song, to the disbelief of the audience, each one stepped off the stage, bared their chests and walked among the front rows of the stalls displaying vivid purple scars from recent heart operations. Shocked gasps were followed by an embarrassed silence. People didn’t know which way to look. The emcee on stage proudly announced that these people had all received their operations at the new Imelda Romualdez Marcos Heart Centre.
At this point, of course, the audience was expected to burst into rapturous applause. But, by this time, the persistent wailing from the mourners outside echoed eerily through the hall as rumours of the disaster began to spread. The bizarre ceremony on stage made the audience uneasy and most gave hasty excuses and left.
By now Imelda’s regular guests included Cristina Ford, the ex wife of the American auto magnate, Henry Ford II, the actor George Hamilton, the pianist Van Cliburn, the chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer and Jack Valenti, President of the American Motion Picture Board. These people she referred to as “my gang” and, given a moment’s notice, they were ready to fly to her side anywhere in the world.
Imelda’s most notorious junket with her “gang” in tow was her trip to Kathmandu in March 1975 to attend the coronation and wedding of King Birendra. Before her flight to Nepal she was entertaining her “gang” and others, including the heart surgeon, Dr. Christian Barnard and the actress Gina Lollobrigida, at Malacanan Palace. But instead of ending the party when it was time for her to leave for the Himalayan capital, Imelda decided to take the party with her – without a thought for foreign protocol or expense.
She commandeered four Philippine Airlines planes, one for food, just in case the Nepalese food failed to please her friends’ palates, one for her entourage, which included six hairdressers, manicurists and medical personnel and two for herself, her family and friends. The trip was scandalous by any standards. A former classmate of the King recalled the dismay at court when, upon her arrival, Imelda walked straight up to the King, completely ignoring protocol and the waiting reception line, which included the King’s mother. According to the classmate, the Nepalese Royal Family was furious as word of Imelda holding her own court in Katmandhu and issuing her own invitations spread through Himalayan kingdom and abroad. But she was only repeating what she had done a few years previously at the Shah of Iran’s party in Persepolis.
During the next few days of festivities Imelda kept close to Prince Charles, whom she realized
would attract most of the media attention. By placing herself at his side she could guarantee she would end up on every television screen and on the front pages of every magazine and newspaper the world over. The plan worked and, although the Prince of Wales remained impervious to her charms and refused Imelda’s invitation to visit Manila, another member of the British Royal Family would accept later the same year.
Imelda had been hatching plans to play host to a member of the British Royal Family for almost three years. And the fact that she had been refused by both the Queen and Prince Charles did not dull her determination but she also came to realize she would have to settle for something less. Imelda knew Princess Margaret’s weakness for attending extravagant parties and she planned to create the biggest party of all, one that the jet-setting Princess could not possibly refuse. She employed an Italian art dealer, Mario Durso, an acquaintance of the Princess, to convince, coerce or inveigle the Princess to visit Manila.
Finally, towards the end of 1975, her opportunity arose. Princess Margaret was due to fly to Papua New Guinea to represent the Queen at the Independence Day ceremony. The Princess asked Durso to inform Imelda she would be prepared to visit Manila on her return journey. This was the moment the First Lady had been waiting for. This was the time for her to pull out all the stops. She pleaded with Durso to insist that the Princess arrive in Manila on a Sunday so she could command all Manila’s schoolchildren to line the streets from the International Airport to Malacanan Palace waving British flags.
Plans forged ahead at full steam. No expense was to be spared. Imelda’s coterie of blue-frocked girlfriends, known as the “Blue Ladies”, were dragooned into preparing bacchanalian feasts for the Princess, at least one for every night of her visit. A suite of rooms in Malacanan was hastily redecorated to the Princess’s taste and Imelda’s international celebrity friends were invited, all expenses paid, to come to Manila to join in the fun. Manila was festooned with Union Jacks for almost a month. For the first time British television shows outplayed American ones on local television stations. And shops, such as Rustans Department store, owned by Imelda’s best friend Glessie Tantoco, were inundated by British goods, British fashions and British food.
Bulldozers were hastily put to work razing squatters’ huts on the route from the airport to the Palace. However, as had so often happened before, no sooner had the shanty homes been demolished and the squatters driven out, than the cardboard and corrugated tin houses went back up again. This scenario occurred every time Imelda expected a visit from a celebrity, foreign dignitary or overseas businessman. The result was always the same. Imelda would have a high white-washed wall erected around the whole area so that nobody could see in and the squatters couldn’t get out. Inevitably, the hapless residents inside would be forced to hack their way through the wall so it ended up looking like a giant honeycomb.
But, despite all these preparations, all did not go according to plan. The Princess fell sick with flu in New Guinea and informed the British Ambassador, Sir John Addis, that her arrival would be delayed by a few days.
Sir John, who had become a good friend and travelling companion of mine, later told me:
“I dreaded telling Imelda that the Princess would not be arriving on Sunday as planned but, most likely, on the following Tuesday or Wednesday.” I could tell Sir John was relishing this story. “You can imagine Imelda‘s reaction,” he smiled, “She was not amused. All her plans had to be rescheduled.”
I could visualize the scenario. But even Sir John who was a diplomat of the old school, a quiet scholarly man, a world-respected authority on China and Chinese porcelain, became almost apoplectic whenever he discussed Imelda.
“What about the schoolchildren?” I asked.
“Ah, yes, the schoolchildren!” Sir John grinned, “You see I wasn’t able to give Imelda the exact day Her Highness would be arriving in Manila. And well, even
she couldn’t declare a national holiday for a whole week, could she?”
“So who waved all those thousands of imported British flags?” I asked.
I had heard rumours about this incident but I was eager to know from Sir John what really happened the day the Princess arrived. Sir John laughed. Despite a distinguished career in the Foreign Service and, as such, trained to be tactful at all times, he could never resist gossiping with me about Imelda. We were sitting beside the lake at his magnificent garden in Kent and, as he had many times during our long friendship, Sir John was prepared to let his guard down.
“Well, there was an argument as to whose car the Princess would travel in. Imelda obviously wanted to meet her at the airport and take her in her own car back to the Palace. However, I had to explain to her that technically the Princess was a guest of the Embassy and, as the Queen’s representative in the Philippines, I would be expected to meet her at the airport.”
I giggled. I could imagine the scene.
“Imelda must have exploded!” I said, “She’d been planning this for years!”
“She was definitely not happy.” Sir John chuckled. “I tried to cater to her vanity by saying that, as First Lady, protocol dictated that she and the President should wait and greet the Princess at the Palace. Eventually, she relented but not without a struggle. So off I went to the airport followed by a phalanx of limousines. I noticed that Imelda had been hard at work because the route was lined with thousands of men in grey overalls holding the British flag.”
Intrigued I asked, “Who were they?”
“Well, deprived of the schoolchildren, Imelda had replaced them with inmates from all the prisons around Luzon! Sir John giggled. “And, wait for this, Caroline, just in case the prisoners decided to make a communal bid for freedom she had sharpshooters from the Army and the Manila Metrocom hanging out of windows and suspended in the branches of trees above with rifles aimed at the them.”
“What was the Princess’s reaction to all these men in identical outfits?” I asked, “Did she realise who they were?”
Again Sir John laughed. “She looked amazed and then turned to me and in her very upper crust voice, asked, “Tell me, Sir John, are they all civil servants?””
“And what was your answer?”
Still chuckling from the memory, Sir John replied, “Well I said, “In a manner of speaking, Ma’am, yes they are!”
In 1986, during the “Peoples’ Revolution”, as it came to be called, newsreels and photographs
emerged from Manila’s presidential palace, Malacanan, that filled viewers with a mixture of fascination and horror. There were the rows upon rows of discarded shoes, the obscene mountains of unused cosmetics, the 3000 bras and panties, leading most observers to ask themselves, who was this woman who called herself the “Goddess of all the Arts” and the “Star and Saviour” of the 54 million Filipino people?
Imelda never expected to be forced into exile. She had lived with delusions of her own infallibility for twenty-one years – and the US government was, in most part, to blame. While Imelda “shopped till she dropped” and her husband imprisoned, tortured or killed any dissenter, agitator or critic, successive US Presidents went out of their way to praise and support them both.
In 1980 former President Nixon called Imelda “our Angel of Asia.” In 1981, after a blatantly corrupt election, Vice President George Bush Sr told the couple:
“We just love your adherence to democratic principles and the democratic process!”
And, during the Marcoses state visit to Washington a year later, President Reagan heralded their dedication to “improving the living standards for all their countrymen” and called them, “Nancy’s and my greatest friends and America’s greatest allies in Asia.”
It seemed then the couple could do no wrong in the eyes of each United States government, convulsed as it was in the aftermath of Vietnam and ever fearful of Henry Kissinger’s “domino theory”, a theory that never stood up to serious scrutiny even then.
In fact Marcos and Imelda never even considered themselves mortal. In one issue of Playboy magazine, recorded during the Marcoses exile in Hawaii, they were asked the question:
“Do you think of yourselves as Gods?”
To which Imelda’s immediate reply was:
“Yes, because we are on a divine mission to return to the Philippines and reclaim our destiny.”
The ex President then chipped in:
“We are part of the achievement of being a God. That is what we are about now. An ordinary mortal would not be able to stand it. All of our statements now have to prove that we have not gone back to being ordinary mortals.”
But robbed of her personal fiefdom and her bottomless Treasury, with her own Swiss bank accounts frozen and nowhere to display her priceless jewels, Imelda Marcos presented a pathetic figure, hardly that of a deity. The Iron Butterfly’s wings had been severely clipped and, with it, her freedom to jet around the world at will. Her hard-earned memberships to the exclusive playgrounds of the privileged few had been withdrawn. Doors, once open by the rich, titled and powerful had been firmly slammed in her face. She complained that in Hawaii her telephone never rang and friends were always out when she called. The “enchanted fairytale” as Imelda once described her life, was over but, according to the Playboy interview, she saw it only as a “temporary intermission.”
When her husband died in exile, Imelda’s only dream for herself was a triumphant return to Manila. Forty years ago she had arrived in Manila with a beautiful young face, a dream in her head and five pesos in her pocket. Again she would arrive in Manila, this time broken but unbowed. She vowed she would seek the Presidency “for all those supporters who have anxiously awaited for my return.”
From her exile in Hawaii she made this promise to them. “I’ll go back with only five pesos and I’ll make billions and billions of dollars, because what I do comes from the heart and the brain – and I’ve got both!”
But the support she expected had evaporated in her absence. The Philippines had moved on. Ferdinand’s corpse, she was told, would not be welcome, his body would have to remain in Hawaii. The housewife, Cory Aquino, who had become President by default negotiated Imelda’s return in exchange for access to some of the stolen money.
So Imelda bided her time, staging her political comeback to coincide with the inauguration of her former friend, the actor-turned politician, Joseph Estrada, an alcoholic womaniser who abused his position to such an extent that he, too, was toppled within his second year. And, despite, crawling down the aisle of Manila’s Cathedral on her knees to beg God’s assistance in returning her to power, Imelda has reluctantly had to give up all ideas of obtaining the Presidency and setting in motion the family dynasty that was her husband’s dying wish.
Later, when asked about this, and other similar, tactics by Fortune magazine, Imelda simply shrugged:
“I’m like Robin Hood. I rob the rich to make my projects come alive. It’s not really robbing. I do it with a smile !”
Her projects included literally hundreds of buildings. Palatial homes all over the world for her and her family, luxury condiminiums and office blocks, larger-than-life monuments of herself and her husband, numerous “love bridges”, health centres and art centres and a string of shopping malls and five-star hotels.
Imelda’s response to accusations of extravagance was simple:
“In the material world,” she explained coyly, “where everything is valued, when you commit yourself to God, beauty and love, it can be mistaken for extravagance ! But I have never been a material girl. My father always told me never to love anything that cannot love you back!”
And these words from a simple girl who went out of her way to obtain the world’s largest uncut diamond from Harry Winston, obviously so it could love her back, and not so she could outshine Elizabeth Taylor !
Imelda’s extravagance knew no bounds. She grabbed everything, bought everything, hoarded everything. Her excuse was that she was doing it for her “little people”. Like the “meek” in the Bible, she assured us, they would inherit it all.
“Everything I have is theirs,” she informed us journalists one day:
“I am their star and their slave. No matter how poor they are, whenever they see me they smile and they are happy!”
POSTSCRIPT: Just thought I would add this as it strikes me as funny – and, typically, Imelda.
Another postscript by Rappler. Following the outrage by ex-alumni of Ateneo inviting Imelda to the Universitiy recently. The photograph of her with the alumni went viral and many wrote in to protest. “Did the alumni remember those students who died during the Marcos regime?” I understood their anger. I knew Eman Lacaba, the young poet, very well. He even wrote a poem dedicated to me. He was hauled away to Camp Crame one day never to be seen again. Shame on Ateneo. The alumni has since issued a statement. You can read the full story here:
http://www.rappler.com/rappler-blogs/bea-cupin/62605-edgar-jopson-ateneo-marcos
Yet another postscript: An off-Broadway musical, “Here Lies Love” about the love affair and conjugal Presidency of the Marcoses is getting a rerun at The Public Theater in New York.
Ferdinand, Imelda Marcos Bio-Musical ‘Here Lies Love’ Returns To The Public Theater
just to make a correction – cory Aquino won the election not by default. she was the legitimate winner but marcos tried his best to steal the election, using everything within his power – even comelec, but the electorate did not allow it. they went on massive rallies and demonstrations and resorted to civil disobedience until the historic People Power revolution overtook events, which put an end to the marcos regime.
Thank you. I didn’t mean to infer that Cory won the election by default. I was referring to the fact that her husband, had he lived, would have been the obvious candidate. The Opposition was in disarray (some imprisoned, some in exile, some silenced) and thus she was selected because of her name recognition and the fact she was a unifying force in the Party.
Just my five cent: During the snap election, both sides claimed victory. The people gathered in EDSA did not necessarily represent the whole electorate of the country. Numbers in the provinces are much higher than that in Metro Manila at that time and we do not exactly know their sentiments. Look what’s happening now, the government can’t even control the soaring price of electricity which was ridiculously raised for more than five peso per kilowatt hour which ironically was in Imeldas pocket as mentioned in your article. I don’t question the lavish lifestyle of the so called Asias “Iron Butterfly” that was really excessive, it’s good it was put into halt! But this time new breeds are sucking our hard earned taxes from the national treasury!
Yes, sad that history appears to be repeating itself. But at least today there is no mantle of martial law under which Marcos was able to hide his misdeeds or justify his behaviour.
SINS OF CORY
opinyon2010 / September 19, 2013
BY MIGUEL RAYMUNDO
PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino III is surely feeling the heat with some of the country’s top technocrats forming an alliance to make him answerable for the billions of pesos in government funds under his control.
Former national treasurer Leonor Briones says the legislators’ pork barrel is just a “coin purse” while Malacañang, that is PNoy, holds the” power of the purse”.
According to the group of Briones, the President has control of over PhP1 trillion in government funds. The national wrath over the lost PhP10 billion in pork is a small percentage to what Malacañang could be liable of with those trillions.
The question is can we trust PNoy to use that money for the good of the country?
Many think PNoy cannot be trusted. Everyday more Filipinos are added to those who do not think PNoy can be trusted in his office. And there is a reason for the growing distrust.
Blasted in Social Media
In the social media, blogs and posts denounce PNoy’s inappropriate interest in protecting the country’s most hated “queen of the pork barrel” Janet Lim-Napoles.
His apparent coddling of Napoles sent signals to the public that something was cooking. This sparked suspicions that PNoy was “too frightened” of Napoles. This also generated some angry questions that got even angrier answers.
And the anger against the un-presidential caring of and protection given to Napoles, “queen” of ten-billion robbery of the countryside development funds entrusted to legislators and bureaucrats, grew louder as stories of the past are brought back to life.
The people are reminded of the sins of the mother of PNoy, the former President Cory Aquino, who has been sold to the Filipino people as saint and martyr.
OpinYon finds it fit to run some of these reminders to the Filipino people. In this issue we pick from the controversialfiles.net.
Scandals of the Cory Era
One of the biggest urban legends of recent times in the Philippines, is the story that the Cory Administration was supposedly the “cleanest” among the Administrations in the last three decades.
Thanks to Nostalgia, and the fact that her Administration was at the dawn of the internet age, much of the negativities of that Administration has been largely forgotten, and people tend to remember only the “good” things about that Administration.
Well, thanks to Noynoy Aquino’s “holier-than-thou” campaign strategy, much of the “unpleasantries” during Cory’s time are being brought back to the surface slowly, but surely. Here are some that we have managed to dig out:
The question is can we trust PNoy to use that money for the good of the country?
Many think PNoy cannot be trusted. Everyday more Filipinos are added to those who do not think PNoy can be trusted in his office. And there is a reason for the growing distrust.
Blasted in Social Media
In the social media, blogs and posts denounce PNoy’s inappropriate interest in protecting the country’s most hated “queen of the pork barrel” Janet Lim-Napoles.
His apparent coddling of Napoles sent signals to the public that something was cooking. This sparked suspicions that PNoy was “too frightened” of Napoles. This also generated some angry questions that got even angrier answers.
And the anger against the un-presidential caring of and protection given to Napoles, “queen” of ten-billion robbery of the countryside development funds entrusted to legislators and bureaucrats, grew louder as stories of the past are brought back to life.
The people are reminded of the sins of the mother of PNoy, the former President Cory Aquino, who has been sold to the Filipino people as saint and martyr.
OpinYon finds it fit to run some of these reminders to the Filipino people. In this issue we pick from the controversialfiles.net.
Scandals of the Cory Era
One of the biggest urban legends of recent times in the Philippines, is the story that the Cory Administration was supposedly the “cleanest” among the Administrations in the last three decades.
Thanks to Nostalgia, and the fact that her Administration was at the dawn of the internet age, much of the negativities of that Administration has been largely forgotten, and people tend to remember only the “good” things about that Administration.
Well, thanks to Noynoy Aquino’s “holier-than-thou” campaign strategy, much of the “unpleasantries” during Cory’s time are being brought back to the surface slowly, but surely. Here are some that we have managed to dig out:
—————————————————————————————————————
IS IT REALLY A JOKE?
—The president’s joke about renewable source is not a joke, but a mock—
President Noynoy said, in the “If you put up a wind-powered plant, what do you do when there is no wind? If you put up a solar plant, what do you do when the sky is cloudy? Let me be clear: I believe in renewable energy and we support its use, but there should also be base load plants that can ensure a steady supply of electricity for our homes and industries. I wonder if those who are critical of the plants we want put up will be as noisy when they are busy fanning themselves during brownouts. All I am really saying is this: Let us help each other find a solution,” he said.
—Lack of knowledge—
Dr. Jean Lindo, convenor of No to Coal (Network Opposed to Coal) Davao, and a member of the nationwide broad coalition, antiCOALition, is very disappointed to hear the President make fun of Renewable Energy solution during his SONA. Noynoy doesn’t even think that through his words, he let everyone accidentally witness his lack of knowledge on the science of clean and green energy.
Noynoy keep on insisting that renewable energy is more expensive— from the cost of building the plants to the eventual price of energy supply. He just wanted to put up something more cheaper in the making, but still ask the people to bear the expense as it will actually double their bill from the previous supply.
—The two sides of a coin—
What is the point here? Putting up a renewable source plant like wind turbine maybe fundamentally expensive, but it will deliver the people a good power supply that will cost them a little because the source is FREE and RENEWABLE. Unlike the coal-powered plant though the capital outlay maybe cheap but the expenses are incessant. It still needs to be SUSTAINED for uninterrupted USE, in addition to the fact that IT IS A HEALTH HAZARD power supply. If you are to choose between two (2) kinds of power plant that can supply the same amount of energy, but one of them is cheaper by the cost, what would you prefer to?
We can perceive the real motive behind the scene…that making people believe renewable energy is expensive and cannot provide base load is only a flimsy alibi for the real thing. Noynoy is supporting the coal plant in Mindanao to favor the Cojuangco business —the SMC, who is building a coal plant that sought to supply Mindanao with additional power as a front, but it aims mainly to supply power to its mining operations in Barangay Pinalpalan.
He wants us to support his family business of coal-powered plant in Mindanao, he is after the advantage of his relative, not the Filipino people.
for youe information
PRESIDENT FERDINAND MARCOS’s ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
compared to all his succeeding presidents accomplisments’ COMBINED
We can talk about completed
and commissioned government projects
of the late FERDINAND E. MARCOS Sr.
Oh , God help me, for it is going to be a very long list.
Not on the List are Noted Accomplishment .
These are only the ones people dont really know about.
So feel free to share this to the world.
_________________________________________________
Marcos completed Power plants in 20 years—–
1). Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, completed 1983
2) Leyte Geothermal Power Plant, completed 1977
3)Makiling-Banahaw Geothermal Power Plant, completed 1979
4) Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant, completed 1980
5) Angat Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1967
6)Kalayaan Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1982
7) Magat A Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1984
8)Magat B Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1984
9)Pantabangan Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1977
10)Agus 2 Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1979
11)Agus 4 Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1985
12) Agus 5 Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1985
13) Agus 7 Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1982
14) Pulangi Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1985
15) Agus 6 Hydro Electric Power plant, recommissioned in 1977
16)Masiway Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1980
17) Main Magat Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1983
18)Calaca Coal Power PlantCompleted in 1984,
19) Cebu Thermal Power Plant completed in 1981,
20) Palinpinon 1 Southern Negros
Geothermal production Field completed in 1983.
Not mentioned are diesel plants
Cory Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, Gloria Macapagal,
Ninoy Aquino III COMBINED in 26 years:
ZERO –
every new power plant built During their time
were all privately Owned
( mostly by Lopezes, AboitIz, Aquino And Cojuanco Family )
and is now owners of some Power Plants completed during Marcos.
______________________________________________________
Marcos completed Bridge projects in 20 years
1) Biliran Bridge150 meters long of Leyte, completed 1975
2) Buntun Bridge 1369 meters long of
Tuguegarao-Solana, Cagayan, completed 1974
3) Candaba Viaduct Pulilan 5000 meters long of
Bulacan-San Simon, Pampanga, completed 1976
4)Mactan-Mandaue Bridge 864 meters long of
Lapu-Lapu-Mandaue, Cebu 1972
5) Magapit Suspension Bridge 449 meters long of
Lal-lo, Cagayan completed 1978
6)Mawo Bridge 280 meters long Victoria,
Northern Samar completed 1970
7) Patapat Viaduct 1300 meters long Pagudpud,
Ilocos Norte completed 1986
9)San Juanico Bridge 2060 meters long Tacloban,
Leyte-Santa Rita, Samar. Completed 1973
Not to mention the unnamed hundreds of
bridges under 100 meters long.
TOTAL LENGTH = 11472 meters long
_______________________________________________
Marcos Established/Founded
State Colleges/Universities in 20 years
1)Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University
in La Union founded in 1981
2)Mariano Marcos State University
in Ilocos Norte founded in 1978
3)Kalinga-Apayao State College
in Tabuk Kalinga founded in 1970
4)Abra State Institute of Science
and Technology in Abra founded in 1983
5)Pangasinan State University founded in 1979
6)University of Northern Philippines founded in 1965
7)Philippine State College
of Aeronautics founded in 1969
8)Cagayan State University established in 1978
9)Quirino State University established 1976
10)Isabela State University established 1978
11)Pampanga Agricultural College established 1974
12)Mindoro State College of Agriculture
and Technology-Calapan City established 1966
13)Occidental Mindoro State College established 1966
14)Palawan State University established 1965
15)Bicol University established 1969
16)Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges established 1983
17)Rizal Technological University established 1969
18)Technological University of
the Philippines established 1971
19)Capiz State University 1980
20)Guimaras State College 1968
21)Northern Negros State College of
Science and Technology established 1971
22)West Visayas State University became
established as university in January 1986
23)Leyte Normal University 1976
24)SLSU- (Southern Leyte State University)
– Sogod 1969
25)SLSU- Hinunangan 1975
26)SLSU- Tomas Oppus feb. 1 1986
27)SLSU- Bontoc 1983
28)SLSU- San Juan 1983
29)Basilan State College 1984
30)Western Mindanao State University became a
university in 1978 followed with
building the satellite campuses in:
WMSU-Alicia campus, Zamboanga del Sur
WMSU-Aurora campus, Zamboanga del Sur
WMSU Curuan, Zamboanga City
WMSU-Diplahan, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSU-Imelda, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSU-Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSU-Mabuhay, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSU-Malangas, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSU-Molave, Zamboanga del Sur
WMSU-Naga, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSUOlutanga, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSU-Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur
WMSU-Pitogo, Zamboanga del Sur
WMSU-San Ramon, Zamboanga City
WMSU-Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSU-Tungawan, Zamboanga Sibugay
31)Central Mindanao University established1965
32)Misamis Oriental State College of
Agriculture and Technology established 1983
33)Northwestern Mindanao State College
of Science and Technology estbalished 1971
34)Davao del Norte School of Fisheries
established 1969 ( now known as
Davao del Norte State College)
35)Mati Community College (MCC) founded in 1972
(now known as Davao Oriental State
College of Science and Technology)
36)Malita Agri-Business and Marine and
Aquatic School of Technology founded 1966 now known as:
37)Southern Philippines Agri-Business
and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology
38)University of Southeastern
Philippines established 1978
39)Cotabato Foundation College of
Science and Technology established 1967
40) Cotabato City State Polytechnic
College established 1983
41)Mindanao state university-
Iligan city founded 1968
42)Mindanao state university- Gensan city founded 1971
43)Surigao del Sur State University founded 1982
44)Surigao Del Norte School of Arts and Trades
(Founded in 1969) now known as
Surigao State College of Technology
45)Sulu State College founded in 1982
46)Tawi-Tawi Regional Agricultural College founded in 1975
47)Adiong Memorial Polytechnic
State College founded in 1970’s
48) Makati Polytechnic Community College-
Technical High School founded in 1972
( that i have found so far) out of 108 state universities
and colleges are established and accomplished projects of
FERDINAND E MARCOS. He also improved and re equipped
the remaining colleges/ Universities
that were established/ founded before 1965.
Cory Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, Gloria Macapagal,
Ninoy Aquino III combined Established/Founded
State Colleges/Universities in 26 years:
ZERO– the remaining of 108 State Colleges/
Universities are built and founded before 1965.
They though renamed few Colleges
and Universities and Refounded them after 1986.
National Manpower and Youth Council (NMYC)
founded 1976. Now changed to TESDA to discredit Apo Marcos.
____________________________________________________
Few in not a fraction of high schools all over the Philippines.
Built and founded during Marcos leadership
1) Amlan Municipal High School was established 1972
2) Amparo High School was established in 1979
3) Aplaya National High School was established 1969
4) Balayan National High School (BNHS) established 1985
5) Balibago National High School established 1970
6) Bayugan National Comprehensive
High School established 1980
7) Buenavista National High School established 1972
Dalupaon National High School established 1972
9) Don Emilio Macias Memorial National
High School established 1982
10) Dona Francisca Lacsamana de Ortega Memorial
National High School established 1972
11) Dr. Juan G. Nolasco High School established 1966
12) Eastern Samar National Comprehensive
High School established 1969
13) Francisco P. Felix Memorial National High School
(FPFMNHS) established 1973
14) Gen. T. de Leon National High School establsihed 1969
15) Ismael Mathay, Sr. High School, formerly called
the GSIS Village High School established 1971
16) Jose Borromeo Legaspi Memorial National
High School established 1981
17) Kaong National High School 1974
18) Lawang Bato National High School established 1967
19) Liloy National High School established 1974
20) Mag-aba National High School established 1977
21) Mandaluyong High School established 1977
22) Navotas National High School established 1983
23) Parañaque National High School (Main Campus)
(Formerly known as Parañaque Municipal
High School) established 1969
24) Pasay City North High School established in 1969
25) Pedro E. Diaz High School established 1977
26) Philippine High School for the Arts established 1977
27) Pinagtongulan National High School established 1967
28) Punta National High School established 1971
29) San Juan National High School established 1968
30) San Mateo National High School established 1985
31) San Pablo City National High School established 1969
32) San Pedro Relocation Center National
High School established 1970
33) San Ramon National High School established 1967
34)Tabon M. Estrella National High
School established 1981
35) Makati Polytechnic Community College-
Technical High School founded in 1972
36) Tomas Cabili National High school Iligan city 1971
37) Dasmarinas National high School 1971
____________________________________________________
I. Food sufficiency
A. Green Revolution
Production of rice was increased
through promoting the cultivation of IR-8 hybrid rice.
In 1968 the Philippines became self-sufficient in rice,
the first time in history since the American period.
It also exported rice worth US$7 million.
B. Blue Revolution
Marine species like prawn, mullet, milkfish,
and golden tilapia were being produced
and distributed to farmers at a minimum cost.
Today, milkfish and prawns contribute
substantially to foreign exchange income.
C. Liberalized Credit
More than one thousand rural banks
spread all over the country
resulting to the accessibility of credit
to finance purchase of agricultural inputs,
hired labor, and harvesting expenses
at very low interest rate.
During 1981-1985, credit was available
without interest and collateral arrangements.
Some of the credit programs were the ff:
1. Biyayang Dagat (credit support for fishermen)
2. Bakahang Barangay –supported fattening
of 40,000 head of cattle in farmer backyards
3. Masaganang Maisan, Maisagana,
and Expanded Yellow Corn Program
–supported 1.4 Million farmers
through P4.7 Billion loans from 1975-1985
4. Gulayan sa Kalusugan and Pagkain ng Bayan Programs
–provided grants and loans of P12.4 Million
to encourage backyard and communal production
of vegetables and improve nutrition of Filipino households
5. Kilusang Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran (KKK)—
supported 25,000 entrepreneurial projects
through P1.8 Billion and helping 500,000 beneficiaries
D. Decontrol Program
Price control polices were implemented on rice and corn
to provide greater incentive to farmers to produce more.
Deregulation of trading in commodities like sugar
and coconut and agricultural inputs like fertilizer
were done for more efficient marketing and trading arrangements.
II. Education Reform
Access to free education widened during the Marcos Administration.
The biggest portion of the budget
was allotted for Educational Programs (P58.7 Billion in 20 years).
The literacy rate climbed
from 72% in 1965 to 93% in 1985
and almost 100% in Metro Manila on the same year.
III. Agrarian Reform
Tenant’s Emancipation Act of 1972
or PD 27 was implemented without bloodshed.
This was the first Land Reform Code our country.
Since it was implemented until December 1985,
1.2 million farmers benefited,
either they became the owner or leaseholder
in more than 1.3 million hectares of rice and corn lands.
IV. Primary Health Care
The Primary Health Care (PHC) Program made medical care
accessible to millions of Filipinos in the remotest barrios of the country.
This program was even awarded by United Nations
as the most effective and most responsive health program among the third world countries.
With PHC life expectancy increased from 53.7 years in 1965 to 65 years in 1985.
Infant mortality rate also declined from 73 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1965 to 58 in 1984.
V. Housing for the masses
Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Services (BLISS)
Housing project had expanded the government’s housing program
for the low-income group.
Massive slum upgrading projects have improved
to 14,000 lots in 1985 from 2,500 in 1976.
The Tondo foreshore, for instance,
is one of the biggest and most miserable slum colonies in Asia
was transformed into a decent community.
A total of 230,000 housing units were constructed from 1975-1985.
The laws on socialized housing were conceptualized
by President Marcos through a series of legal issuances
from the funding, the lending, mortgaging and to the collection of the loans.
These are governed by the Home Mutual Development Fund (Pag-Ibig Fund),
the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB)
and the National Home Mortgage Finance which remain intact up to the present
VI. Energy Self-Reliance
Indigenous energy sources were developed like hydro, geothermal,
dendrothermal, coal, biogas and biomass.
The country became the first in Asia
to use dendrothermal and in five years
we became number two, next to US, in geothermal utilization.
The extensive energy resource research and exploration
and development resulted to reduction of oil imports from 100% in 1965 to 40% in 1985
and in the same year, more than 1,400 towns and cities were fully energized.
VII. Export Development
During 1985 textile and textile products like garments and embroideries,
furniture and rattan products, marine products like prawns and milkfish,
raw silk, shoes, dehydrated and fresh fruits
were exported aside from the traditional export products like coconut,
sugar, logs, lumber and veneer.
The maritime industry was also dominated
by Filipinos wherein 50,000 seamen
were employed by various world shipping companies.
VIII. Labor Reform
The Labor code was promulgated which expanded
the concerns of the Magna Carta of Labor
to extend greater protection to labor,
promote employment, and human resource development.
The minimum wages of the workers were boosted
through the guaranteed 13th month pay and cost of living allowances.
Employment potentials of Filipinos were enhanced through skills training.
During that time, there were 896,000 out-of-school youths
and unemployed graduated from various training centers all over the country.
IX. Unprecedented Infrastructure Growth
The country’s road network had improved from 55,778 kilometers in 1965
to 77,950 in five years (1970),
and eventually reached 161,000 kilometers in 1985.
Construction of irrigation facilities was also done
that made 1.5 million hectares of land irrigated
and increased the farmer’s harvest and income.
In addition, nationwide telecommunication systems—
telephone systems, telex exchange too centers,
and interprovincial toll stations were also built.
X. Political Reform
The structure of government established by President Marcos
remains substantially the same except the change of name,
inclusive of superficial features in laws,
to give a semblance of change from that of President Marcos regime.
The only significant department that was abolished
after the departure of President Marcos was
the Department of Ministry of Human Settlements under Imelda Romualdez Marcos.
It was dismantled but the functions were distributed to different offices.
XII. Fiscal Reform
Government finances were stabilized
by higher revenue collections
and loans from treasury bonds,
foreign lending institutions and foreign governments.
XI. Peace and Order
In 1966, more than 100 important smugglers were arrested;
in three years 1966-68 they arrested a total of 5,000.
Military men involved in smuggling were forced to retire.
Peace and order significantly improved in most provinces
however situations in Manila and some provinces continued to deteriorate
until the imposition of martial law in 1972.
What ever happened to these?
Did the suceeding administration just forego these just because it had Marcos’ signature?
These,though made in the 1970’s address problems that we are facing today.
Had these not been abolished and maintained for the last 30 or so years, things may be so much different.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
And the list goes on and on and on…..
(to be continued)
Although Marcos was branded as dictator, corrupt, human rights violator by fictional tales
passed on from generation to generation and his achievements were expunged subtly
by the manipulation of mass media and vindictiveness of the administration that succeeded him,
the impacts of his interventions remained and are undeniably germane part of our country’s system.
**PLEASE REPOST AND SHARE THIS
TO ALL FRIENDS THAT ARE HATERS,
ADMIRERS, AND TO THE ONES WHO DIDNT CARE**
Certainly an impressive list. But I would need to check them all and that would take up too much time. But thanks for posting. The facts, if they be true and honest ones, certainly serve to open up the debate further.
You don’t have to be sorry, She lost that election by documents. That revolution was funded well and organized to change history according to the motives of those who were behind it Cory Aquino etal. Steal? who stole that seat? Pls try to revisit facts and don’t be emotional about lies presented to be the truth. Wake up. To this day nothing has be proven. Pls review everything and be fair.
hear this first @any… and tell me what’s the rule of Marcos to the humanity.
“Pinuno mo na ang salop!” We do remember this line of FPJ. That’s really what happened to the Marcoses, the reckoning just caught with them. With their power and wealth, they thought they can control it all. Sadly, Marcos could have been great. Yet he chose worldly things rather than serve his country. And no matter how hard his supporters try, they can never rewrite history.
Thank you, Carol, for refreshing our memories and renewing our spirit. Never must we forget the horrors of Martial Law, and safeguard this freedom that we now have. Forgive also the new generation, they never really will understand completely. That the very fact that this exchange of ideas, beliefs, and viewpoints was not possible during the Marcos regime! That all those projects were mere facades of their true intent.
Corruption and vested interests still exist even today, and its disheartening to the young leaders. But to look for one solution to cure all is an ideal that be dropped. We DO need a revolution! But it should be a revolution in ourselves. It’s true that we are a very forgiving people- soft, and easily swayed. Let’s not change this because this is what makes us a very lovable race. Rather, let’s just add up some traits; steadfast in faith, diligent in work, patience with justice, and committed in our service.
The wheels of change will continue to turn, and sooner we will be molded as one country. Let’s love our country the way Mrs. Caroline Cabrera does, and great thing will be at hand.
Thank you, Den. This is a very beautiful message you have posted. The younger generation cannot possibly understand what it was like to live under the Marcoses. If their parents prospered then Marcos was a saviour, a great leader, a visionary. Sadly only a few families did well. The majority of the Filipinos lived in fear, poverty and forced obedience. Imelda kept them entertained with her endless shopping sprees abroad, her grandiose projects at home and her infamous coterie of wealthy, jet-setting friends. Like Marie Antoinette before her, Imelda truly felt that if she kept “the little people amused” they would love her. You are so right that a revolution within yourselves is what is needed. Filipinos do not need to change their character only their meek acceptance of oppressive and corrupt politicians who are only too willing to exploit this weakness. Yours is a wonderful country, abundant in natural resources and blessed with lovely, caring, optimistic, talented, resourceful people. It is possible to change. It simply requires the collective will. And forums like this might help to open the eyes of some and let them find their voice. Let’s hope so.
Well said…..
The IMF and other banks in the world took advantage of the chaotic situation in the Philippines, that they needed to manipulate the exchange rate of US $ against PHPeso. And now world economy is nothing but a game of number not money. Money isnt the utmost concern of these banks, it is the country itself, because money or monetary unit such us the Philippineseis not is no longer of their interest. It is the very country itself, because the resources in the Philippnes are abundant like its people, minerals, environment and food. Many experts say that Philippines may be considered as the last frontier. No wonder why China and USA are eager to either befriend or make feuds against. It is not the Marcoss that put the Philippines as to where it is now, it is the banks the greedy people and oligarchs. I pity the bank leaders and other financial institutions, benothing but to give loans and ask people to pay at the expense of our better future. Going back to the basic, do we really need to spend so much money for food where there is soil to toil?
Why don’t we just move on. yes,marcos was corrupt but without him as president we will still be a country with no name. yes marcos is corrupt together with his cronies.how many maybe 20 cronies. look at now everybody is corrupt even the barangay captain now is corrupt. what did ninoy aquino contribution in the country during his time? NONE! Cory? NONE! Ramos? NONE! Erap?NONE Arroyo? NONE! Now Aquino again? NONE! All of the above are corrupt presidents.more corrupt than marcos. What we need to have is a president with an iron hand and i don’t care if we go back to a dictatorial form of government as long as all the corrupt will be found guilty and punished. i want justice be served by firing squad and lethal injection. Do you want to know who is my president this 2016? the mayor of Davao City ,Mayor Rody Duterte. Lets forget the past it’s time to move on now .
i thank ms Caroline Kennedy for her writing on Imelda.. where can i find her book, pls
Cory did not win the 1986 election that is a FACT. They fooled the masses that she won the election, NAMFREL confirmed it was Marcos who won the election after making a recount. Even Homobono Adaza knew along with NAMFREL officials.
True…she proclaimed herself as if she is the winner, after Marcos voluntarily fled the country( to avoid civil war.) Aquino wrote her own philippine history using local media pretending to be our hero….
I do not agree with you. Though people in the provinceS did not go to EDSA, we were with them in spirit and prayer using our radios!!!
Yeah right!!! Idiots!!
Sorry to disagree but did u remember when comelec personnel walked out because they cannot stomach the blatant cheating.
This is true, they did walk out once but not, I believe, during that particular election.
So, let’s assume that Marcos did win. Are you confirming that majority voters are dumb enough to continuing electing Marcos?
i think you where born after 1986, droids… there is a video of this history, go and watch it so you will understand what this thread is all about. thanks!
Cory Aquino won that elections. The elections was widely rigged by the Marcos side. Even Juan Ponce Enrile admitted to cheating for for Marcos.
tama
bUT, WHY THE WALKOUT OF THE COMELEC PEOPLE AT THE picc?
For people curious about the Marcos Wealth (World Wealth), you can follow this site containing leaked documents hidden to the public by the Global Oligarchy.
https://www.facebook.com/FEMDocsVideos?fref=photo
NAMFREL programmers walked out. They were rigging the votes that we’re showing up on screen. In the end, their conscience could not take it anymore.
She was leading the count but they weren’t reflected on the official tally boards. The discrepancy was blatantly wide against the tally board of NAMFREL (which is still much alive and preserved in my son’s grade school- La Salle Green Hills). Saw the walk out on TV and yes, it was this particular SNAP Election that caused EDSA and finally booted Marcos out.
It is also a FACT that what this article say about the Marcos regime and imelda is FACT.
I agree on this.. And regarding those riches that the Marcoses have.. FERDINAND MARCOS was already into gold trading long before his political career.
Gold trading! Is that what you call it?
Cory was brought to power by EDSA revolution, hence first days in office was a revolutionary government that lasted less than a month when she opted and declared a Freedom constitution as the governing laws of the land instead of ruling by decree
Funny through NAMFREL came out with the figures showing Cory won that was printed in the Malaya newspaper headline “Marcos Flees” on the following day after EDSA 1 in February 26.
Regardless, droids. Manilans and the US gov’t wanted Marcos & Imelda out and Cory Aquino in. That’s all that mattered. Those thousands of automaton Ilocanos, for the plague that their native son visited on the Philippines, did NOT deserve any votes. It’s done. That’s the recognized versionof history. Too bad, baby!!
“Destiny” pa nga ang tawag ni Kris Dada sa pagkaluklok ng innocent niyang nanay, Destiny din daw ang naglagay kay Mongoliod Pinoy na Phil President. Mabaho silang lahat!
Who the hell can owned a 2000 tons of gold and $20 billion at that time or even now? The writer of this is stupid!
The writer is not stupid, Chad, I can guarantee you that. You may not like what I write but that does not make me stupid. I have witnessed it all at first hand, which is probably more than you have done. You can attack my message but there is no point hurling insults at the messenger as it only demonstrates to others that you have no counter argument.
Teddy Boy Locsin disagrees with you and also a lot of true historians. Marcos won the election by a margin of around 800 thousands in NAMFREL count and around 1.6million in Comelec count despite claims that there were cheatings on BOTH sides and that’s a recorded FACT.
I agree..
whatever @Ichinose Kotomi, at that time people hated marcos already, it proves to be true, otherwise the people power of 1986 wouldn’t be in history. nobody bribed this people this people to go out to the street and express their angers against the marcoses, they just did it unconditionally. it was a nationwide protest and rally to express their rights to oust the marcoses from power. infact, i was one among those young and and proud filipinos who participated in this rally even if i was still in first year high school that time.
@janvergs, that’s what you thought. I won’t fault you for being blinded by the oligarch controlled Mainstream Media and by that Sinful Cardinal. One thing I can say is that you’ve been fooled into making yourself a human shield for those rebels by the Cardinal, and infact, a lot of people there actually didn’t know what they were doing and only following blindly the words of that Sinful Cardinal, and not only did he fool the people once, but TWICE. Oh, and by the way, I personally know some of those who went there and they regretted jumping into the bandwagon.
Hay naku, ang galing nyong magrecollect …..but ang dali nyong makalimot.
Memories are short, it’s true.
I believe the Marcoses don’t became rich because of graft and corruption to our country the Philippines. Since on the time they reigned. the Philippines was not yet progressive. It was Marcos who made progressed from a very poor country to what we are now. Hence, when they started, the Philippines was very very poor yet. They tried to make progressive our by lot projects infrastructures and even in our lands. Even they will corrupt all the taxes of the Filipino people on there time it could not equal to there hidden wealth. As you’ve known all those mentioned by the author of this article the richness of the Marcoses that could not be matched to there wealth aside from those mentioned. I think there wealth was really properly guarded. As I saw on that documentary show about the wealth of the Marcoses. That show was shown a year ago I think. Imelda was already old. She’s already on her age of 80 plus. She told on that show that Marcos her husband said to her, even the whole world they could buy. I saw on that documentary show how rich they were. They could really bought the whole world if they want on that time Marcos told her. It’s corruption that they become rich as what mostly thought. No! I believe it’s his business of gold trading. As what I’ve heared during Marcos regime. They got all those gold found in the Philippines. As what I saw on that show they had lot of gold bars. It’s more than 1 room and the room was big. Money from corruption was just penny for them compared to there wealth.
I am sorry to disappoint you but their wealth was most definitely obtained through corrupt practices. Marcos, or one of his cronies, owned around 51% of every business in the country. He did not get that by trading gold.
Who cares who won. Fact is that the persons Marcos were proven bad for the country and bad for FACTS (as they had many reporters killed, and other politicians copied that from them). So many people didn’t know who they were voting for. Thats how democracy fails: Its not fool proof.
…and here what we are now….Bravo!!! worst airport in the world, non-ending high racketing prices of commodities, no improvement but full of vengeance…hahahahaha.
That’s all because of the MARCOSES, thanks for pointing that out….and yes the Marcos Plunder is so devastating that the effect is taking its toll for God knows how long.
how old are you? marcos destroyed our value system. whatever is beneficial to him and his cohorts is correct but he is delusional! .let us not forget those who were made orphans n widows by the power of the military under the creative baton of mr. marcos.sana naranasan mo ang maaresto ng mga naka long arms ! wala ka namang kasalanan sa gobyerno.boyfriend mo lng ay aktibista.
What we have now is the domino effect!
its because of debt which ballooned during your idol marcos.check the facts,how much theft we have before he became president and how much we owe the IMF/World bank after he was ousted.
at doon sa naglista ng mga achievements ni marcos,nakakahiya na ilan lang ang napagawa niya sa almost 20years na nakaupo sya as dictator president.ay i’m sure na bawat project ay mayroon siyang naibibigay na pabuya galing sa pangungurakot kay imelda para ipambili ng kaniyang luho sich as diamonds and paintings etc etc.
Sirc, you’re a blithering idiot. Don’t ever come back to this forum…
30% on every project enumerated by mr alex casper .
About that 100 peso bill, I already had a 100 peso bill in 1978 when my roommate’s mom, Mrs. Itchon loaned me 100 pesos.
About Marcos’s said accomplishments, he got billions of kick backs out of that.
Truth is the attempted coup by Ramos-Enrile made who won academic. Cory owned urban centers in some cities, predominantly,Manila. Provincial returns had not been tallied. The Ilocos vote had not come in. To understand Philippine elections, you’d have to understand why Filipinos vote. Political loyalty is a small part. When I asked jeepney drivers who they voted for. Many laughed and admitted, “Marcos, simper. Papalitan lang ang boto naming,” (Marcos, of course. My vote would be changed, anyway.”
183 Million US dollars were recovered from Swiss bank accounts. Original claims published in new magazines were 3 to 4 Billion. Sources were the international private investigators, who wanted to be retained to hunt for them. That amount would be very hard to hide. To have stolen as much as claimed, they would have had to steal the entire treasury, and all the international loans. Opposition newspapers published audits by The IMF and ADB, which admitted the funds were used for what they were allocated. Had the claims been valid, The Philippines would be in as bad a shape as Zimbabue, or Liberia. Filipinos are worse off today. Political corruption has not been eradicated. The latest reported, The Pork Barrel Scandal, involving among them, one of the “heroes” of EDSA Peoples’ Power.
I will be bias to all the report said in this kind of forum. It is very interesting to really know what was happening in the Philippines during Marcos time, of course some are disturb some where just enjoying peace or luxury of lifetime style of some Filipinos that are already rich they their ancestral hard earn work money non-the-less.
We may say poor still become poor if they don’t work. There are some people who are rich support them privately not government agency like in abroad. I was raise in the Philippines and I missed home because I saw my parents working hard as teachers and I considered myself in the middle class of poor maybe because I was young and not allowed to work just study. Our society in the Philippines is still in balance maybe just for wealth! But what is wealth, its all the natural resources that you could see. Who utilized it the government and the people, so what’s our problem now? Where they given equally or not or have you enjoyed at the present time those school build for the next generation to come to understand the impact of the struggle of the society. Have you come to realize the hard work, time, energy and power to execute this to the people to have a goals in your life.
The corrupted leaders have to push us up to a dreams or visualized a lifestyle of your modern era of the society to become materialistic and to feel successful among yourselves for your own improvement and happiness if we can.
I’m very sad to write this message because all whom that help me grow to feel rich in my golden years was also gone – like the former President F. Marcos. I believed my uncles have good objective for Filipino to improve and be smart how to grow living not in corrupted way.
Those kids for the new generations anti- or pro Marcos should learn more for much more better future.
PRESIDENT FERDINAND MARCOS’s ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
compared to all his succeeding presidents accomplisments’ COMBINED
We can talk about completed
and commissioned government projects
of the late FERDINAND E. MARCOS Sr.
Oh , God help me, for it is going to be a very long list.
Not on the List are Noted Accomplishment .
These are only the ones people dont really know about.
So feel free to share this to the world.
_________________________________________________
Marcos completed Power plants in 20 years—–
1). Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, completed 1983
2) Leyte Geothermal Power Plant, completed 1977
3)Makiling-Banahaw Geothermal Power Plant, completed 1979
4) Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant, completed 1980
5) Angat Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1967
6)Kalayaan Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1982
7) Magat A Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1984
8)Magat B Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1984
9)Pantabangan Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1977
10)Agus 2 Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1979
11)Agus 4 Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1985
12) Agus 5 Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1985
13) Agus 7 Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1982
14) Pulangi Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1985
15) Agus 6 Hydro Electric Power plant, recommissioned in 1977
16)Masiway Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1980
17) Main Magat Hydro Electric Power Plant, completed 1983
18)Calaca Coal Power PlantCompleted in 1984,
19) Cebu Thermal Power Plant completed in 1981,
20) Palinpinon 1 Southern Negros
Geothermal production Field completed in 1983.
Not mentioned are diesel plants
Cory Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, Gloria Macapagal,
Ninoy Aquino III COMBINED in 26 years:
ZERO –
every new power plant built During their time
were all privately Owned
( mostly by Lopezes, AboitIz, Aquino And Cojuanco Family )
and is now owners of some Power Plants completed during Marcos.
______________________________________________________
Marcos completed Bridge projects in 20 years
1) Biliran Bridge150 meters long of Leyte, completed 1975
2) Buntun Bridge 1369 meters long of
Tuguegarao-Solana, Cagayan, completed 1974
3) Candaba Viaduct Pulilan 5000 meters long of
Bulacan-San Simon, Pampanga, completed 1976
4)Mactan-Mandaue Bridge 864 meters long of
Lapu-Lapu-Mandaue, Cebu 1972
5) Magapit Suspension Bridge 449 meters long of
Lal-lo, Cagayan completed 1978
6)Mawo Bridge 280 meters long Victoria,
Northern Samar completed 1970
7) Patapat Viaduct 1300 meters long Pagudpud,
Ilocos Norte completed 1986
9)San Juanico Bridge 2060 meters long Tacloban,
Leyte-Santa Rita, Samar. Completed 1973
Not to mention the unnamed hundreds of
bridges under 100 meters long.
TOTAL LENGTH = 11472 meters long
_______________________________________________
Marcos Established/Founded
State Colleges/Universities in 20 years
1)Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University
in La Union founded in 1981
2)Mariano Marcos State University
in Ilocos Norte founded in 1978
3)Kalinga-Apayao State College
in Tabuk Kalinga founded in 1970
4)Abra State Institute of Science
and Technology in Abra founded in 1983
5)Pangasinan State University founded in 1979
6)University of Northern Philippines founded in 1965
7)Philippine State College
of Aeronautics founded in 1969
8)Cagayan State University established in 1978
9)Quirino State University established 1976
10)Isabela State University established 1978
11)Pampanga Agricultural College established 1974
12)Mindoro State College of Agriculture
and Technology-Calapan City established 1966
13)Occidental Mindoro State College established 1966
14)Palawan State University established 1965
15)Bicol University established 1969
16)Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges established 1983
17)Rizal Technological University established 1969
18)Technological University of
the Philippines established 1971
19)Capiz State University 1980
20)Guimaras State College 1968
21)Northern Negros State College of
Science and Technology established 1971
22)West Visayas State University became
established as university in January 1986
23)Leyte Normal University 1976
24)SLSU- (Southern Leyte State University)
– Sogod 1969
25)SLSU- Hinunangan 1975
26)SLSU- Tomas Oppus feb. 1 1986
27)SLSU- Bontoc 1983
28)SLSU- San Juan 1983
29)Basilan State College 1984
30)Western Mindanao State University became a
university in 1978 followed with
building the satellite campuses in:
WMSU-Alicia campus, Zamboanga del Sur
WMSU-Aurora campus, Zamboanga del Sur
WMSU Curuan, Zamboanga City
WMSU-Diplahan, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSU-Imelda, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSU-Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSU-Mabuhay, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSU-Malangas, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSU-Molave, Zamboanga del Sur
WMSU-Naga, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSUOlutanga, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSU-Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur
WMSU-Pitogo, Zamboanga del Sur
WMSU-San Ramon, Zamboanga City
WMSU-Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay
WMSU-Tungawan, Zamboanga Sibugay
31)Central Mindanao University established1965
32)Misamis Oriental State College of
Agriculture and Technology established 1983
33)Northwestern Mindanao State College
of Science and Technology estbalished 1971
34)Davao del Norte School of Fisheries
established 1969 ( now known as
Davao del Norte State College)
35)Mati Community College (MCC) founded in 1972
(now known as Davao Oriental State
College of Science and Technology)
36)Malita Agri-Business and Marine and
Aquatic School of Technology founded 1966 now known as:
37)Southern Philippines Agri-Business
and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology
38)University of Southeastern
Philippines established 1978
39)Cotabato Foundation College of
Science and Technology established 1967
40) Cotabato City State Polytechnic
College established 1983
41)Mindanao state university-
Iligan city founded 1968
42)Mindanao state university- Gensan city founded 1971
43)Surigao del Sur State University founded 1982
44)Surigao Del Norte School of Arts and Trades
(Founded in 1969) now known as
Surigao State College of Technology
45)Sulu State College founded in 1982
46)Tawi-Tawi Regional Agricultural College founded in 1975
47)Adiong Memorial Polytechnic
State College founded in 1970’s
48) Makati Polytechnic Community College-
Technical High School founded in 1972
( that i have found so far) out of 108 state universities
and colleges are established and accomplished projects of
FERDINAND E MARCOS. He also improved and re equipped
the remaining colleges/ Universities
that were established/ founded before 1965.
Cory Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, Gloria Macapagal,
Ninoy Aquino III combined Established/Founded
State Colleges/Universities in 26 years:
ZERO– the remaining of 108 State Colleges/
Universities are built and founded before 1965.
They though renamed few Colleges
and Universities and Refounded them after 1986.
National Manpower and Youth Council (NMYC)
founded 1976. Now changed to TESDA to discredit Apo Marcos.
____________________________________________________
Few in not a fraction of high schools all over the Philippines.
Built and founded during Marcos leadership
1) Amlan Municipal High School was established 1972
2) Amparo High School was established in 1979
3) Aplaya National High School was established 1969
4) Balayan National High School (BNHS) established 1985
5) Balibago National High School established 1970
6) Bayugan National Comprehensive
High School established 1980
7) Buenavista National High School established 1972
Dalupaon National High School established 1972
9) Don Emilio Macias Memorial National
High School established 1982
10) Dona Francisca Lacsamana de Ortega Memorial
National High School established 1972
11) Dr. Juan G. Nolasco High School established 1966
12) Eastern Samar National Comprehensive
High School established 1969
13) Francisco P. Felix Memorial National High School
(FPFMNHS) established 1973
14) Gen. T. de Leon National High School establsihed 1969
15) Ismael Mathay, Sr. High School, formerly called
the GSIS Village High School established 1971
16) Jose Borromeo Legaspi Memorial National
High School established 1981
17) Kaong National High School 1974
18) Lawang Bato National High School established 1967
19) Liloy National High School established 1974
20) Mag-aba National High School established 1977
21) Mandaluyong High School established 1977
22) Navotas National High School established 1983
23) Parañaque National High School (Main Campus)
(Formerly known as Parañaque Municipal
High School) established 1969
24) Pasay City North High School established in 1969
25) Pedro E. Diaz High School established 1977
26) Philippine High School for the Arts established 1977
27) Pinagtongulan National High School established 1967
28) Punta National High School established 1971
29) San Juan National High School established 1968
30) San Mateo National High School established 1985
31) San Pablo City National High School established 1969
32) San Pedro Relocation Center National
High School established 1970
33) San Ramon National High School established 1967
34)Tabon M. Estrella National High
School established 1981
35) Makati Polytechnic Community College-
Technical High School founded in 1972
36) Tomas Cabili National High school Iligan city 1971
37) Dasmarinas National high School 1971
____________________________________________________
I. Food sufficiency
A. Green Revolution
Production of rice was increased
through promoting the cultivation of IR-8 hybrid rice.
In 1968 the Philippines became self-sufficient in rice,
the first time in history since the American period.
It also exported rice worth US$7 million.
B. Blue Revolution
Marine species like prawn, mullet, milkfish,
and golden tilapia were being produced
and distributed to farmers at a minimum cost.
Today, milkfish and prawns contribute
substantially to foreign exchange income.
C. Liberalized Credit
More than one thousand rural banks
spread all over the country
resulting to the accessibility of credit
to finance purchase of agricultural inputs,
hired labor, and harvesting expenses
at very low interest rate.
During 1981-1985, credit was available
without interest and collateral arrangements.
Some of the credit programs were the ff:
1. Biyayang Dagat (credit support for fishermen)
2. Bakahang Barangay –supported fattening
of 40,000 head of cattle in farmer backyards
3. Masaganang Maisan, Maisagana,
and Expanded Yellow Corn Program
–supported 1.4 Million farmers
through P4.7 Billion loans from 1975-1985
4. Gulayan sa Kalusugan and Pagkain ng Bayan Programs
–provided grants and loans of P12.4 Million
to encourage backyard and communal production
of vegetables and improve nutrition of Filipino households
5. Kilusang Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran (KKK)—
supported 25,000 entrepreneurial projects
through P1.8 Billion and helping 500,000 beneficiaries
D. Decontrol Program
Price control polices were implemented on rice and corn
to provide greater incentive to farmers to produce more.
Deregulation of trading in commodities like sugar
and coconut and agricultural inputs like fertilizer
were done for more efficient marketing and trading arrangements.
II. Education Reform
Access to free education widened during the Marcos Administration.
The biggest portion of the budget
was allotted for Educational Programs (P58.7 Billion in 20 years).
The literacy rate climbed
from 72% in 1965 to 93% in 1985
and almost 100% in Metro Manila on the same year.
III. Agrarian Reform
Tenant’s Emancipation Act of 1972
or PD 27 was implemented without bloodshed.
This was the first Land Reform Code our country.
Since it was implemented until December 1985,
1.2 million farmers benefited,
either they became the owner or leaseholder
in more than 1.3 million hectares of rice and corn lands.
IV. Primary Health Care
The Primary Health Care (PHC) Program made medical care
accessible to millions of Filipinos in the remotest barrios of the country.
This program was even awarded by United Nations
as the most effective and most responsive health program among the third world countries.
With PHC life expectancy increased from 53.7 years in 1965 to 65 years in 1985.
Infant mortality rate also declined from 73 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1965 to 58 in 1984.
V. Housing for the masses
Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Services (BLISS)
Housing project had expanded the government’s housing program
for the low-income group.
Massive slum upgrading projects have improved
to 14,000 lots in 1985 from 2,500 in 1976.
The Tondo foreshore, for instance,
is one of the biggest and most miserable slum colonies in Asia
was transformed into a decent community.
A total of 230,000 housing units were constructed from 1975-1985.
The laws on socialized housing were conceptualized
by President Marcos through a series of legal issuances
from the funding, the lending, mortgaging and to the collection of the loans.
These are governed by the Home Mutual Development Fund (Pag-Ibig Fund),
the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB)
and the National Home Mortgage Finance which remain intact up to the present
VI. Energy Self-Reliance
Indigenous energy sources were developed like hydro, geothermal,
dendrothermal, coal, biogas and biomass.
The country became the first in Asia
to use dendrothermal and in five years
we became number two, next to US, in geothermal utilization.
The extensive energy resource research and exploration
and development resulted to reduction of oil imports from 100% in 1965 to 40% in 1985
and in the same year, more than 1,400 towns and cities were fully energized.
VII. Export Development
During 1985 textile and textile products like garments and embroideries,
furniture and rattan products, marine products like prawns and milkfish,
raw silk, shoes, dehydrated and fresh fruits
were exported aside from the traditional export products like coconut,
sugar, logs, lumber and veneer.
The maritime industry was also dominated
by Filipinos wherein 50,000 seamen
were employed by various world shipping companies.
VIII. Labor Reform
The Labor code was promulgated which expanded
the concerns of the Magna Carta of Labor
to extend greater protection to labor,
promote employment, and human resource development.
The minimum wages of the workers were boosted
through the guaranteed 13th month pay and cost of living allowances.
Employment potentials of Filipinos were enhanced through skills training.
During that time, there were 896,000 out-of-school youths
and unemployed graduated from various training centers all over the country.
IX. Unprecedented Infrastructure Growth
The country’s road network had improved from 55,778 kilometers in 1965
to 77,950 in five years (1970),
and eventually reached 161,000 kilometers in 1985.
Construction of irrigation facilities was also done
that made 1.5 million hectares of land irrigated
and increased the farmer’s harvest and income.
In addition, nationwide telecommunication systems—
telephone systems, telex exchange too centers,
and interprovincial toll stations were also built.
X. Political Reform
The structure of government established by President Marcos
remains substantially the same except the change of name,
inclusive of superficial features in laws,
to give a semblance of change from that of President Marcos regime.
The only significant department that was abolished
after the departure of President Marcos was
the Department of Ministry of Human Settlements under Imelda Romualdez Marcos.
It was dismantled but the functions were distributed to different offices.
XII. Fiscal Reform
Government finances were stabilized
by higher revenue collections
and loans from treasury bonds,
foreign lending institutions and foreign governments.
XI. Peace and Order
In 1966, more than 100 important smugglers were arrested;
in three years 1966-68 they arrested a total of 5,000.
Military men involved in smuggling were forced to retire.
Peace and order significantly improved in most provinces
however situations in Manila and some provinces continued to deteriorate
until the imposition of martial law in 1972.
What ever happened to these?
Did the suceeding administration just forego these just because it had Marcos’ signature?
These,though made in the 1970’s address problems that we are facing today.
Had these not been abolished and maintained for the last 30 or so years, things may be so much different.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
And the list goes on and on and on…..
(to be continued)
Although Marcos was branded as dictator, corrupt, human rights violator by fictional tales
passed on from generation to generation and his achievements were expunged subtly
by the manipulation of mass media and vindictiveness of the administration that succeeded him,
the impacts of his interventions remained and are undeniably germane part of our country’s system.
**PLEASE REPOST AND SHARE THIS
TO ALL FRIENDS THAT ARE HATERS,
ADMIRERS, AND TO THE ONES WHO DIDNT CARE**
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Marcos loyalists are always comparing Marcos’s accomplishments. Filipinos are already aware about that. That is the reason why Marcos became president because people thought he was brilliant. But the fact that he was also corrupt and the economy starting to collapse, he lost all the people who believed in him. People who love Marcos are the same as the Marcos, they only see the accomplishments, but they don’t really care about the poor, the victims, or the people who suffered under his rule. Some people just don’t understand that money can’t buy everything and most people choose freedom and life rather than wealth.
May senatong at tonggresman ba nung mga panahon na yan? nasa kanya po lahat ng budget ng pinas kaya maaaring madami nga siya nagawa. sana gets mo gusto kong iparating. Natural po na gagawa sya ng konting mabuti para mapagtakpan ung pagnanakaw ng pamilya marcos. .
Hmmmmmm…. great share ! Long list, but you yourself have given the crux of the argument. What happened ? For the sake of argument, let’s agree that we cannot deny his accomplishments, but you then also cannot deny the “massive corruption, political repression, despotism, nepotism and human rights violations” that marked his administration. Are you saying then that his accomplishments justify the unwarranted atrocities that happened ? Ask yourself, where did the budget to create all these great accomplishments come from ? Where do you think the PDAF “idea” started ?
TAMA.. galing ng MArcos.
he should do all that project because of billion billions he stole from Filipino people .Filipino people deserve to be pay off even a single centavo or even .0001 percent that he corrupted and he was been a president for how many years if he didn’t accomplish what you have saying probably he wont able to cover up all his wrong doing
I agree with you, Juana. He was forced to carry out all these projects over the 25 year period in order to continue to receive funding from the IMF, the AID and other sources. And, as you say, most of the money went into the very deep pockets of the Marcoses and their cronies in the form of kickbacks. Many of the projects remained unfinished or poorly executed.
I don’t think we have nuclear plants in the Philippines, how come it was completed in 1983 ?
I am afraid the brother-in-law of Imelda took an enormous commission for this fiasco – a nuclear power plant to be built above a fault line.
http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1986/09/01/67989/index.htm
If Marcos served the Philippines for only one term(6years), do u think he can make all of these?
Kindly check his accomplishments for the first six years of his presidency. What is so significant among the rest?
The assets that Marcoses had stolen from the country is so incomparable to the accomplishents during their stint. Meaning, it’s unjustifiable to still cling to the idea of a better Philippines before.
What we are now is just a complication of disease brought by the sick regime of Marcoses. But somehow we are now gradually curing it by extracting the viruses(corrupt gov’t officials and their practices) left by the former regime from the current administration.
Lastly, the Marcoses are not the alternative neither the only option of Filipinos to have a better Philippines. Just my opionion, i’d rather have a not so popular leader but does real good and think real good for the majority than a very popular one with personal vested interest. So WAKE PHILIPPINES and WORLD!
I am sorry but your post is so biased or one-sided.
“If you repeat a lie long enough, it becomes the truth.” – Joseph Goebbels
Alex, who ordered you to waste a lot of space here? Don’t including all the Filipinos as being worst off today like you. You’re just being miserable because your family who used to benefit from the Marcos reign of thievery are now struggling as well as the millions who are also suffering as a result of the stupidity you are displaying here. You can’t convince any rational bloggers here that your idol did any good to the Philippines. We don’t need to see your list again so please don’t waste your time.
That is very impressive knowledge of accomplishments under Pres. Marcos. It is of course natural with his number of years in power that he has got to have numerous projects.
Pres Marcos is a brilliant person but he is not a magician. However, he is a very good manipulator and a brilliant strategist. Since he is not a magician, he can not produce money out of thin air. So what is the solution to make money? PROJECTS ! Loans were acquired from the World Bank to finance these projects. Good strategy especially if part of the loaned money is funneled to his deep pockets.
During his time, nobody dared to ask questions as to where the money went. There were government agencies of course, but all of these were mere rubber stamps. Pres Marcos has control of everything and all the Ministers (Ministers instead of Secretaries during his time) had to say YES to everything he and his wife said and did. Since there was no “check and balance”, nobody knew the exact situation of the Philippine treasury.
According to surveys, the Philippines was second to Japan in economy and wealth. Who provided this data? During Pres Marcos’ time, it was illegal to conduct surveys; it was illegal to participate in surveys. All answers to regarding the economic health of the country were provided by Pres Marcos only through his official mouthpieces – the cabinet ministers who echo what the conjugal rulers of the land had them to say.
The moment of truth came about after the Marcoses left the country. The Philippine coffers were found to be EMPTY !
You are so right, Zeppe, there was no such things as checks and balances. Everything was passed through Malacanan so there was no independent scrutiny of where any of the loan money or project funding was going. I am sure we all have friends who were approached, from time to time, to “donate” money to one of Marcos’s or Imelda’s favourite causes with the threat of the taxman being sent after you if you refused. That is how funds were raised for Imelda’s shopping sprees. I only ever met one person who dared refuse. But, since he was a foreigner temporarily residing in the Philippines at the time, the taxman was only an empty threat for him.
I don’t know if this has already appeared here, Caroline, but I also just came across this….c/o Wikileaks.. giving credence to reports of how uneasy the US gov’t really felt about Imelda’s non-stop visits to the USA when she was high and mighty!! .
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/303565/news/nation/wikileaks-imelda-marcos-was-a-pest-more-than-a-guest-in-us
Alex Casper, please give me another president of the republic before or after Marcos who served for more than 20 years and incurred 26000% increase in foreign borrowing, i.e., from $465M in 1965 to $28.3B in 1986, and that according to Transparency International, looted $10B, and let’s compare their records…
30% on all these projects and you will know where their money came from …
Question? With all of the Marcos’s accomplishments as listed above, I would like to know where they got the money to do all of those things? As for the succeeding Presidents with less than worthy accomplishments as questioned above, where will they get the money from when our country is drowning in international debts? Then another question would follow, if the Marcos’s were really good as what was stated above with all of their accomplishments blah blah blah, wouldn’t the next presidents be able to do those things as well, if only the Marcos’s used only the allowed term for a president? So another question follows, will the next presidents be as good and corrupt as the Marcos’s? And the questions will go on and on. The above article is very well written with actual and factual basis. Great read! Hopefully on the 2016 elections we vote wisely.
Thanks Carlo. Your questions require well-informed answers. Sadly, I have not lived in the Philippines for many years now and so am not the best person to respond. But if anyone who follows this thread would like to reply, I would be happy to publish their comments here.
With 20 years of dictatorship and plundering the country’s coffers, that list seems short. Marcos and his cronies pocketed billions in commissions and kickbacks from the projects you painlessly listed. I wonder if you benefitted from them.
Personal money ba ni Mckoy ang pinagawa diyan di ba puro utang iyan? Mas maganda iyong revenue generating projects.
Personal money ba ni Marcos ang pinagawa diyan? Puro utang lang naman at saka khit sinong presidente kayang ipagawa iyan at pinagawa niya iyan dahil sa mga suggestions din at hindi siya talaga ang nakaisip na gawin iyan.PEKSMAN!
Sobrang haba pero walang katotohanan nakuha mo lang sa propaganda sa you tube kung tutuo yan paano nangyari ito 1965 umupo presidente no,2 tayo sa Asia ang dollar 1 Istto 2 utang natin sa worldbank 500 million dollars bakit ng tumakas sila 1986 bangkarote gobyerno at lubog sa utang naging kulelat tayo sa Asia ang dollar naging 1 is to 26 utang natin lumobo ng 28 billion dollarhanggang ngayon binabayaran natin kaya paano tayo aasenso hanggang ngayon nagpapaloko kayo sa ugat ng paghihirap ng bansa natin kung naparusahan lang sila at di mabait si Cory wala sanang gumaya na tulad ni erap at arroyo yan ang katotohanan kaya wag nyo kaming niloloko mga zombeez lang na walang alam at pakiramdam maniniwala sa kasiningalingan nyo kung mayaman ang Marcos bakit nagtangay sila Pag aari ng bansa ng tumakas patungong Hawaii
Lee Kuan Yew for the same number of years (20 years or more) and almost simultaneous rule with that of Ferdinand Marcos was able make Singapore the country it is now. Singapore does not have much in terms of natural resources but look at it now. My question is during the Marcos reign how come we Filipinos got so poor? Well probably if we are to factor out the billions of dollars allegedly they stole, then maybe the simplest explanation why our country did not prosper is because Ferdinand Marcos is not a capable leader?
21 years in power under dictatorial form of government iyan lang ang nagawa tapos overpriced na inferior projects pa kaya nga naubos ang Bank Reserves ng BSP at wala ng gustong magpautang na countries dahil bankrupt na ang Philippines. Muntik na tayong maging Greece kung hindi nagkaroon ng People power.
That is the very reason meron tayong OFW ngayon at naghahabol tayo to other Asian countries in terms of development kasi nalugmok tayo sa payment of Marcos looted debts. Ilocanos enjoyed the Marcos loot kaya nga you are defending your idol. Totoo may corrutption parin sa present government pero hindi na nakatutok sa isan
family na lang. Besides meron narin napapakulong kahit papaano. Now we could openly accused anyone for corruption without a threat of being tortured or jailed. At least you and I are enjoying our freedom of speech na inalis ng idol po ninyo. May god let you see the truth and open your ears to listen.
Common Seance, where is it, how many presidents sit after Marcos, not to mention how many senators and cabinet members, after 5 regime sum up what was lost, missing and accounted money by theme, and still ask where is the “Filipinos Missing Millions?” You can answer it yourself. Why cant we accept the reality that we lost sight of what is happening while those so called Heroes of People Power 1 steal.
You are absolutely right. The cheating was confirmed by JUAN PONCE ENRILE himself.
Now there’s a man I could trust!!! I’m so glad he’s been arrested. It’s long overdue. He sold his soul many decades ago. He switched sides only to save his own skin and his bank accounts. Thank heavens his karma has caught up with him in the end.
Of course…a very good story, says who? Nobody believes this story anymore.
of course Marcos won in thay election
reason Cory declated trvolutipnary govt. yo avoid review of election result
Nakakalokong isipin na nagsakripisyo ang mga pinoys at isinaalaalang ang kanilang buhay Para mapatalsik ang maabusong Marcos family ay ngayon ang mga kabataan ay kinalimutan na ito at pinabayaang makabalik Sa poder ang pamilyang Marcos. Wala na bang prinsipyo ang mga pinoy ngayon?
you monky lier..lol.
Aquino lost the snap election and she was not the legitimate winner as reported here by the author, the US through George Schultz and the CIA planned the conspiracy against Marcos, the rest is history now
Agree. It was my first time to vote and of course I voted for Cory-Doy (Cory Aquino as President & Doy Laurel for Vice Prez). Cory defeated Marcos in our province overwhelmingly and even in the regional level.
Marcos & Imelda robbed our country of everything.
Thank you for this enlightening a lot of Filipinos who were mislead by the influential Marcos and his controlled press then. I was still in USA , and the overthrow of Marcos regime with the People Power was so much supported by my co workers, they gave me an extra day off to be able to stay home and watch what’s going on in our country. The success of the Revolution was even celebrated with a big party ,given by our Hospital Administrators and Employees to all Filipinos. And i personally admire your love and dedication to Filipinos and our country. GodBless, and hoping to read more of your writings.
Thanks, Carmelita. Let none of us ever forget. Particularly now when the younger Marcos is trying to rewrite history.
We should never allow that our real history be revised. No way. NEVER AGAIN!
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
Well said, Harold.
so what happened after years of yellow power .did the filipino got what they want? a good life after cory?
Pls watch Rita Gadi’s Hour on utube. Everything about Marcoses are all there
Your articles about Marcos are exaggerated. Where did you get your outrageous figure. Marcos never stole moneys from the people. Nothing in our National treasury during his time. Where did Marcos stole those big amounts of moners?
Did he robbed the CBP? These are all black propaganda against Marcoses. Cory & her cronies ruined us.
Unite Filipino people for a peaceful Philippines. Marcos has returned via PRRD & BBM.
Clara, what’s the saying? “There’s a Fool born every day.” Thanks for providing such a good example of that. You’re really pathetic and beyond help. It’s the Philippines’ tragedy that there are so many SUCKERS for the Marcos LIES, like you. Hindi lang kawawa, but GAGA pa. But if you prefer their LIES, then lay in that dirt.
Dear Ms. Singson: If you can put on an open mind, you should at least read this — from Gen. Fabian Ver’s daughter:
https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/general-vers-daughter-reckons-with-her-fathers-martial-law-legacy
If only you knew this man, JOSE RIZAL aka Fr Jose Antonio Diaz aka Severino Santa Romana, he hired atty Ferdinand Marcos to be the lawyer of his Tallano-Tagean Royalty clan. Both got paid reportedly 30% lawyer’s fees. Google this: Rizal’s Monuments are seen and present worldwide. You will be shocked! You may search about Fr Marcelino TAGLE, a former priest who knew more about the hidden wealth of the Tallano gold. Google these names: LUZ RAMBANO SANTA ROMANA; PRINCESS ENIMECIA CRUZ VILLAMOR MARCOS; TARCIANA CINCO RODRIGUEZ; KING TIBURCIO VILLAMOR MARCOS;
If only this reporter read the book about the TURMOILS AND TRIUMPHS written by Ex-Sec of State George Schultz, and listen to Rita Gadi’s Hour, she may know the truth contrary of her own story. Kindly borrow that book from any US LIBRARY please.
I am aware of the majority of the things you’ve mentioned in your article but I would like to know, correct me if I’m wrong, to please check the date when the P100.00 peso bill was issued by the Bangko Sentral (Central Bank) as I have a feeling that it was issued after Pres. Cory’s administration, not during Marcos time. The largest paper bill during Marcos time was P50.00 bill.
I will check on that. But the story that went around at the time – and I was there – was P100 peso bills were being stuffed into envelopes. Perhaps it was an exaggeration. In which case, I apologize!
There was already a hundred Philippine peso bill during Marcos’ time.. I am 100% sure…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Php_100_ABL_3rd_Version_(obverse).jpg may P100 nuong panahon ni Macoy bagong lipunan series
The 100 Bagong Lipunan peso bill was already in circulation at that time but when the late Pres. Aquino assumed office, the banko sentral issued another bill that includes the 500 ninoy bill.
Philippine Banknote “Bagong Lipunan Series” issued by the Central Bank of the Philippines from 1973 to 1985. Lowest denomination was 2 – Piso and the highest was 100 – Piso
You need not check on it, Caroline. In 1984, two years before Marcos left, I was still in second grade and it was October, the month of the Mission Drive — a practice in Catholic (Jesuit) schools wherein students, on a daily basis for the entire month, are encouraged to share (until it hurts) part of their allowance. At the end of the month, all the money collected will be turned over to the archdiocese and the cardinal would come over to personally thank the students by celebrating a mass. Our teacher turned it into a contest: The row (in a classroom of 35 students, there were seven rows with five students in each row) that had the highest collection by the end of the month will be spared from after-school cleaning duties for the month of November. I had a classmate in my row whose family was really rich. Everyday he would give a 100 PESO BILL while the rest of us could only spare 2 pesos or 5 pesos which was more than half of what most eight year olds had in their pockets back then. I also did some research and the “Manuel Roxas” 100 peso bill was first issued in 1969. So, the 100 peso bills being stuffed into envelopes was definitely NOT an exaggeration.
I was a child during the martial law years and I have seen 100 peso bills back then. During my high school years in the 80’s before Cory Aquino’s presidency, as a scholar, I withdrew stipends in 100 peso bills.
Yes, I think this confirms there were 100 peso bills, thank you.
Was a student in a college student at UPLB in 85-86 and paid my P75 monthly dorm rent with P100 Bagong Lipunan Bills (issued 1973-85)
meant, was a college student in 85-86 darn this keyboard! 🙂
There was indeed a 100 peso bill during Marcos’ time. I was in a bar in Malate one evening and an old lady came in asking for money. I gave her 100 pesos thinking it was 10 pesos (a beer cost 8 pesos at the time), she couldn’t believe I would give her so much, so she went to the cashier and paid my bar bill, brought me the change.
That’s a lovely anecdote, David, thank you.
100 PESOS DID EXIST ALREADY ,IN FACT IT WAS DURING HIS(MARCOSES) PRESIDENCY THAT THE 100 PESO BILL WAS FIRST PRINTED, WHEN PRES.CORY AQUINO TOOK OFFICE NEW 100 PESO BILL WAS PRINTED WITH HER SIGNATURE TO RENDER THE FRESHLY PRINTED MONEY(MILLIONS) THE MARCOSES CARRIED TO HAWAII NON-NEGOTIABLE
There was a 100 peso bill already during Marcos’ time. I was a 1st grader in 1984 and I saw that 100 peso bill with Manuel Roxas’ face in violet color.
you are so anti marcos! you closed your eyes, ears and mind to what marcos family did for the good of our country!!
Not true. The “Bagong Lipunan” series had the P100 note as the largest one in general circulation.
100 peso bill was printed during marcos regime,
I was away for 7 years from 1980 to 1987. The largest bill was only PhP50.00
Probably the following year, 1988, the first PhP100. bill was issued.
There appears to be a difference of opinion. Other comments from people who were around during the time, early 70s, have concurred there were 100 peso bills because one of their parents was bribed with one by Marcos to vote for him.
There was indeed a 100 peso bill issued during the marcos era. As far back as 1977. I know because my youngest brother used to receive a crisp hundred peso bill every christmas from his god father. Of course, I was always envious…
Thanks for this. There seems to be a school of thought that the 100 peso bill did not exist then. And another who are emphatic that it did. Like you, I am pretty sure it did otherwise I would not have written about it.
Even in the late 70s a 100 peso bill is already in circulation.
before martial law our monetary value was based on our gold deposits or gold reserves that is why the exchange rate then was 1 dollar is to 2 peso, but during the martial law, I dont know what happened, the Philippine peso became a paper currency that its value is base on the dollar reserve the Philippine govt. has. and the exchange rate started at 1 dollar is to 7 peso, since then it started to deteriorate. The question is, what happened to the gold reserve that the Philippine govt used to have before martial law?????? where is that gold now?????
I think the gold standard was done away with long before makoy came into the picture. I think that’s the result of the bretton woods agreement. This was shared to me by my dad.
Those golds became Gold Certificates that were deposits in different banks all around the world. The beneficiaries of those certificates are the Pilipino people and the people of the world through health, services, infrastructures, agriculture and so as written in Marcos’ Last Will and Testament. The bad news is, the Banking Institutions, (World Bank and IMF, Rothschild, Rockyfellers, JP Morgans, etc) were manipulating the monetary system by many means. The reason it became paper currency is also because of the Banking Institution, but the Philippines still do have Gold Reserves inside the Central Bank aside from the ones scattered around the world. It’s just that most doesn’t know that it exist and thought they were Marcos loot when in fact, and I’ll say it again, the beneficiaries of those wealth are the people of the world. Just like what Imelda Marcos said before.
“Philippines is a rich country pretending to be beggars.”
Well, can’t blame the people, we are surrounded by greedy congressman, senators, and a vindictive incompetent president who’ll try to demonize other people to hide their own crimes and greediness.
after marcos left, a central bank audit discovered the disappearance of 3,000 metric tons of gold
There s a book which explains what happened to the phil. economy and the phil
peso written by Don Filemon Rodriguez. Vantage Press U.S.A. He was a former
economic adviser to Ferdinand Marcos and former chairman of the Phinma group
of companies. The title is The Marcos Regime: Rape of a Nation.
The world has been out of gold reserve since 1934 when the US required the Federal Reserve Banks to hand over their physical gold to the US Treasury. Thenceforth, money in circulation was calculated/fixed/aligned to the Managed Currency System. You can go over your paper bills, dollars or pesos, and it is nowhere stated that same particular bill is backed up by gold….. it is just stated to be a liability the Feds/CB and guaranteed by respective governments.
I think I remember Ferdinand Marcos in the 100 peso bill. I think the author is correct because my husband was a barangay secretary in 1985 and he received a 100 peso bill for the snap election. As a bribe for him to vote for Marcos.
That’s a very interesting anecdote too. Thank you for this.
Did your husband vote for Marcos? =)
Good question. And the answer is a most definite no!
I left the Philippines right after The People Power and the P100 peso bill was already in circulation. So it has been existing even before Pres Cory Aquino became a President. Just FYI.
Your statement was incorrect. I grew up during the Martial Law era and the P100.00 bill was already in existence. Just FYI.
That’s what I claimed.
Ofcourse there is a P100 bill during the Marcoses time. That’s what I always get during my birthday, a crispy purple paper
1959 English series, Features the portrait of Melchora Aquino, a Filipino revolutionary during the Philippine Revolution, who became known as “Tandang Sora”. The reverse features the different flags used by the Katipunan movement.
1969: Pilipino series, Manuel Roxas replaced the portrait of Melchora Aquino. The note is now predominantly violet in color. On the reverse, it now features the Central Bank of the Philippines main office before they were relocated to their current complex in Manila. The design of the obverse was later revised, the “100” on the lower right corner was moved higher, in turn placed the Central Bank logo below it, the signature of the Central Bank Governor was placed beside the signature of the President of the Philippines, the font for Republika ng Pilipinas and all of the “100” text were also changed and the text Sandaang Piso was made into one line. Geometric lines were also added on the sides and the watermark area of the bill. This design was later used when the Bagong Lipunan series was released in 1973.
1976: Ang Bagong Lipunan series, The “Ang Bagong Lipunan” text was added and was overprinted on the watermark area.
1978: The reverse was changed to reflect the Central Bank’s transfer to its new complex in Manila.
1987: New Design series, The bill was completely redesigned and new elements regarding Roxas’ tenure as the first president of the independent republic was shown on the lower right side where the Philippine flag was raised while that of the United States was lowered on July 4, 1946.
1993: After the creation of the “Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas”, its new logo was incorporated on all the New Design series bills.
1998: The year of printing was added at the bottom of the denomination value located at the upper left corner of the obverse. The names of the signatories on the bills were later added starting with banknotes featuring the signature of President Joseph Estrada.
2001: Additional security features were added: the security thread on the right side and the gold fluorescent printing on the left side across the portrait.
2010: New generation series, The portrait of Manuel Roxas was redesigned, a picture of the old Central Bank building and the inauguration of the Republic of the Philippines was added on the lower left corner and bottom center of the bill respectively. The reverse now features the Mayon Volcano and the whale shark.[3]
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_one_hundred_peso_bill
I cant believe so many people are only concerned about when the 100Php bill was in circulation. Did you not read the article? That is such an insignificant piece of history compared to the plundering of the countries wealth, the wealth that belonged to the people. The intimidation that family used to exert their will on the nation is sick. The entire family should have been banned from holding any kind of political office and that means the corrupt children as well.
I met old lady marcos not long ago and I met her arrogant daughter from Ilocos Norte. The apple has not fallen far from the tree. Both ladies reek of corruption and are slime. They disgust me to the core and your country would be better off if they would go live in a bamboo hut someplace far away. If I do have the chance to meet marcos again I hope I can tell her what i really think of her and her past. She is pathetic excuse for a human being.
I hope, Steve, you are not right when you say the apples do not fall far from the tree. It remains to be seen. But I agree that the Marcoses should have been banned from holding any political office. But that is a law which would have needed a vote and, possibly, a Supreme Court confirmation. I don’t think an Executive Order from a succeeding President would have be sufficient or, indeed, legal.
The P100 bill has been in circulation since the 70s.
there was a 100 peso bill already. check this out http://teckers.blogspot.com/2010/09/manny-manny-manny.html
In the late 80’s (1986) I was studying in UPLB and I paid my P75 monthly dorm fee using Ang Bagong Lipunan hundred peso bills (issued from 1973-1985).
Freddie, I’m not an idiot and I know how many zeroes there are in 100. I was born in 1962 and I could still remember the number 1 and the 2 zeroes preceding it on a bill that my father used to give my mother when I was not even a first grader yet. What kind of BS are you getting from your parents? or perhaps from your friends or acquaintances’ ass?
Please check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_one_hundred_peso_bill
Thank you, Zeppe.
100 peso bill was already circulating in late 70’s. I was in college & I would always go to any Philippine National Bank to exchange my US dollors allowances into pesos. It rated 1 USD was 7 pesos, then early 80’s was a dollor increased to 8 to 9php. And ohh my God! When Marcos was kidnapped & brought to Hawaii with his family a dollor surged to 18pesos. As years passed by it surged higher which means that Philippine’s economy went down after Marcos left. Now, 1 USD is 52 to 55 Php. This means that Philippine’s economy during Marcos ‘ era was far better than from 1986 to present.
LOL!! SHEER BALONEY and LUNACY!! You need a lobotomy, Ms. Singson.
Well for more than two decades after the Marcoses, What happened to the battle cry of Cory’s slogan? “Change the corrupt system and have more freedom”…………….. is there any change?………………………. Corruption in Government, Drugs, Rape became more worst and uncontrollable reaching to the highest degree. From Cory up to her son who is now the president still it exist, because of Political interest where “The Son” Aquino is also protecting those around him even they were involved in corruption. Its the same old story……………………. “History repeats history” …………………………….Those who were affected are the common people caught in between the conflict……………………and what about the rich? The rich becomes more richer thru their protection……………………………………..
All very sad, I agree. But I love the people. I love the country. And I will never cease to advocate for its political salvation! Sadly, I don’t have all the answers. I can only write about what I see, what I experienced and what I feel.
So appreciated Ms Caroline for that love and affection. Thank you too for this article that brings us back to reminisce those days and the lessons that we’ve learned from it. As one of the Filipinos working abroad, I asked my self too, “What can I do or contribute to the Philippine society” once I’ll be back home after retirement?”…………….. Well, most probably “Job creation” in the Agribusiness Sector……….
Regards and more power.
We appreciate your love for our countrymen but don’t distort history by your own feelings…the reality of what is happening in the Philippines now is proof of more corruption, poverty, joblessness and reign of politics and the rich in the expense of Filipinos. Your stay here is just temporary in relation to the Filipinos born and suffering after Marcos era.
Great article. It essentially talks of what people back then knew but were afraid to bring out to the open. So much have changed since then, even if some still refuse to believe and choose to be tied up to their worn out perceptions. Mind you, it is their perception that has not changed with the times — they still expect government to do and provide everything for them — build them homes, send their children to school, give them jobs, etc. — while they do nothing but complain and protest. The most that has changed is the democratic space — they may not realize it but the mere fact that they could actually express these views, even call the incumbent president names, is proof of this change. Try doing that to Marcos back then.
What we, Filipinos, must realize is that our country can only move and progress as far as we would want it to. It is not government’s duty alone to continually make this country better — it is a burden that should be shared by all citizens.
I agree. It is up to the people who they choose to elect. They know the consequences of making the wrong choice.
It is quite unfortunate from where I sit that a good number of my countrymen remain trapped, even enthralled by and with the romanticized version of Martial Law – low crime rates, numerous infrastructure projects etc. But they never think of the costs it demanded of the people. There were no crimes? Maybe because these went on unreported. Or, even granting it was indeed so, such kind of peace arose out of mortal fear of the implementors or the law rather than respect thereof. That, to my mind, isnt the way of civilised society that we claim to be.
When President Cory took over the government, our government is penny less… How come a President shows improvement without money, huge problems, national calamity and tons of debt…
I would like to comment here, Boaz, but I was not living in the Philippines during Cory’s Presidency so cannot speak with any authority. I could, of course, comment on what I viewed from afar. But I feel if a person does not actually live the experience then to make a valid assessment is presumptuous. So I would prefer those who lived in the Philippines at the time to share their views.
yes its because marcos institutionalize the corruption and thats the reason why we are still feeling the ill effect until now.
what?..Marcos institutionalized the corruption? its only your opinion. it is more accurate to say, he institutionalized lots of laws and infrastructures or projects from the time he served the country until his last in office that up to this date still beneficial to majority of us. the problem is that most of the time we just look for “one side of the coin”. try if have time to look for the other side to have a more convincing opinion…
Very well said Rod. Only the Ilocanos did benefit during the Marcos term. He fathered corruption. And that is a FACT.
I agree with you rod. The inflected wounds of the Marcos regime is so deep that until this very moment and it might still take some more decades before it will totally heal. There are more ill gotten wealth of the Marcos’s are still missing or not recover until now.
A lot of learned people then believed that a civil war was better for us than a peaceful transition. Great nations like US, Britain, France, etc. did undergo painful processes before they achieved their current status. We are too soft to abusers and this must end for us go somewhere better.
True. Everything from the bureaucracy to the police and military were politicized.
i would say these are all sour gripes now and totally just waste of time; with them acquitted (through US courts and wealth all bequeathed to Filipinos and humanity why not just do the sensible thing which is to move on and make use of the wealth as stated in his will!! for humanity and not JUST the rich or the oligarch and the powerful ones!!
To point out to the country’s current ills as vindication of the Marcos regime is narrow-minded, and I hope unintentional, indiscriminate thinking. That corruption still exist means this is such a wide-spread, embedded socio-political problem that was cultivated and entrenched by the culture that the Marcos family cultivated. JG, throwing around motherhood opposition phrases between long series o dots does not a good argument make.
I tend to agree with you. Sadly, it was the Marcoses who demonstrated just how much money could be made as President and First Lady that they set a dangerous precedent to those who came after. With the exception, perhaps, of Fidel Ramos who, I understand, led a fairly simple life compared to the rest.
Cultivited by the Marcos family? The corruption you’re talking about became rampant when the Cojuanco-Aquino and their Oligarch friends took over… nope Grab the Power from Marcos. At least the Former tried to push back the entities that were coming out of the Pandora’s Box while the Latter made a lot of disappointing moves that even her own Vice President, Doy Laurel and some of her partners against Marcos woke up from the harsh truth that they made a mistake by sitting a housewife (that is controlled by her Oligarch family which has always block Agrarian Reforms in a certain place) in the Palace.
Corruption still do exist in our country. Have you ever wondered why it did not stop? The Enriles, the Ramoses and the relatives of the Marcoses of the yesteryears are still ruling in our country, one way or another. Enrile and Ramos (his blood cousin by the way) both don’t have a chance to become straight as their Manong was their only model for 21 years. Then the descendant of the Iron Butterfly are once again in power. I am not saying that everything from that era was wrong. Indeed, we received recognitions from around the world as a developing country second to Singapore. BUT ours suffered the bell curve because of their excesses and our country was relegated to a Third World. Why? To have their children attend Unis in America and England when we had to budget our food and eat nutriban to counter the malnutrition? Our rich soils can produce any plants you throw into it but yet there was this time when we had to take a long queue for ration of rice with corn?
Our country is not poor as we have millions and millions of manpower export who are sending back their hard earned cash back to our country. Unfortunately, the corruption has rooted so deeply in out politics.
Thank you Caroline for continuously loving our country when most of us only love what we can get from our country.
Lest we forget….
Thank you, Susan, for your interesting response to my article. Yes, you are right, I do love your country and your people. That will never stop. I owe it a lot, many incredible memories of time spent there and for my three Filipino children who are the most important people in my life.
Jesus Gemudiano, may I ask how old you are and where do you live presently? May I also ask if you’ve ever tried, in your own simple way and in your everyday living, asking non-Filipinos if they experience (past and present) “Corruption in Government, Drugs, Rape” in their country?
“Ask not what your country can do for you….”Remember that, Caroline? Most of the people who wants to see the name Marcos back as their prime thief never new of any such challenging declaration from from the crook. They’re arguing that martial law was necessary and they want another leader who will give them that same experience so they could enjoy a peaceful life that the Marcos propaganda machine is now spewing out there.
It’s a shame that so many people are so gullible or so willing to blinker themselves from the truth. I just hope the anti-Marcos activists don’t wait until too late to make themselves heard prior to the 2016 Presidential election. They need to be organizing now.
So? Are you for the Marcoses? Because our History plays a great role of where we are rigth now… what we have are effects of the past. P-NOY is not perfect but i want to believe that he is a good president. He cant just solve the problems brought about by decades of mismanagements and corruption. I will take more than 6 years for us to heal. So please give Pnoy a break he is doing his best… if someone good will continue his legacy maybe we can finally see the effects of His hard work!
Cesar, you finally get what so many others dont see. He has been in office for about 4 years now and he is trying to fix two decades of abuse. It will not be done over night and i hope the next president continues the effort to rid the government of corruption. TESDA is rife with corruption still. They have these programs to train Filipinos for work but the head, Joey Villenueva, demands 45% cut of the value of each certificate a TESDA certified training academy tries to redeem. He is scum too and needs to be ousted.
So is Marcos better then? The crimes you mentioned are old as time. The Crime stats during Marcos’ time were never public because he owned and therefore muzzled the media. In truth, thousands if disappeared under his watch. That Jesus, was just the tip of the iceberg of the list of crimes you have decided not to discover.
maybe because good people like you don’t do anything but complain…
I love your article ms. Caroline Kennedy. The Philippines is really a rich country had it not been rob by the greatest thief husband and wife team Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. How I wish all those they have taken be returned thru payment of the Philippine Governments debts at the IMF. thus the Philippines – the filipino people will rise from poverty.
Yes, I hope one day the Philippines will benefit from all its natural resources.
you are just closed minded. a anti marcos humane!
You are, of course, entitled to your opinion. I wrote what I saw. And I think, if you read other comments you will find that people, like you, who support Marcos are in the minority. Maybe your family flourished under the Marcoses. A few did. THe vast majority did not. They also set an appalling example of how much money can be stolen right from under the direct gaze of the people, the friendly governments who supported them and the international aid organizations that lent them money.
FYI…there is a bigger wealth of the Philippines that is rumored to have been handed to the clan of the Conjuanco’s,..where is the treasury of the Philippines that was transported from Norte to Tarlac by Antonio Luna?….where did Ysidra Cajuanco Luna got her wealth???
I used to be the records assistant of Cory Aquino’s eldest niece Marisse Reyes-McMurray & with the research we conducted, I myself read all the documents & properties of the Cojuangcos. How their grandparents worked hard to build the sugar business . It is truly indeed, that they are oligarch. For that Imelda Marcos can’t accept. Real rich people dress-up not to show off because it will just show naturally with their manners. Imelda tried hard to be known that she is rich. Sadly through her corrupt means. No doubt about that. She should join all the corrupt politicians in jail.
If Marcos had all those projects finished as one supporter had listed its because he is in power & contracts were not even out for bidding. It was also in the condition for borrowing money with the world bank. Those projects left the country impoverished. Our children & children of their children will be paying our debts to IMF as an everlasting gift from the Marcoses.
I was in Bataan rallying against Nuclear Power Plant. Westinghouse went bankrupt too because they never expected that people will rally against it. Destruction of our natural resources. The government can’t even give alternative where to dispose its residue.
As a Martial baby, I for sure learned to be patriotic & law abiding citizen under restriction. However, I never regretted that because I developed that self discipline. Sometimes, Filipinos need to have a bit of a military discipline to follow the law. One classic example is crossing the street & littering. During Martial Law, Manila was so peaceful at 6 pm. Jaywalking was strictly imposed.
Our country needs committed leaders with genuine civil service. We Filipinos should help each other educate our folks particularly in remote areas to vote politicians who area true civil servant first than their personal interest.
Very intelligent assessment, Cynthia, thank you for this contribution.
The Philippines could be a rich country if all the money that Marcos and his cronies removed from the country were returned. Sadly, that is very unlikely to happen.
after the marcoses left, what became of the Philippines now? are more Filipinos well off now?, Did it change the entire political scenario in the PI now? On Cory, Joseph, Gloria , did they make the Phils. as a country progressive during their reign as President of the Philippines? Is Pinoy doing better now? these are only few question that Filipinos wanted to be answered right now.
I am only writing about the time I was in the Philippines. I, too, am sad that things have not improved too much. It is the over-population that scares me. But it is still a wonderful country and my memories of it will remain some of the very best memories of my life, despite its politics!
Thank you. Lest people who know do as you do, people will forget. The younger generation will believe the lies. I hate the prospect of seeing the thieves even proclaimed national heroes by propaganda they are cpable on waging.
Yes, I agree. People should not be allowed to forget.
You cannot put all the blame in just 1 person cos up to now its a mess in the philippine govt, you better blame us ALL cos we are all corrupt. there is wrong in the society we live in. ,WE NEED A BLOODY REVOLUTION!!! i AM SICK OF EVERYBODY IN THE GOVERNMENT.
Well you should be proud of yourselves that you already had one peaceful revolution and rid the country of a dictator. But, sadly, you have allowed the family back into power. That is part of your forgiving nature.
We all want an answer to these questions.
Thanks to Marcos, a precedent of corruption was developed. Are we better off today??? I would like to think we are improving. Our middle class is slowly growing and the most importantly, we have our freedom of speech. The Marcos’s were our ultimate downfall
The middle class that Marcos created was part of his own downfall. Despite a new middle class, however, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Niladfestivalmanila, Ms. Caroline Kennedy is writing about the Marcoses and our billions, ok millions, and nothing else.
Very we’ll said niladfestivalmanila…thank you very much…
@niladfestivalmanila, no and to think that way is the weakest argument of all that runs roughshod in demonstrating what little knowledge most of us have when it comes to understanding the dynamics of an economy like ours. Yours is a rich political argument but a severely morose, no moronic socioeconomic one akin to saying ” the people want me to shine for them…” If you were a businessman and a thief came in the middle of the night and cleaned out all your gold (680,000 tons of them from the acct of the Sultan Kiram – Sultan of Sulu originally deposited in BSP and now in 56 countries worldwide and trillions of dollars worth more now at Fort Knox under the guardianship of a certain Michael Struck who could very well be Bongbong Marcos), what in the heavens would you do but run after the thief?. Long story short, you caught the thief by sheer luck and hailed him to court but he died before you could recover your gold, do you think you’ll be able to recover from your loss in a snap of a finger? It will take decades and a succession of good presidents. Basically, this kind of argument you have is sadly pervasive amongst Marcos loyalists and has been one of the most flawed reasons why we keep on electing Marcos minions to the Palace long after he’s gone. PNoy mind you , I would like to think is divine intervention. God couldn’t stomach our foolishness anymore.
hi nilad, that used to be my question. but having lived abroad now and travelled the world – I would say YES the Philippines is far better now than during the Marcos’ era. we maybe a country who lived with so many professional exports (i for example) – but this brought or at least alleviate the rich and poor gap. have you ever wondered, you see kids these days in the Phils they own all the latest gadgets even if you go in the barrios or travel around the archipelago on holidays nowadays yet alone outside the country to our neighbours? that is because the purchasing power of the now filipinos have been better. this was of course brought to the huge remittances from abroad as one of the reason. these remittances that the filipinos inside the country use to purchase daily groceries, watch movies, eat out more than how the then poor majority are not able to experience. albeit the sad news i hear or see still about the philippines, i am still proud of it. it will always be my country of origin.
thanks caroline. lest we not forget indeed and let this be a lesson for the generations to come.
Thanks Cindy. Having lived overseas you can see the Philippines from a different perspective than those who have chosen or been unable to travel. I tend to agree with you. The few times I have returned I have noticed the Philippines is booming financially and developmentally. However, sadly, it is unlikely that the majority of the population has benefitted from this boom.
What have u done to make it better? No president can overturn the sick country into a healthy one in just one term. Be patient and do something good and only good for our country. If you do, do more and just continue doing it. We’ll all gonna be there.
There is no change because of people like you….
Reblogged this on Development templates for Guinarona.
What a superb and objective article. Thank you so much, Ms. Kennedy. The issues that you raised cannot be water under the bridge, because the Filipino people have not recovered the Marcos loot in its entirety. Their (the Marcoses’) strategy is obviously to obfuscate and to be unyielding until their last breath.
Thank you. I appreciate the feedback.
Thanks for reminding Filipinos about the greed and misdeeds of the Marcos government. While it is true that the Marcos government built a lot of infrastructure and developed livelihood programs during its time, all of these were tarnished with corruption, i.e. Cronies getting huge infrastructure contracts, aid monies going to Imelda’s shopping binges, etc.
The problem is that Filipinos have very short memory that Imelda and the Marcos siblings are now in power. The current generation and majority of the voting population did not experience what transpired during the years Marcos was in power. I was nine years old when Martial
Law was effected. Because of my affiliation with my fraternity, we were in the forefront supporting student activism when I was a freshman in UP in 1979. I still remember the slogans during our time: “Kung hindi ngayon, kailan pa (If not now, when)?” “Kung hindi tayo kikilos, sino ang kikilos (loosely translated to “If we don’t move, who will do it for us)?”
It is great that Filipinos are reminded of what the Marcos government, and Imelda, did. This oppression and atrocity should never happen again.
Thanks for your very intelligent contribution, Glenn. Great slogan, I didn’t know that one before. It is important not to forget. And those who can remind the next generation should continue to do so.
Thank you for your comment.
Interesting insights on the Marcoses excesses and greed. I was then covering the Ministry of Human Settlements as a young reporter in the early 80’s when Imelda was its head and I witnessed many of the events you narrated. Noticed a few factual inaccuracies I hope can be be corrected, though.
You wrote that “It was where, in 1899, the Americans had fought their first counter-insurgency war in the name of protecting freedom and defeating what they saw as the growing threat of communism.” The war waged by America against the Philippines in 1899 had nothing to do with communism. Communism was still in its infancy in Europe and no one in the Philippines then had an inkling about what communism was about. Neither was America protecting freedom when it invaded the Philippines in 1899. The Filipino revolutionaries had just defeated Spain, their former colonisers, and had established a republic in 1899. It was the first Christian, democratic republic in Asia and had a constitution which was ironically patterned after the US Constitution. The US, however, intent on establishing its first colonial outpost in Asia ignored this nascent democracy and proceeded to occupy the Philippines by force resulting in a brutal armed conflict from 1899 to 1902.
You also mentioned in your article that “She built the Cultural Centre in 90 days as a venue for the Miss Universe contest, ….. a Folk Arts Centre, ready in time to accommodate the Ali-Frazier “Thrilla in Manila” world heavyweight fight.”
The Folk Arts Theatre, not the Cultural Center of the Philippines, was specifically built for the 1974 Miss Universe contest. Neither was the Folk Arts Theater built for the “Thrilla in Manila”. The 1975 heavyweight fight between Ali and Frazier was held at the Araneta Coliseum.
Thank you for pointing these mistakes out. Everything I wrote was written in hindsight from notes made at the time. There are probably inaccuracies and inconsistencies and, when eventually they get published as a complete memoir, I will amend them. It is very useful to have someone like you to point them out. I appreciate it. Thank you.
The Folk Arts Theater was converted to become a training camp for Ali and Frazier.. So not really an error for you.t
Agreed…Thrilla in Manila was in Araneta Coliseum and Marcos was there too. I was in High school and it was a public holiday. Excellent article by the way..thanks.
.
Thank you for reading it and giving your feedback.
Its so amusing that people give comments and reactions on very mundane and trivial matters, like the P100 bill if it existed, or if Cory was a legit president, or what these edifices were built for. Although for reasons probably of accuracy and being spot on, then these things would matter. But some comments I read here seem to be directed towards the writer’s credibility. For crying out loud, people, she was there! Look at the bigger picture! Sheez.
Thanks for your support. But everyone deserves his/her say. And I do not Trash comments simply because they don’t agree with my point of view.
MIFF manila international film festival BUILDIMG
Was it the Folks Art Theater or The Film Center that she was trying to put up in 90 days? I think it was the latter. Remember that giant collapse of the walling of the Film Center that buried hundreds of workers which many engineers attributed to the rush construction demand?
Thank God finally someone with real knowledge of Philippine History commented on this! Miss Kennedy despite your proclamation of love to the Philippines you’re just another rich American trying to cover up their true intentions. Please forgive me if I asked…Are you Caroline Kennedy of John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline O.? Because if you arrived in the Philippines in 1968, you father was just assassinated 5 years ago. That will make you 11 years old.
Thank you for this but you, too, should get your facts right. I am certainly not rich, nor am I American. Both those facts would exclude me from being John and Jackie Kennedy’s daughter. I was – or I became, after living in the Philippines for a couple of years, the wife of your National Artist, Ben Cabrera. I have never claimed to have “real knowledge of Philippine history” as you imply. I leave that to the historians. I do know, however, what I saw, what I heard and what I witnessed.
Hi Amy. Everyone makes mistakes. While Caroline Kennedy’s narrative may have a few minor historical inaccuracies her revelations on the Marcos family are spot on. Her accounts of the Marcos family are accurate and revealing. I can vouch for her story as I was also witness to these excesses as a reporter covering Imelda Marcos and her Ministry during the early 80’s. I can only recommend her outstanding work to the present generation of Filipinos who have not experienced the dark years of Martial Law and have been influenced by the efforts of the Marcos family to rehabilitate Ferdinand Marcos as a “great president”. Also please do your homework before criticizing Ms. Kennedy’s integrity. As far as I am concerned she is more of a Filipino patriot than all of us combined.
Thank you, Alec, I am very happy to hear your views. I have said enough times on this page how I love the Philippines. I don’t think I have to prove it any more to some of the more unflattering commentators here. My children are Filipino. Need I say more?!
I wonder what happened to my second post in reply to you and Alec’s. I guess you can dish it but can’t take it.So much for freedom of speech.My post was censored.
Your post was not censored by me. It is here for all to see, Amy.
I am an artist, and have read about you and BenCab who is now a towering giant in Philippine Arts. Sad that you had to part ways but life throws a lot of challenges and we just had to face them. Thanks for this very helpful article. That makes you British not American then if memory serves but shall I say, would it even matter when your children are in fact by blood Filipinos too?
Thank you for this. Yes, of course, I am English and yes, my children are Filipino and proud of it, as they should be.
I meant have to face them…gotta be more careful next time there is no edit button and new posts somehow get placed in the wrong part of the thread.
are you dumb? this is the most dumbest comment/question i have ever read in this article. i take you got bored to read the entire article and went straight to bed. apologies, but this is what it seems here.
Funny how they delude themselves as “godlike” or getting there and yet the frozen stiff one remains in his refrigerated tomb unable to rise for the dead, LOL. Of course there will be the hopeless gullible that remains loyal the duo crazies reminiscing about the equally delusional “good times” during their reign of terror……….
Typo, I meant rise from the dead not for the dead…..
I knew that was what you meant!
The people who had benefited during the Marcos era remains faithful to them not counting those who died by only trying to make a difference to make the people wake up from their 20 years nap, and to take notice of how we suffer during this regime. The people who opposed them were jailed or killed that’s why there are NPAs’ who try to met their justice system and more people who sympathizes with them. Corruptions in our society became habitual and we were partly to blame because we let them, give “lagay” to everything so we don’t get hassled and this people expected them from us. The things that we read in Ms. Kennedy’s article are just a few facts but were written with such conviction worthy
of a person with integrity who’s not even a Filipino. Hats off to you Ms. Kennedy.
Thank you, Gina.
Love the article… I never knew they were that rich… I was dumbfounded by their assets. I couldn’t believe they actually amassed everything for their own personal gain. Liars and blatant liars will never be forgotten in good terms. The Filipino people already killed them in their minds and hearts, vowing to never let them reign as they know their real intentions are evil and demonic in the real sense of these words. I just wish they end their story soon… to close that sad chapters in the Philippine history. It was one dark and gloomy regime, ruled not just by iron fist, but by bullets and guns pointed to every citizen.
You are right. Let’s hope we have seen the last of the Marcoses although, sadly, I saw BongBong Marcos in a photograph alongside my ex-husband, Bencab, the other day at some art exhibition.
Thank you for this very informative article. I was still young when the Marcoses ruled the Philippines and got very little knowledge about them. My parents always tells me that life was very hard then. Well, up until now by the way. But perhaps they meant really hard in terms of freedom of speech. etc.
This article have filled all the gaps that i want to know about the Marcoses. Thank you..
It was hard for a great many people. It is still hard now. I am hoping one day the Philippines will have a true and honest leader. Perhaps I am naive to wish that. I hope not.
holy crap ! I know BenCab ! What a small world ….
Small world indeed, Henry!
by the way, two thumbs up article … I knew some of the details. it makes you think, if President Marcos had a different wife, would we have had a different story ? From the accounts, First Lady Imelda was the one in the driver’s seat. My father used to tell stories of how great a mind President Marcos had but then he would stop there. I’d like to learn more about his side since we already know about his wife’s…
Is that the reason why you wrote this article? You saw your ex-husband with bongbong marcos on the picture? So pathetic that you only saw the corruption side of the marcoses and not the people after his regime. If you really care about our country you will write the latest issue that will wake the people up and not just because you saw your ex with the marcoses. Let my country heal and focus to the real issue now.
I am sorry to say this is a foolish response, Jenny. I wrote this article in about 2001, long before I saw any photo of my ex husband with Bong Bong. I wrote about what I saw during the years I was in Manila. I am not writing about current political affairs in the Philippines because I am not there and cannot write with any authority on the subject. You will need to read someone else to bring you up to date.
Yes Bongbong is very much in the public view right now and has declared his desire to run for the highest post. Hoping the young people learn from the older generations who went through it all before them.
BBM is quite a charmer as well. I follow him on instagram and they try so hard, even Imelda, to appear quite…simple.
thank you for sharing this informative and shall never be forgotten history of my generation to my country. answering the wonders and qualms to why and where my country is now.
Pleasure is mine!
thank you for sharing to us . so much information that we didn’t know.
It’s a pleasure, Joelimar.
This brought back memories of growing up under them. My parents were detained at the declaration of Martial Law along with many others because they were journalists. I went to a public school and therefore subjected to all these whims – birthdays, martial law anniversary, pope visit in 1981- to bolster crowd numbers. Mom had to stay in the US because she was again on the list in ’77 while she attending the Iowa writers’ workshop. It was all so surreal – who can ever forget Irene Marcos’ wedding? Became an activist, remembered the first beating we got at the Film Center in ’83.The bizarre things is they’re all STILL in power. If you ever pass by Paris (I work with Doctors without Borders), I hope to meet you for coffee.
How fascinating, Sibyl. Thanks so much for posting this comment. I wonder if I knew your parents. I knew many of the journalists in those days. Would love to meet you for coffee. You must be doing great work at Doctors without Borders. Your parents must be proud of you as you are of them.
Mom is Ninotchka Rosca so yes, know/knew many of old habitues of Indios Bravos (though only heard stories about it) Ishma, Virgie M., Jorge Arago, Pepito Bosch – all nice people to me at least. 🙂
Mom is Ninotchka Rosca so yes, know/knew many of old habitues of Indios Bravos (though only heard stories about it) Ishma, Virgie M., Jorge Arago, Pepito Bosch – all nice people to me at least. 🙂
I remember Ninotchka well. Saw her on my last visit to the Philippines. Lovely people, the Indios Bravos crowd. My best wishes to your Mom.
What an excellently written piece–with just the right amount of details that could be digested in one reading–but oh, why am I feeling so sick? Why is it that many Filipinos want more of the same Marcoses in office? Please excuse me while I go throw up.
we blame the marcoses for what happened because we were not free during their time, its either be quiet or go to prison for protesting but now we are free. It is up to us not only to choose wisely for our country but also help educate others especially the youth on what really happened. Thank you for this article, i’m a history teacher and i do hope you’ll give me permission to use your notes on in discussing a dark era of our history with my students.
Of course you may.
Sadly, the choice is between poor and poorer leaders. Swipe the political horizon and one cannot easily identify 3 politicians who are prospectively good leaders.
I remember bong bong saying that had marcos continued to rule, the philippines would have become like singapore. He seems to have forgotten that we were NEXT to japan by the time of marcos’s first term. Also, bong bong seemed unaware of the fact that his dad had cut a deal with arturo tolentino (his vice president), for the latter to take over as president after 2 years. Marcos must’ve known even then that he didn’t have that much time on earth to live that he wanted a graceful exit.
Thanks for this anecdote.
The info about Tolentino was shared to me by my late dad who worked as tolentino’s media rep. Dad was actually sore at the former senator for accepting the draft, (after all tolentino himself was perceived as a maverick in his own party) but dad was assured that “turing” (as dad called him) won’t turn into a dictator himself and would institute reforms when he takes over.
A fascinating read. I wonder if they were allowed to keep the cash they had with them…
Bongbong probably meant our population will be like Singapore’s… around 5M.
He probably meant the size (area) of Singapore. We were headed that way as many Pinoys were already restless then.
Fascinating insight on the lives of the Marcos family most especially to the kids of today who have no idea what kind of horror and disgust these characters brought upon the nation and to the world.
Yes, you are right. The history books have all been altered to gloss over the Marcos period.
I pray that many more historians come out and relay such detailed pictures of corruption, their incredulity to how wrong their ways were. Most of our corrupt officials do not seriously believe that whet they are doing is wrong. They think it’s ok because everyone else is doing it. I’ve had the misfortune of personally experiencing this. People really do forget. Our “elders” must continue to pass on their knowledge of the past to the new generations. We cannot let propaganda prevail. It is a blessing, Ms. Kennedy, that you had been part of our history. Thank you.
Thank you, Jiji, I appreciate your kind words.
Wow, lots of comments and it stirred up great conversations. I read most of them up to June 2014. . Your writing as well as the answers was to the point… Remember the very day that the martial law was declared? The deafening silence, no newspapers, no radio and TV, no information…. nothing!!! As though as someone had just hit the pause button on everything… I was 18 then? The prelude to that day was also forgotten; many had suffered and died… the explosions, the Plaza Miranda bombing and the horror. It was his last term as a president. The stage for a Martial Law was set. Arresting everyone that is a threat to him prior taking control of all the media etc. was all brilliantly executed. After reading all the conversions definitely reflects that the remnants of his power extends to this date. I was wondering why some people I’ve met considered him a hero, that’s the power of illusion. Thank you for your love for our country…. I just got back, Palawan, is my home…. Thanks to all for such an inspiring exchanges here.
Thank you, Peter. You lived through it so have a deeper understanding than most, many of whom have just had second-hand accounts from their parents who were, possibly, few of the lucky ones who thrived under the Marcoses. Yes, of course, the build-up to Martial Law was all carefully orchestrated in order to justify taking dictatorial powers.
Palawan, lucky you! I visited there in 1975 and stayed in a nipa hut on the beach. It was a wonderful experience, long before the resorts started cropping up. I am hoping to go back there next April for a wedding. Making plans!
I can only imagine, Imelda Marcos had once lived in a wonderland. I was blunted by the way she lived her life excessively. This, made us/our countrymen suffer for decades; this must not be forgotten. BTw thank you for this article. Great.
Good read no doubt. What about your insights on the administrations that came after Marcos? Did see you see any difference at all? Would love to read it too.
I can’t really comment on these as I wasn’t living in the Philippines during the successive administrations.
This article should be shared to every Pilipinos especially the young generation who believe that the marcoses has done something good to the nation. Actually they have ruin the nation and that is why we are in this situation, all the loan from the IMF went straight to their pocket and the Pilipino people are now paying for it. This is also the reason we we so much corruption because the marcoses became an example on how to steal and never be punish to our officials now. They were never punish with what they did during martial law, look at Enrile he was also part of it but he was even elected to a very high position. When will our people learn? Until our nation be occupied by others because we have no money to defend our country?
True.
Exactly! When will we ever learn?
Thank you for this comment. I completely agree with you about Enrile. I found it absolutely shocking that he was not only elected to high office but appeared to be revered by many. He saved his own skin and his own bank account by turning against Marcos in 1986 when he realized all was lost. He did it very skillfully and very successfully. But he hasn’t changed. And it is very sad that he has been accepted as one of the architects of the “peaceful revolution”.
True. We’re too forgetful and too forgiving for our own good.
medicancy is a cancer in the philippine society. it choked me to the core when i was there watching trials of Erap. It’s all sickening 😦
Well said.
Indeed you are. That is part of the beauty of the Filipino people. But, sadly, it can also be its downfall.
And we never seem to learn.
Sadly, not!
those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.
And we are…
Very right, Ms Kennedy. I am sometimes wondering if our being forgiving should be called a wonderful Filipino trait or a window for more abuses from bullying politicians or other opportunist people around.
I can’t thank you enough for publishing this enlightening article of yours. I must admit, I am not aware of how much the Marcoses had amassed from the coffer of our government during their reign of 21 years. I didn’t know it was this massive till I read this account. Maybe because I was blinded by the feeling of “gratitude” for being able to finish my College through a scholarship sponsored by the late President F. Marcos, under the program of Nat’l Integration Scholarship program, whose aim was to uplift the the condition of the cultural minorities group in Mindanao by sending their deserving children to Colleges and Universities, for free, that I seemed to choose to believe my benefactor was but a kind of hero that was instrumental to bring me to where I am now.
I used to hear about stories of kickbacks from the projects he had done, maybe some journalist made it appear pleasant by concealing lies by embellishing their write ups with well-written rhetoric. For me that was normal, as long as something concrete, monumental at times, was/done given to our country.
Nevertheless, corruption is corruption and I am saddened that our country had to suffer because their greed and still has to suffer until now because of the precedent they have laid before their successors.
I just hope fervently that our country can recover from the “emaciated” state, enough to give the next generation a more beautiful country to live in and hopefully to work on in their time.
Ilda, thank you so much for your very informative observations on the situation in the Philippines and your reaction to them. You have obviously given this much thought over the years. I am happy for you that you received a scholarship through the sponsorship of Ferdinand Marcos. It sounds like you were very deserving of it. I am sure you will go on to great things in your life. Just be warned by the abuses of the Marcoses that money is not the God that people think it is. Helping others is far more rewarding, far more gratifying and far more enduring. Good luck to you.
well said!
I don’t understand you at all. You are a living proof that the Marcoses extended their hand to those who are in need. You owe them the good life you’re living and you’re one of the luck ones because nobody is getting any help any more.
Thank you for writing about what you know. People shouldn’t forget.
Thank you so much for writing this article…. I wish that every Filipino is able to read it, especially the younger generation who had no idea how this once great country got itself in this mess (or more aptly, how the Marcoses cause it’s misery).
While it is very sad to be reminded of those years, it is especially sad that corruption continues. The fact that corrupt politicians in this country continue to exploit the weakness of the “less informed” majority to get elected… The actors like Estradas and Revillas, as well as many traditional politicians like the Enriles and Binays, who managed to build poltical clans, continue to thrive despite being accused of corruption….. I hope and pray that this won’t happen but I dread the day that one of them will become a president!
Thank you so much, Ms. Kennedy, for pointing out that the US government (during the Marcos regime) was partly to blame. I also agree with a comment that the explosive population growth is a major factor why the country’s poorest remain as they are… BUT but blame this on the Catholic church who still disagrees with family planning and contraception, as well as the government’s inability to educate.
I hope in our lifetime, we will see this once “Pearl of the Orient” rise again.
I hope so too.
The Marcos’ and the Aquinos (including the Cojuancos)..are the biggest mistake in Philippine Politics. Add to that GMA and Estrada. The Philippines is falling slowly but surely, starting from the 1960’s up to the present. And every politician that gets elected, is only concerned about the contents his wallet, rather than serving the people.
all they assets they stole could not be returned to the country? with all that they could use it for the country and the people couldn’t they? the country might have been equal with Japan.my wife is Filipino and we are retiring later this year..
Sadly a compromise was made with Imelda, agreed by Erap, that most of their wealth could remain in the Marcos hands, I believe. I also know that Cory recovered some from overseas accounts but not all, by any means.
Compromise with erap means they share the loot.
So where are those crates of money and gold and jewels ? Were they returned to the Marcoses after the US customs discovered them. Or did the US “confiscated” them. WHERE DID THEY GO???
Good question and one that needs to be addressed to the US Customs.
That is why I admired the Jews for continuously reminding their people of their history of the Holocaust by Hitler. They see to it that the future generation will not forget and will not allow to happen again. The Pilipino must see to it that the real history during martial law be taught to all schools and condemn dictatorship and corruption. And see to it that no one who is a part of that martial law be allow to hold any public office.
Very wise advice. Thanks.
@Apgubat… are you insane comparing the Philippine Martial Law to what happened to the Jews during the Holocaust? If ever USA is much more familiar with genocide for what they did to the Native Americans and even during the Philippine Insurgency. My grandmother was from Samar. I heard her told the story to my father what she witnessed in what we know now as ” Sunugin ang Samar “. It’s the equivalent of ” wounded knee incident”. Why don’t we remind the new generation about that? So we will remember NEVER TO TRUST THESE AMERICANS ! We always have their backs against any of their enemies. Russian, North Korea , China, Iraq, Libya… and what do we get in return? A knife on our backs. They flat out refuse to help us against China while they categorically said they will defend Japan if they it goes to war against China. Why don’t we remind they who fought and died side by side with them during World War II. WAKE UP PHILIPPINES ! We need a new ally. One who doesn’t just take but also willing to give.
I agree, the comparison between Philippine Martial Law and the Holocaust is in no way comparable. And, as you rightly point out, the US only helps its so-called allies when they are useful to them.
This is very true. But Filipinos are quick to forgive and forget. An admirable trait but, sadly, it is not helpful politically in the long term.
As a filipino We are easy to forgive but to forget i dont think so.. We still know the bad sides of marcoses we still believed that the history during the time of martial law is unforgetable.. But we also looking and appreciating the good one.. Some of the young generation like me born after people power know less and know nothing about the real situation of the philippines during that time.. We believed in the history of what the school teached us. We believe in our ancestor for the experienced that they have during those times. Thank you for this very informative article..
Thanks for writing this. Please contact me in case you or your family come back for a visit. I would be happy to host a happy meal and outing for you. MABUHAY Ms. Kennedy!
Thanks you.
What if the marcoses were executed during the peoples revolution? Would it have change the course of Philippine politics? Change the destiny of the philippines?
I wouldn’t condone that as I don’t believe in capital punishment. But had they had all their assets removed and spent the next 20 years in prison, then perhaps the message would have rung loud and clear to any other elected official who may have tried to steal as much as they did. Unfortunately, they showed every President (and their relatives, friends) who came after them just how much money it was possible to steal and still retain the support of their greatest ally. And when that support wavered, as it did from time to time, Imelda was just sent to Russia to court the “Reds” (during the Cold War, remember) or to Libya to court Gadaffhi – and so on. This had the immediate effect of the US turning a blind eye, again and again, to the Marcos excesses.
Every revolution must be cruel, or, there will be no cleansing of society. We are still what we were because the People Power Rev did not put misery in our hearts. If you were around EDSA then, you’ll remember that only certain pockets (mostly religious) faced Marcos’ men while the majority of people were moving around like EDSA was a huge ballroom ( very minimal fear ). We were unable to complete the process of revolution similar to France and the US’s. I still believe that if blood were shed in my family ( and other’s too), no Marcos will ever recover politically or socially.
@bobby…I’ve got news for you. The military in EDSA and Quezon Ave. were ready to strike. Don’t believe for a moment that those flowers in the nozzles of the tanks and the rosaries and prayer vigils were what stopped the military from attacking the crowds. That’s the romantic story that most Filipinos want the world to believe. The military did not strike because MARCOS NEVER GAVE THE ORDER. They were waiting for the order…it never came.Otherwise it would have been like Tenanen Square out there.
Thank you Ms. Kennedy for the great write up, I haven’t been there to witness the naked truth, yet I am thankful that I have enjoy and seen the beauty and richness of my country. It’s only the one side of the story that you kept sighting on and kept on telling to the youngest generation, the negative side, the greediness, the thieves the merging of dictatorship. Our country today is still living in lies, the eyes of many Filipinos has been blind folded by those who took the power after the Marcos regime. Perhaps, the successful people power witnessed by the whole world was perfectly done through unity and cooperation of the massive Filipino people, BUT it was initiated by the few and real dictators who are now presently running our country. The mere fact that you’re there during their regime, as the living witness, in behalf of the Filipino people seeking for the truth I would want to hear from you, the good things and good deeds that the Marcoses has done to our country, and why at his time Philippines is the 2nd largest country in South East Asia. And when our country has been buried into tremendous debt that we keep on paying until now. If you and many, seen that when the Marcos regime ended we, Filipino people has been set free. I still wonder that if their regime ended has set us free, why we cannot feel the freedom until now?Instead, we are in place worst than prison. Hope to hear from the other side so anyone could read both story can determine which is which. Thank you so much!
Thank you for this. I understand your angst about the continuing corruption and indebtedness. I cannot, I am afraid, report on the post-Marcos years because I have not been there to witness at first-hand the governments that succeeded them. I have only visited occasionally, mainly to see family and friends. So I can only tell what I saw at the time I was living there. As far as the good things the Marcoses may have done, all were overshadowed by their greed for money and their fear of their enemies.
maybe the best thing is exposed all what happen after marcos? was it a real people revolution or just an scripted one>…authored by the americans
It may have had you impressed a very negative opinion towards Marcos’ regime but have you ever thought of the presidents who took over after him? I agree with Miss Angel that everyone could be able to hear from the other side and determine which is which. Thanks!
If you have read the comments you will see that everyone is allowed to have their opinion. I have not deleted any pro-Marcos comment.
I am so disappointed about most of the comments here like blaming everything to the former President Marcos. I am a witness to the infrastructure projects of Pres Marcos which until now the people of the Philippines are benefitting from. There are just too many to mention..the maharlika highway, the Magat dam project, the Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center, Kidney Center , Cultural Center, Folk Arts theatre , San Juanico bridge and all the other bridges in the country..to name a few ..Can I ask what the presidents after him had accomplished? When Ninoy was shot , he became a hero, why? What has he done to become a hero? So what now, did our country change for the better? A BIG NO!!! Come on, look at what’s happening now in the country!murders,rapes,robberies,terroristic attacks etc..
Maybe it’s because those large projects were paid for with money that was supposed to go elsewhere. Imelda’s “edifice complex” was well known. Her motives for building such extravagant and opulent structures was mostly to do with promoting herself. Few could afford treatment in the hospitals. Few could afford to attend events in the theatres. And the San Juanico bridge was unnecessary at the time was only built as a “present” – her gift of love – for her husband. Again, it was not her money to spend. You ask why did Ninoy become a “hero”? I think you can answer that question yourself. I was not impressed by Ninoy myself (you can read my article about him on this site) but I understand that his incarceration changed him from the spoilt playboy (who was even more pro-American than Marcos) to a thoughtful and caring potential leader. I don’t know and I can’t judge because I never met him again following his imprisonment.
The fund that was used during the Industrial Boom were actually World War II Treasures amounting to Trillions of dollars, some just don’t see that as fact. And that’s the reason why major cases against the Marcoses were cleared in the U.S. Court and other Courts as well. And those funds went to where it should be, for things that would benefit people. Anyway, there are a lot of things to be considered in an Infrastructure Project, and one obvious reason is, “Would it be beneficial?” and to connect to places that are hard to access (farm to market, to barrios, to urban places etc. etc). The institutes you were talking about were run by the Government and funded by the People during Marcos regime which makes me curious as to why you thought few could afford treatments, and such. Compared to now which are most has been Priivitized by People who replaced him without even Consulting the Pilipino people, the life style of the people during those times are far off better. The ratio of Salary to Commodity in my opinion is Just unlike now where people are either, Jobless or Underpaid. As for Ninoy being Pro-American, I won’t comment much but one thing people should remember is that Ninoy is a Communist supporter aside from achieving nothing but being a nonsensical critic and a burden on the Government’s actions. I wouldn’t say Marcos is Pro-American though, remember that he was against Foreign Military Bases in the Country and that includes American Bases that’s why he slashed the 100 years leased of their bases to 25 years and that action is justifiable.
It is your opinion and you have a right to express it (something you would not have had an opportunity to do under Marcos.) I have a right to express my opinion. I was there during that period. My best friend was a close family member of Imelda so my sources, her and others, were impeccable. I think you know very well that Marcos was supported by successive Presidents and he never discouraged them from giving him that support. As far as the bases were concerned he slashed the leases because he hoped to make far more money from them but, since the war in Vietnam ended and Kissinger’s “domino theory” had been entirely discredited, there was no need for the US to renegotiate their leases. Then Mount Pinatubo erupted and the bases lost their worth altogether.
You seem to be under the impression it was still Martial Law at the end of Marcos regime. Martial Law was lifted in 1981 January which paved the way for those Propagandist to have a Full Blast without even trying to research about what’s truly happening behind the scenes. I can see that most of your opinion about Marcos’ is about him making money and criminality through his every actions, small or big and I can’t fault you for that because that’s what you saw or what you’re looking at but let me be clear, a lot of people saw different things from you specially the ones from the province where Marcos tried to concentrate as well by trying to industrialize the Major parts of the Philippines. There are two side of the coin as they say. Also, you don’t seem to understand that he slashed the lease because having a strong foreign military in your own land is tantamount to being a hostage in your own house. You can connect Putin and Crimea together but that’s a different issue because Crimea already has Russian citizen inside and they’re at the Majority as well, not to mention, they’d (and the includes the Crimeans) rather prefer to be reunited with Russia than be subjected to International Banking policy and debt slavery which is what happened to Ukraine just this recently. As they say, Crimeans and Russians are brothers and sisters. The only ones who’s opposed to the decision that Crimeans made are those who has agenda. What’s funny is that they would sanction them, convince other countries and even try to do false-flags just to ignite more conflicts which is kind of funny because their plan isn’t really working against Russia. Anyway, that’s a different issue so let’s get back to the topic.
I won’t debate with anyone here, but, in he 60’s, a Barong Tagalog worn in Asian cities opened doors. We were considered by natives as endowed, educated and civilized. When Marcos left in the mid-80’s, we became Asia’s basket case. It is only now, 30 years hence, that we are again rising from the ashes. Those who disagree, can find numerous foreign articles in praise of the PH. It was our great misfortune that soon after Marcos, we had Estrada and Arroyo, 3 rapacious regimes that buckled our knees.
You count the monuments built by Marcos but the money they stole could have built more. Also, successive govts were corrupt because they got the cue from marcos… greed pays. Had we executed them in 1986, every politician today will be wary.
true, this article is obviously biased. we are still benefiting from the “extravagances” that were built by Imelda.
I maybe able to shed some light on this. I can’t promise but I’ll try. The Philippine society before the martial law was very much like it is now. Riots, labor strikes, rallies, crimes, robberies, endless price hikes, hiding of basic commodities specially rice and sugar. There were massive arrests when martial law was declared. Half the crime were stopped when curfew was imposed. Strict price control and arrest of merchants hiding the goods were also imposed. MetroManila Aide were hired to clean the city and give jobs. And Imelda Marcos started the family planning despite criticism by the Vatican and the Catholic Church. Not a lot of people gave so much importance to the last one. No seemed to realized what an integral part in plays in improving a society from a small unit of a family to the whole community. The more children you have the more you need to work. The more work you do the less time you spend with them. The less time you spend with them the less you’re able to guide them to be better people. The more children you have the less you’ll provide for them. The food you bring home instead of being divided to two,are now divided to five or six . Henceforth each kids are fed less. The bigger the population the more schools, jobs and housing is necessary. Also a big population creates more garbage, diseases, traffics, crimes. All these are problems we have now. The land of the Philippines is not growing, only our numbers are growing. Just like a parent the Philippine government will have to feed it’s children less esp. when it’s coupled with corruption both on local and national level. Everyone from barangay captains, kagawad, congress , senate and presidents were in it. I know it’s wrong to say this but during martial law there’s only one croc , now everybody has their hands in the cookie jar. The administrations following the Marcoses and I mean all of them ( Cory , Ramos, Joseph, Gloria and Noynoy ) all did their best to erase anything and everything that the Marcoses accomplished.They neglected the land reforms, lessen their support for local farming, barely any MetroManila Aide can be seen, and family planning programs were shunned. Do you know that after the Marcoses left they nearly converted the Phil. Heart Center and Kidney Center to goverment offices. Thank God some of the doctors stepped in and asked what will happen to those expensive medical equipments? That stopped them from their path of distraction.But they still re bump the whole administrative positions and put their people in place. So now the once most high tech hospital in the country is a dump. The Philippine Seedling Foundation was not too lucky. Someone really stupid in his attempt to brown nose to the new administration did a good number on that one. They even tried to change its name to” Cory Aquino Seedling Foundation” when she had absolutely nothing to do with that.We don’t feel there’s freedom because we’re afraid to go out because there’s way too much crimes and they don’t catch the assailants.” There is no freedom when there’s no justice.”
However I do believe it can still be turned around. We have a small window of opportunity if people sitting in positions will listen with open minds and hearts.The solutions will not be easy.
Thank you very much for this post. I was born in 1986 and although I’ve done some reading on on our history, stories like these remain priceless. It is not that I am for Marcos, it is just that I was born to a relatively free Philippines after-Marcos. I am currently sitting in a government office patiently waiting for a valid document to be released, and to be honest everything around me is chaotic. I grew up to a chaotic Philippines and I cannot for the life of me understand why in chronicles, my country seemed to be a much better place to live in at that time. I understood that freedom of speech was only curtailed during the demise of the Marcos regime and in my mind, it seemes a far better time.
I always thought that Marcos was a brilliant man married to an ill-fit woman. Of course I think he stole from the country but from my perspective now it seems to be the lesser evil because at least he had a vision for it and had administered something that helped it.
Thank you so much for refreshing our memory Caroline. Growing up during the Martial law regime was truly a terrifying experience for me and a memory I chose to block out until I read this article you wrote.
At age 12, I remember being told by my mom to keep my mouth shut, because I happened to ask her a totally innocent question in public regarding why people in uniform abused their authority and mistreated the common tao. We all lived in fear. I have friends who’s relatives were detained because they chose to be brave and speak peacefully against the regime. Some they never saw again. Graft and corruption so openly done. It’s like it dug deep into our culture and seems to be a normal everyday thing for the majority today. Maybe its about time we talk about this in the open, so this generation of Filipinos could learn from our cruel past and make this country a safe, corrupt-free, and proud nation once again.
btw…sorry, but it was a surprise to me that you are Bencab’s ex-wife. It explains the amount of time you spent in our lovely country and why you fell in love with our people, even though for some it takes only a day. More power to you and your memoirs!!!
Thank you for this view of the Marcos regime from someone who was so young at the time. Too young to comprehend the implications. You write very eloquently. And, just to say, I fell in love with your country before I married Bencab. As you so correctly write, I am like the others who fell in love with the Philippines in only one day!
TRY DIGGING DEEPER! Your observation is valid basing on what you’ve heard in those days. Nevertheless you have to go beyond the principles if you wanna find out the truth (perhaps) behind.
Yes, the gold and the luxury are real…. but where do you think these came from? Perhaps, from the wealth of the nation? Metric tons of gold bars (but doesnt have the BSP logo on them but instead logos of different nations), golden Budha statues (considering that the country’s predominant religions are Christianity and Muslim), 486,273 billion pesos budget for 20years (1997 Philippine Yearbook) that is not even half of all his predecessors’, Aquino (6 years) and Ramos (6 years), amounting to 3.2 trillion pesos combined. In short Marcos held treasures which he got somewherelse but definitely not from the nations wealth.
The Yamashita treasure was the source of the Golden Buddha and other items of gold.
If so, so is the source of his unimaginable wealth. In which case he doesn’t need to steal from the nation. As what his budgetary allocations in 20 years are extremely low compared to his predecessors. Yet, he was able to put up a lot of infrastructures which no other president that followed would rival. Anti marcos might say again that their wealth came from IMF stolen from the people. I really doubt this one. As the post war reconstruction era has long been over. If there were such, probably they wont equal to the Marcoses total assets that time. There were other sources of their wealth other than what people think that they corrupted from the people ( which they want us to believe). Well I am not pro marcos nor aquino. I am just after the facts that have been hidden from us. I have read articles as this before and they almost spoke out similar contents as the ones published in the past decades.. but question is did you ever try to question your sources or your experiences if what they are showing you or looking at are untainted information? Well, I did.
There is no proof anyone ever found Yamashita’s treasure. Gen Y was only briefly in the PH as the war was already dreadfully lost to the allies by then, so, the Malaysian/Singaporean gold, could not have taken a circuitous route. The logical strategy is to ship the gold directly to Tokyo.
I have, of course, checked my sources. I have spoken to people whose wealth has been appropriated by the Marcoses, to people who received letters congratulating that they had been selected to contribute large amounts of money to Imelda. And my inside source in Marcos’s immediate family was impeccable.
Flawed comparison on the budget. Currency inflation, inflating interests of debts, growing population, etc are some of the reasons why the budget during his term was smaller.
You are asking the author to dig deeper, well have you? Where did their so called wealth came from? If you can provide a source that the Marcos and Imelda’s family are capable of earning that much wealth without resorting to corruption, then show us.
If only the Americans did not help the marcoses fled the Philippines during that time maybe the Pilipino people would have been more aggressive getting justice from what they have done. Noynoy is trying his best to get rid of corruption, but he is having a hard time because only a handful can be trusted and most of them have no fear to steal from the people and they were allies of the marcoses.
You may be right but I can’t comment on Nonoy because I am not there and, thus, unqualified to write about his Presidency.
You were actually fed with misinformation. The Americans didn’t help Marcos escape, they took him away and brought him to Hawaii. Did you really think Marcos don’t have any means of escape during the 1986 Hijacked Coup? And beside that, it was Marcos order not to attack because the Civilians who were fooled to make themselves human shields by Cardinal “SIN” would mostly be the victims. Not to mention, Cory didn’t want Marcos to go back to the Philippines to be trialed by the Court despite she was already in power. Have you ever wondered why?
Thanks. But I don’t believe I was misinformed. It is your right, however, to come to the decision you have and to publish it.
Why did the americans took him away? To save his ass from the mob of Edsa, and to ensure he can leave the country safely. Yes they have other means to flee, but their safety cannot be guaranteed during that time that’s why the Americans HELPED.
Marcos ordered NOT to attack the civilians on LIVE TV, pogi points lang ( to make him look good in the view of the public).
The money they stole are the Imf loans that went directly to their account.
More than money, which can be recovered, are the loss of dignity and morality. Marcos started our moral corruption, sunk further by Estrada and still deeper by Arroyo. None of these 3 has been put in jail, leading Fils to believe that crime pays. They became models to Jinggoy, Bong and Enrile and many others. FILS,LEARN TO GET ANGRY!
Excellent details and could be an eye-opener particularly for young Filipinos who don’t know much about the Marcos extravagance. I was fortunate to have worked in the Presidential Photo section for two presidents, and have met some of photographers who had worked for the FM and Imelda for 20 years, and the stories you have wrote are very similar to what I have heard from my former colleague. Imelda is very generous when it comes to shopping money (because it’s not her money anyway), she can easily give away $5,000.00 to her staff. The photographer told me once they were on board a plane on the way to NYC, he and another staff were having a conversation about “shopping”, the staff asked him “saan ba dapat mag-shopping sa New York, gusto kung bumili ng original YSL perfume para sa missis ko? (Which is the best place in NY to shop for an original YSL perfume? I want to buy one for my wife). Imelda overheard their conversation, she joined the conversation and lectured them where to buy it, and ordered one her “blue ladies” to give them shopping money, and $5,000.00 was an obscene amount in late 70’s! I heard hundred of stories about their filthy rich habits from her former close-in photographer, and I was flabbergasted hearing it!
Thank you. Great anecdote. Yes, she could indeed be extravagant. She bought up almost the whole of my ex husband’s art exhibition before the show opened and gave away his paintings to her Blue Ladies for Christmas cards!!
Well… its a Hippocratic campaign against the family & of the former 1st lady, some are true ? More on it are produce or hearsay & it was a story based on Imelda’s testimony… that she’s got the story & her association with some inglencial columnist in PI nevertheless i called it a presumption, its a blur story! for almost 30yrs. No one has come out to prove this is true! now they’re publishing to shake the masses. They knew that this time The Narcoses will gain the presidential bet on 2016!
You may hope the Marcoses take back your country. But, as the saying goes, “Beware of what you wish for!”
Well I wish Bongbong Marcos will be the next President and make the Philippines the tiger economy of Asia once again.
Saan galing ung pera nila at mga alahas na nahuli ng customs sa hawaii? + paintings at kung ano ano pa..
God forbid, if it happen the Philippines is so unfortunate. I hope the Philippines is still on the good side of God that it will not allow to repeat that nightmare, the martial law.
I hope history will not repeat itself, for all your sakes. Sadly, the largest voting block are those too young to remember the harm the Marcoses did to the country. So they may well vote them back.
There were really dark sides of the martial law as to the effect and implemetation. However, dicipline was way beyond compare now that the so called democracy is being exercised. Of course we can’t trade our civil rights but how do we correct our worsening society now?
All the Marcoses should be in jail! Pinoys have such short memories. Your article should be published in a series so WE are all reminded of the blatant extravagances and excesses of this family till 2016. More stories on their wild parties on the Ang Pangulo yacht and in Baguio during the summers.
Those that favour the Marcoses now are those whose families obviously did well under their regime. Many of the friends and cronies amassed large fortunes too, both inside and outside the country. Unfortunately, like always, it was the few and not the many who benefitted. Any leader who claims to have 99% of the vote in an election must, by default, be lying, cheating, bribing in an extraordinary way. Only dictators, like Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan (another area of the world with which I am familiar) and, in a very recent election, President Putin of Russia claim absurd voting numbers like this. If they are going to lie, cheat and bribe their way to winning, it would be far more believable to their people and the world at wide to say they had won by 60% of the vote. But, sadly, their egos won’t allow them to do that.
The money they have looted from the Philippines are now being used to climb back to power. Even in the social media, you can see how the young generation are being used to help them. I know that one of their propaganda was when they went to the vigil of Cory Aquino, and see what happen the people did vote for bongbong for a national position.
Short and selective memories.
Reply to SER, that is a very good question. It’s funny because when Marcos wanted to declare martial law and create slogans (which were subsequently published in every newspaper, hung on every billboard and pinned to every tree) there was no word for “discipline” in Tagalog. So he came up with “disciplina”. And the slogan, “Disciplina ang kailangan!”
& then what happened now with the criminal cases filed against the Marcoses?
Some people get paid off, some turn the other way, some just do nothing. And then time passes and the statutes of limitation run out. So nothing gets done.
I hope that the pork barrel scandal will end with justice for the people where those involve will be in jail and no pardon so that it will be a good example for the incoming officials. All looted money should be given back to the people so that they have no means for their family to hold any public office.
I agree totally. I have been living in Costa Rica the past 10 years and one honest President, President Abel Pacheco, managed to put one former President behind bars, one under house arrest and a third facing charges, all concerning corruption and illegal embezzlement of funds. This is very impressive. Although Pacheco was not a very effective President, he was entirely honest. And he managed this anti-corruption campaign, not through imposing strong-arm tactics or martial law but simply through the will of the people and the country’s legal system. If only that could happen in the Philippines.
FORTUNATELY, this is now happening in the PH. Why do you think bankers and financiers have us on their radar screens?
I hope that noynoy will be able to put these corrupt official behind bars including those who are in his party. It will be a very good example and maybe that will wake all the Pilpino to vote for an honest not just intelligent official in the gov’t.
Let us not forget “the dark shadow of the past” lurking within the system of our government and society…its happening again without us knowing until somebody stood up and exposes the corruption in our government. The politicians and the civilians involved are cheating us right in our faces…spending our taxes as if it their own! Young Ones! remember our history! to correct the PAST and the Present! for our beloved country to have a better FUTURE!.
Thank you Ms. Caroline for your love and care for the our country and for our people…
Thank you, Bio Hazard. You are right. I do love your country, probably more than I love any other country. And, believe me, I have travelled to many. And, yes, I love its people too. I have three Filipino children so there is every reason for me to continue to love the Philippines and its people despite the fact I do not get to visit there that often these days. But I have, I am happy to say, retained many loyal Filipino friends and I cherish them.
It’s a pleasure, glad you enjoyed these memories.
For Ms. Caroline Kennedy,
May I humbly request you to help in the publication of a book entitked “IMELDA UNMASKED.” Author is Ms. Rita Gaddi. Imelda is moving heaven and earth to stop its publication.
Thank you.
Very truly yours,
As she did with Carmen Guerrero Nakpil’s book, “Imelda, the Untold Story”. But it was published – and republished. So Imelda can’t stand in the way. You can always publish it yourself. There are any number of self-publishing companies that can help you. I used Create Space http://www.createspace.com for my recent publication. It is the self-publishing arm of Amazon. The cost is around $1500 to get it published and onto the Amazon website and in Kindle format. I think the costs can be lower depending on which Create Space programme you select. These days no one, not even Imelda, can stop the publication of books. Good luck. I would love to read it some day.
Rita Gaddi used to be IRM’s social secretary. She must know a lot about the Marcoses.
According to Rita, Imelda filed a case to stop publication. Imelda also asked Kit Tatad to write a book to counter her book.
Your suggestion could be the key to opening a barrel full of worms. Many many thanks.
That is very funny you mention Kit Tatad. He was a very liberal, anti-Marcos journalist when I met him in 1968. He was part of our Indios Bravos writers/artists group. Kit fancied me for a while. But when Marcos offered him a lucrative job in the Ministry of Information censoring articles written by us, his own friends and colleagues, Kit jumped at the opportunity, thus showing his true colours. Money talks. But I was naive in those days and very shocked that one good friend and fellow anti-Marcos journalist would sell his soul so completely. He proposed to me and offered to build “us” a Palace like Versailles!!! It was very telling when he married a couple of years later and named his first child, Charlemagne (Charles 1st, “Charles the Great”). Talk about delusions of grandeur!
I’m glad I’ve been of some help. You must be fearless and get the book published. Don’t let threats from Kit or Imelda put you off!
I was so happy and proud of the Pilipino when Tatad did not win when he ran for senator after martial law.
That must have shocked him!
Tatad, the master traitor!
Reblogged this on Story of the Escapist.
It would take divine intervention or a bloody French Revolution to extricate the greedy and corrupt Plutarchs and Oligarchs who control and own the Philippines and even more to educate the Filipino about self discipline, self understanding, and self obedience to laws and common decency. As POGO states, “We have met the enemy and it is us!”. Our system of pseudo-democracy was developed by post war Governor General MacArthur for the interest of the United States.as he installed the same rich collaborators and politicians who were puppets to the Japanese. MacArthur had use for Jose Laurel, the only Japanese appointed President of the Philippines and Benigno Aquino, leader of the pro-Japanese Kalibapi Party who were both arrested in Japan and interred in Sagumo Prison. Manuel Roxas, Enrile and Vargas, caught in Baguio and imprisoned in Manila as they were retreating with General Yamashita, Or, how about, Elpidio Quirino who was the leader of “Maharlika”, a mafia like organization which extorted money from Chinese, looted anything of value like metals and machinery to sell to the Japanese, kidnapped for ransom, murder for hire, etc.during the war. It all came together after the war, when Roxas became President and the Plutarchs and Oligarchs were pardoned by law for their collaboration with the Japanese and the Bell Act was accepted to allow American business to be in equal access with Philippine business to all resources of the Philippines. When Quirino became President, he pardoned Ferdinand Marcos for his murder of a rival politician Nandalusan in Ilocos Norte. One of Quirino’s lieutenants was Mariano Marcos (Ferdinands step-father) and Ferdinand was also a member of Maharlika during the war. If you look at the family descendants of these collaborators, you will find the political dynasties who have taken advantage of the political graft and corruption endemic of the system.
Wasn’t it Carmen pedrosa who wrote untold story of Imelda?l
Yes, indeed it was.
My biggest question is, why is it that this article of yours with such details about Imelda Marcos, is out only now?
When they left the country, this article could have gone out to show the world what kinds of people the Marcos couples really are. If you were there in most occasions and had witnessed a lot of these you have shared in this long article, why did you have you have to wait until now to write this? Why didn’t you publish this when they lost power?
Is it because the son of this former first lady is becoming a potential candidate with a bright chance to win the next presidency?
That story about cutting the visible limbs of those men who fell and dipped into the quick dry cement is too exaggerated. How about showing us a more concrete evidence that that gruesome event really happened. If you are a real journalist, you should have something to show and prove it. Or at least show us a more concrete proof of her other evils. I doubt you have any just like many others. Else, they would have been out there circulating already and the source can stay anonymous since he/she can use the internet especially the social media. But why are there no evidences of most of these that you have described?
I can also write anything I want and make it believable, but if I don’t have evidences then it will not be the truth. The timing of your article’s publication here in your own blog is extremely questionable and is filled with political agenda. Show us concrete proofs and I will believe your story.
Alice, if you had bothered to read the date at the top of the article, I delivered this lecture in June 1987. I was there as a witness during the late 60s into the 80s. Were you?
No, I wasn’t. So how can you convince me of what you saw? Simple! Concrete evidences. My parents, grandparents and millions of other Filipinos were also in the Philippines in the 60’s and the 80’s and they witnessed a lot of things. You can’t just say something is true just because you claimed you have witnessed it back then but has nothing to show us the younger generation of today. You expect all the younger generation to just believe you on something because you said or wrote it? I still stand in my opinion that this post is filled with political agenda. Stain the parents and you will stain their children is what I am seeing.
Alice, you are entitled to your view which is why I am approving your comments. They are valid but I do not agree with them. As you, obviously, do not agree with mine. I can only write what I saw, what I experienced, what I heard from very reliable sources (some within Malacanan and within the Marcos family). So, since you were not around during that time, perhaps you should not react so strongly against those that were, those that suffered under the Marcos regime. It goes without saying that those who prospered under the Marcoses would, I would assume, speak highly of him and his politics. But, believe me, they are in the minority.
It’s only natural for us, – thinking – Filipinos, to view the marcos children in a very stained light. They too are deluded into thinking that their dad and mom were the best things to happen to this country. Bongbong once claimed that had marcos continued to rule, we would be like singapore. Singapore??? By the time marcos ruled, we were next to japan! Marcos could’ve become asia’s great leader. But he didn’t because screwed up. Big time.
The problem here is you only witnessed a small part which is in Manila and it’s tainted with Oligarchy propaganda. Ever wondered why Cory lost to Marcos in the 1986 Snap election? That’s because most of the people in the provinces knows what’s truly happening behind the scene. And your opinion about the supporter being in the minority is also debunked by him actually winning the snap election. It’s just that the people, the majority that voted him couldn’t do anything but accept the fact that the hijacked coup de tat of Enrile and Honasan succeeded in dethroning Marcos because Marcos didn’t want to shoot or bomb those civilian people fooled by Cardinal Sin into making themselves human shields for those detractors. And for record, some Marcos supporters also tried to rally to behind Marcos but was dispersed VIOLENTLY. Now, if you want to know what’s the darkest side of the Philippine history, that would be Cory’s regime because she was the one who actually institutionalized corruption in every level, Privatized Pilipino most of major infrastructures and institutes that Marcos built for the people without consulting them, Human Rights violations became even more rampant, Rebels were freed, and even broke all of her major promises that gave her the vote she had. As you said before, you only know about Philippines and the Marcos regime and couldn’t comment on the succeeding regime but for someone who’d been living here in the Philippines, who’ve witnessed both President, and Prime Minister and other presidents as well, your opinion would only hold portion of the truth. And also, Martial Law was lifted in January 1981, so saying that we were not allowed to talk against the Government is false, also, don’t forget that Ninoy who didn’t even have any major achievements except getting assassinated and becoming a fake hero (and even now, they, the Aquino-Cojuanco are trying to hide who’s the real Mastermind) was a rampant critic of Marcos.
Why are you afraid if Bongbong Marcos wins the presidential seat in 2016? He may be a Marcos but he has done all GOOD for the country! Why are you judging him and feeling sorry for our country if he wins? If that’s the right thing to do…. Shouldn’t you judge Pnoy too based on what his father did in the past? Ninoy has done nothing for our country, a pro communist and willing to give up Sabah for personal gain as next president, but you did not judge Cory &/or his son when they run for presidency. Aren’t you being biased? Bongbong is a good man.
I haven’t judged Bongbong at all. I was not living in Manila when Cory was President. Nor doing the current presidency of her son. So I cannot write with any knowledge or authority on those. If you are going to criticize please apply your complaints to things I have written, not to those I haven’t. All I can say is that if (and I stress, IF, because I don’t know him) Bongbong is anything like his parents then heave help the Philippines.
All that you wrote here Madam are true. I was a UP student activist. I was at EDSA, risking my life just to help get rid of that tyrant family. I am sad that many here still believe the lies of Marcos cronies. I am saddened for my country. I hope that our efforts at EDSA 1 will ever go to waste.
It is wrong that Ninoy did nothing for his country. It was Ninoy who unite Filipinos again against Marcos. He knows that he would be killed if he returns to the Philippines but because of his love to his country and his to his countrymen he bravely face any consequences to come. During that times communism sprouted all over the country as if there was no other option to stop the Marcoses. But on Ninoy’s death all was awaken and bravely face the tanks with their children. However, the spirit of edsa was gone. Even the said heroes on that event were corrupted with greed and power. The latest is Sen. Enrile who is allegedly involve in pork barrel scam. IF THE MARCOSES TRULY LOVE THE COUNTRY. THEY SHOULD DO WHAT ZACHEUS ( CORRECT ME IF I’M WRONG) DID. HE WILL RETURNED IN DOUBLE WHAT HE HAD TAKEN FROM OTHERS. THE MARCOSES SHOULD STOP ENTERING POLITICS THAT CORRUPTED THEM AND RETURN EVEN HALF OF THEIR WEALTH THAT ARE NOT SEQUESTERED. Let us all return to GOD. EVEN ANYONE WHO WANTS TO BECOME A LEADER OF OUR BELOVED COUNTRY WITHOUT GOD IN HIS HEART WILL EASILY BE CORRUPTED TO SIN EVEN TO KILL HE WILL DO IT AS POWER IS IN HIS ARMS.
GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES AND I KNOW THAT “HE” WILL PROVIDE US A LEADER SOMEDAY THAT WILL LEADS US TO “HIM”.
I certainly do hope the Philippines finds another modern-day Jose Rizal. That, indeed, would be something to celebrate.
You are a SIMPLE MINDED Man Mr. Lozada! Ninoy was assasinated in 1983, EDSA happened on 1986. From your statement, it’s as if after Ninoy’s assasinations, EDSA happened days later. No Mr. Lozada, EDSA happened 3 Years after. Yes, that long!
Three long years of Political Planning and Black Propaganda, LIES Spead by the Media. Paid journalists spreading lies poisoning the mind of Filipinos. Unfotunately, that’s the basis of our history now, which is so tragic!
But history is meant to be RECTIFIED thru time. And let us STOP using God’s name in vain and use this to promote Political Agenda. Cardinal Sin already did this heinous act by using God’s Name to organize a Political protest, and look at us now. And mind you, a lot of Priests, intellectual Priests and yes not your ordinary priests, that is criticizing Cardinal Sin for his active involvemengt in Politics. And that caused us dearly. The cardinal lived upo to his name, a SIN-ner indeed!
Ninoy never did anything at all but he was just a man with an ambition to become president, there was this story that Cory wanted to divorce him in 1980 and that her family never like Ninoy, he became a sacrificial lamb to those who were against Marcos and wanted to pin him down, those speeches we’ve seen Ninoy on TV were made filipinos then to believe he would make a good president, but I don’t think he can be a good one, the popular saying “nagising daw filipino after Ninoy’s death” they keep insisting dark ages ang martial law years up until 1986, and on EDSA ’86, i’ve read somewhere in other country when a leader bomb the people out who protested on the streets, if Marcos was as bad as he was perceived upon, he would have a bomb everyone in EDSA during the February revolution and many will be killed, but Marcos never did that kaya nga naging peaceful ang 4-day revolution.
Bongbong marcos wore a fatigue military uniform during the edsa revolution, showing his so called toughness.
As an elected official, what has Bongbong marcos done to this country that made you say “he has done all good to the country”?
I am only familiar with his half rice bill he authored in the senate, which just shows how pathetic he is.
Just wondering, have you ever cross in mind to compute how much total weight of the jewelries they brought on that flight? and how much the maximum weight of that plane?
these are the lists that according to you that the Marcoses brought on their airplane:
22 crates of cash worth $717 million dollars
300 crates of assorted jewelries
$4 million dollars worth of unset precious gems
$7.7 million dollars worth of jewelry including a gold crown with diamonds including 65 watches of seiko and cartier
A box measuring 12 feet by 4 feet crammed of real pearls
A 3 foot solid gold statue covered in diamonds and other precious stones
$200,000 in gold bullion and nearly $1 million in Philippine peso
And deposit slips from diff banks
Could you please verify how much is the maximum weight of that airplane to carry ?
And could you also please verify how much total weight of all those jewelries?
And please verify how much per gram of gold during that time?
I was in a jewelry, buy n sell business before, and geeeee, for millions of dollars worth of jewelries 1986, into a passenger airplane, i cannot afford to imagine how they were able to put them in that passenger plane and fly from Manila to Hawaii….
Unles you have a good mathematics to prove these allegations ,i reserve my rights to believe only if…
Rowena, I didn’t say they brought all that on one plane load. They sent a lot of stuff with friends to Hong Kong and Switzerland and probably other places too. If you do your research you will find many other references to this and the names of people they used to take these “possessions” out of the country.
from where all these stuff came from? is it from the Filipino people/Phil. gov’t? did marcos really stole from the people? this is an unbelievable “article”! martial law a nightmare? my grandparents and the whole family lived peacefully that time. they never were afraid about their farm & livestock. there was no thief in the night. after the marcos rule, thieves & robbers were free to wander at night. members of the NPA were also there asking for money and livestock. those who are afraid of martial law are those who cannot follow the law. after ms. aquino was ramos. you said that ramos lived a simple life in your comment above, or did he? i bet you still could recall that fort bonifacio is owned by the phil. gov’t at the time you were still here in the phils. well, who owns it now and since when did they own it? i am a ferdinand marcos fan because he had made the phils a great nation in his time. look at the phils. now, where is she after marcos left off? the AFP was so modernized during the marcos era. look at the AFP now. i believe you have to come back to the phils this present day just so you know where the phils is now. how many migrant workers are there now? during marcos’ time, filipinos don’t have to leave their country to work abroad.
thanks anyway for your article. it’s a readable piece though. but sorry i have to disagree.
God bless the Philippines!
“i believe you have to come back to the phils this present day just so you know where the phils is now. how many migrant workers are there now? during marcos’ time, filipinos don’t have to leave their country to work abroad. ”
The population of OFWs started increasing in the 1970’s. Please lang.
I don’t know what planet you were living on during the Marcos years (1965-86) but the wholesale exodus from the country of Filipino workers going abroad to seek a better life and higher salaries started under Marcos. I should know as I ran a newspaper for migrant Filipino workers (OFWs) in London in the early years of martial law. And I have also been to the Philippines as recently as May this year so I have seen what it is like now.
it is not a passenger plane, but a military cargo plane
Thanks for the correction.
No can win all this argue all of us must be changed for good starting from the lider of our country and i’m sure my beloved country Philippines will become rich and progressive.
Well written piece of article about the Marcoses. sure hope that this piece be printed in all our broadsheets (english), tabloids (tagalog)-especially, because most filipino read them for they are cheaper than broadsheets and any media source, if until now, it hasn’t yet. But sadly, i don’t know if there’s an editor brave enough to print this article. We Filipinos should learn from our past mistakes, we have been too forgiving. We have allowed the Marcoses to return home after what they have done, forgave and accepted them again into our lives. and now, their son, Bongbong, has plans to run for office again, i think. With election nearing, and also with the whole senate and congress embroilded in numerous anomalies, i think he will sieze this opportunity to his advantage. Philippine politics will be the death of this nation.
Thanks Clarence, I am afraid you are right. The very special trait of the Filipinos is their readiness to forgive. This is a very positive trait in most situations but, sadly, when it comes to politics it is unhelpful if not self-destructive. The Marcoses have managed to safeguard their ill-gotten wealth, eliminate or buy any opposition and muscle their way back into the forefront of politics. This should never have been allowed to happen. Another Marcos in power can only be seriously detrimental to the nation’s wellbeing. Plus it teaches an ominous lesson to the young – that corrupt politics is not only acceptable but will be well rewarded. Like you, I hope Bong Bong will be rejected. But with the Marcos money at his disposal it is doubtful.
I strongly support the idea of having this article published in Filipino language and be made accessible in local newspapers.Indeed a lot of younger generations have access to the internet and might read this, but still there are so many poor people who are yet to experience what “internet” really is. And they are the most vulnerable people during elections. They are the ones targeted by these greedy politicians because they are so misinformed. Yes it’s frustrating to know of people selling their sacred vote..but could you blame them entirely? “A hungry man would think of filling up his empty stomach first before he could start caring bout his sorrounding” Evil politicians know this.
It is sad to see that those who plundered, raped and abused this beloved country of ours are back in power again. And the son is poised to become a presidential candidate come 2016!
With your kind heart Ms. Kennedy, I hope you will give permission to have this translated in our local language so those who really need to know, would know.
You are welcome to do so Reynante. Just please make sure you attribute the article to me and add my blogsite address. Thanks.
Gusto ko yan..
This is very interesting. Only now that i realized how much loot the Marcoses had taken. But, i stand with an open mind and it would be better if these infos are supported with even just a glimpse of a solid evidence and even much more interesting if this article be published front page, i would really love to hear what the Marcoses have to say especially Bongbong who has plan for the 2016 election. Their response to this will somehow put voters to think if they still deserve to run the government.
Remember this is part of my memoir. And these chapters were written many years ago.
I love your article, and very sad that there are still so many Filipinos who are still blinded by these Marcoses. But I know there is still hope for my beloved country. God will make a way.
Thank you, Carina. I do hope you are right and when the time comes the Filipino people will make the right choice. I love your country and I love its people. I wish it only the best.
Much better blinded by the Marcoses than the Aquinos! Which do you prefer?
If you have read my article on Ninoy I think you would understand what my position is on this. From my perspective, Ninoy was very similar to Marcos. If anything, he was even more pro-American. The two rivals never recognized their own flaws but each saw their own faults mirrored in the other. Hence, they despised each other. But only one of them had an Imelda. And Imelda attracted adverse attention because she was beautiful, high-profile, vulgar and openly avaricious. Even Kris Aquino cannot attract that kind of publicity.
Hindi porke’t ayaw ky marcos, ibig sabihin pro-aquino na. Ayaw ko sa Magnanakaw. ikaw gusto mo?
Thank you very much for sharing your experiences with us, Ms. Kennedy. This account will help keep Filipinos mindful of our awful past.
Thank you, Blogie.
You really need to look at the United States’ involvement in the Philippines. the good old U.S. of A. killed people to get Marcos into power….and the Spanish American war was a takeover to seize control of the natural resources here….
Dear Madame Writer,
Just one request, can you chunk this story and maybe put a subtitle , I love to read it but I got a problem focusing my eye and got lost every once in a while.
BTW, this is a great read.
Thank you very much.
Jake
Thank you for reminding us of the horrors of the Marcos regime. A lot of people nowadays think of them as a better alternative to the current politicians who corrupt the government now
Thank you very much for this article Ms. Caroline! I hope everybody is informed of this. But its too sad the majority of FIlipinos are misinformed and mislead. I hope this circulates in the media- that I guess being the only way to remind the Filipinos of the past. Considering Ferdinand “bong bong” just declared he’d run for the presidency on 2016 (thank God I’ll be 18 that time 🙂 ) I’m sure all the blind and deaf loyalists will propagate lies to sugar-coat his name. One thing that also made me sad, despite of Imelda’s greed and selfishness, she still won as representative of Ilocos.
Thank you for this wonderful article. I was 18 at the time of the EDSA revolution. I was a volunteer at Namfrel as the school used as their vote count headquarters was my alma matter having graduated high school just the year before and it was my first time to vote.
The snap elections was indeed a very divisive event as my own family had heated arguments about it. My own father was a civil servant in the Central Bank but did not support the Marcoses. My older brother and his then young bride voted for Marcos while the rest of us didn’t. At the time the fear of not having Marcos as President was also a powerful motivation because a lot of filipinos couldn’t imagine the gov’t under the control of anyone else.
I can confirm the P100 was in circulation at the time because my dad has a whole uncut poster of P100 bills. It was a perk allowed to employees in the Central Bank to buy one when it released them in limited runs.
I am also aware that there is a social media campaign to change our beliefs in the Marcoses. We may forgive but we will not forget. My generation literally crawled thru all the changes since the revolution and we paid a hefty price for it because unlike established societies that focused on economic growth for it’s citizens, we had to forgo that luxury and took on the task of rebuilding everything again. My generation are now in upper management of companies and high ranking gov’t officials as well as the military. Marcos would be a fool to think propagandizing to Millenials will change that.
Every time I see attempts to change history in the Philippines about the Marcoses, you can count on me to set them straight because the simple fact is that most of these revisionists were not there during the Marcos dictatorship.
nice article.. thanks for sharing this..
http://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/26252-marcos-diary-at-the-heart-of-a-dictator
Thank you for this eye opener. It is mind boggling and so saddening to know the facts you have presented. So sad for our country’s constant struggle to rise up only to fall again and again. Once more, thank you. You write beautifully Miss Caroline.
Thank you, Emy.
I enjoyed reading your article and the thread and i know that there will always be two sides throwing each other down about the Marcos regime, today and in the future. judgement should be suspended, as it should sport the idea of fair play – which is to hear the “other side” before a judgement is made. and this issue will forever haunt us. Thank you for this article, Carolyn. I also wish our nation only the best. and you, Alice, shut-up.
what about the good things they have done? its a one sided story. im a elem student that time and i must say education system during that time is far way better than today. and hello ano ba nagawa ni cory? brownout that we are now reaping
i rather chose to live the time of marcos power in which the basic demand of the masses controlled and evenly distributed to all pilipinos, hundreds of projects and infrastures was made for the long term and for future benefits of the nation and you can walk in the street at night peaceful and safe. unlike Aquino’s they are protecting their own interest. privatize all government owned which marcos established for filipinos. blaming all their mess to the past and killing people who tried to raise the issue of hacienda luisita land..they are the true nightmare of the philippines! Filipinos blinded by their propaganda. who benefited all from Aquino’s? only their allies and family. who freed the philippine’s terrorist and rebels? people who believe on them are idiots.!
And if I may add, regarding the disappearances during the martial law years, it also happen during Cory Aquino’s term and I believe it’s still happening in Hacienda Luisita, so how come they keep insisting Marcos is bad yet the Aquino’s are good. Here’s a link from the Manila Standard newspaper dated November 13, 1988, on the number of killings during Cory’s time.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oaEVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jQsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5935%2C2413608
Not to mention, she topped it in just 6 years yet they keep pushing that Martial Law was the Darkest era that Philippine has encountered and what’s more funny is that they were/are always trying to connect the Mendiola Massacre video to Marcos when it happened during Cory’s tenure.
Ms. Kennedy I once read an article about the Philippine Government and corruption… It was mentioned that as early as Pres. Manuel Quezon’s presidency, corruption was already institutionalised so maybe it is not right to say it was Marcos who was the precedent of corruption in our country. I may not be privy of all the excesses of the Marcoses during their time but I have lived during martial law and can say that life is much more better compared to what is happening now. I lived in the province at that time and life was great. Just my two cent’s worth of opinion. Thank you for a good read.
I once read another article about Philippine Government and corruption, too. Before the Marcos regime and as early as the Spanish era, corruption was institutionalized locally. Meaning, a national candidate will have to woo all the individual leaders in each province to get the majority of votes from that province. This is understandable since the Philippines is composed of scattered islands, and we can still see this practice today (what they call “balwarte”). The statement that the Marcos regime institutionalized corruption in the Philippines, to my understanding, applies to the way he propagated corruption in the national level, along with his cronies who were handling their foundations, businesses, government sectors, all national government offices–all working together to fill their personal bank accounts.
I guess you lived quite peacefully, too, as with my parents during that time. But that was until my mom (an accountant who was hired at a government office) and her accountant friends heard and witnessed corruption (they were accountants who make sure accounts are balanced after all) by the higher-ups (Marcos cronies). Employees were also being bribed with extravagant dinners every week to silence them. My mom quit after that and moved on to a non-government company.
Do you plan on making a book? I hope you do.
Maybe, eventually. Meanwhile it is available for all to read here.
I shall look forward for it. 🙂
Enlightening article. I totally agree with you about the Philippines needing another Jose Rizal. I studied his writing in high school and if I remember correctly, “the cancer not treated properly and completely will spread.” The pro-Marcos are those that benefited from them while turning a blind eye from raping the country. Those that can’t accept the truth of course will ask for evidence or proof. And some are just in denial or ignorant to reality. Filipinos have failed not because of their forgiving heart but for the lack of courage to stand up & do the right thing. Filipinos can learn from the recent Japanese nuclear accident or from the late JFK. Are they willing to sacrifice their life for their country? Are they willing to put the country’s need above their own? Filipinos just need to go back in history and look into the KKK (not the Ku Klux Klan but the Katipuneros or Kataastaasang Kagalanggalang Katipunan) to have an ideology that can rebuild the country. The USA has thrived because blood has been shed (American Revolution). Filipinos have no skin in the game and have not invested their own. I am a Filipino but saddened by the convoluted, corrupted, decrepit, decay of the current Philippines. I can only dream of a great Philippines but not in my lifetime.
I hope it happens.
Thank you Caroline for sharing this. I hope people have forgiven us already, and learn from our mistakes.
It takes humility to admit mistakes. It takes courage to apologize. And it takes actions to put things right. The jury is out. I have a true affinity for your country and I would dearly love to see it prosper. I would welcome corruption being rooted out from top to bottom. And I would rejoice if the Philippines found a truly good leader who understood its problems and put the good of the people before his/her self.
This is so informative. I actually want to use it as an article to be read by my students 🙂 will you allow me to?
It amazes me knowing that someone who is not a filipino by blood can be as compassionate as you are. I hope i can instill to my students the same love, compassion and pride.
I hope to hear from you. Thanks
You are very welcome to use this article for your students, Lenard. I am not a Filipina, it’s true. But my Filipino friends always call me “an honorary Filipina”. And that is how I feel. I was, after all, married to a Filipino and have three Filipino children. That is why your country is so important to me. Firstly, I love it and have many fond memories of my time spent there. And secondly, it is very much part of my children’s heritage.
Your idealism is highly commendable but will most likely disappoint. The reality is the old adage of, “History repeats itself only in a different time, character and setting.” is perpetually applicable in the Philppines, If ever there is a leader that you said would be unhampered by temptation or wrongdoing, that said leader is worst than an endangered species. He or she would have a target on his/her back and it is not a matter of if but when he/she is silenced. The reigning ruler in the Philippines is no other the principle of the 4 Gs – GUNS, GOONS, GUTS and GREED. These Gs hop from one leader to another, one party to another, one seat to the next. It is a musical chair where there is always a fresh supply of willing players eager to take their turn.
Yes, it is sad that Nonoy has not become the leader your country hoped for or needed. However, if enough of you understand and truly want to bring about change in your future leaders, you have the power to do it. You are many. They are few.
If you are who you say you are. Forgiveness is one thing but setting things right is another. It doesn’t mean just because one can forgive the other will continue to go on unpunished or refrain to do what should be done to amend the wrong doings. I have been victim of your own personal wrong doings, on how you paraded your power and authority and abused it because you were a Marcos and that allowed you to get away with anything. As for your parents hoarding wealth of the nation at the expense of the Filipinos, what has been done? By the way you never asked us for forgiveness.
I understand Bong Bong Marcos has already announced he will run for President in 2016. That will be the time for Filipinos to either forgive, vote him and give him a chance to make amends or to demonstrate their anger and reject him at the polls. The future is yours.
The ultimate and true act of repentance and to earn absolute forgiveness is for the Marcoses to return everything they stole plus penalties and interests to the Filipino people. As a final act of contrition, they should all pick up guns and commit ‘harakiri’ or march themselves into a gas chamber or collectively and simultaneously swallow cyanide pills. Only then can we see and can they prove that they have repented. But we all know though that that is just a wish or a dream.
Once a thief, always a thief. It is the essence of the person. It is a way of life. There is no right or wrong. It is just all about me and no one else.
I have heard these stories long before. Young as i was in 1972 (having been born in 1961) I had been made aware about Martial Law. I was in fourth grade then when it was proclaimed in Sept. 21, 1972. I used to enjoy listening to some adults in our neighborhood about what the Marcoses did during that time and the little girl in me just wondered why they had to make every Filipino as poor as a rat! Reading this now did not make me angry but very angry! The Marcoses left us with almost, if not practically nothing! Since the late Cory Aquino took over, we haven’t yet seen any light at the end of the tunnel. So how come those “I-wanna-be-President” are still fighting tooth and nail to become President?
I remember a joke thrown at us by one of our bosses in the law office where I worked in 1986 about a Japanese man who said in his speech: “Firipinos, your are very rocky, you have a President who robs you and a first Raidy who robs you even more!” If he meant it as a joke, I don’t know until now but based on this article? Yes, we Filipinos were not loved (by the Marcoses) but have been robbed!
PH is not any better after Marcos, in fact it is worse. The one positive thing Marcos instilled in the PH people though dictatorship style was discipline, now it is gone. Imelda over abused, over excessed if there is such a word, overdid everything but she can still save the country but not the people who are lazy and lacking in discipline. People meaning from top to bottom, the corrupt officials and the ignorant voters. Officials who like Imelda would like to outdo the others to bigger loots and the passive people who are amazed and ignorantly and permissively watch while their political idols amass illegal wealth while they are content on raising big families they can’t provide for and hope that help will come their way.
it’s refreshing to read an article like this at this particular time of political turmoil in our country. That this is a time we no longer know nor trust our leaders who are being lambasted both ways I can only do self retrospection and pray hard for our own and or children’s future.
I have been both a beneficiary and a victim of the Marcos regime, beneficiary because I enjoyed a full scholarship during his time and was able to enjoy immediate employment right after. I am also aware of the many good developments that were implemented during their time that did not only have long lasting effect to the country’s economy but has a wide range of economic effect on the aspect of inclusive development. It seemed then that Marcos saw and IMPLEMENTED his vision of total development from the edict of planting trees all throughout the land by imposing every high school graduate to plant at least 20 trees before he can get a Barangay clearance to allowing every High school graduate free college education should the graduate be qualified. Thus in education, almost every other high school graduate is a scholar of this and that scholarship program, even the scholarship program, the PFM-COCOFED SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM, that I enjoyed, envisioned to send ALL children of coconut farmers to college and focusing on being educated in the various Agricultural disciplines which would have lifted so many of our compatriots in the mire of ignorance and free the country of our dependence from many imported agricultural products . He also imposed the Department of Education to teach school children the arts and value of backyard gardening through the Green Revolution Program which, had it been sustained, would have freed many Filipinos from malnutrition and hunger. The implementation of a strong tourism industry which was one of their focus and was supported with a nationwide infrastructure development like roads and hotels to the far flung areas of the country, would have paved the way for thousands of our high school and college graduates ready employment instead of them ending up as housemaids in houses outside the country, and the list goes on and on of the various programs that the Marcoses not just “announced in the papers but saw to it that they got carried out and done! I could see now that Marcos the strongman left no stone unturned in its vision for the Philippines to be a strong country indeed.
But fortunes changed. New breed of politicians took over. Yes, Marcos also made the precedence of manipulating votes for his favor, which unfortunately was made the model of our corrupt political system thereafter. That is the other side of the spectrum of the Marcos leadership and that is the side that is now haunting all of us Filipinos and stripping all of us of our dignity and pride because now, even the smallest position in the barangay level cannot be won without the usual vote buying thus sacrificing good governance. So I suppose if we let this truth that you are telling us be known, let also be the good things done in his regime be made known so the children who are no wiser will know and be able to discern and then learn from the mistakes of their elders. .
Reblogged this on Targrod's Soul Patch.
I’m just wondering if Imelda Marcos can still sleep peacefully! I totally lost my respect and confidence to the Marcoses after reading this beautifully compiled story.This article is really an eye opener for all Filipinos who were once imprisoned in their own land by poverty and dread. I wish to watch & laugh above at Imelda Marcos in hell while begging for forgiveness and parole to the ultimate master of universe, one day somehow. Currently, Marcoses are again taking the lead in the arena of politics, I hope people won’t go blind and emotional again to consider any of the Marcos heir especially for the national election!
Thanks, Denver. I wonder the very same about our former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who lied to Parliament and the British people and went to war in Iraq on the basis of what has come to be known, “the dodgy dossier” (an invented report about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq). His decision to blindly follow President Bush into war has caused the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, the maiming of millions of others and the death and injuries of many UK servicemen and women. Has he apologized? Never. Has he had the courage to meet with the families of soldiers who died in his name? Never. Has he even admitted he was wrong? Absolutely not. He has become a very rich man because of his decision to support Bush and Cheney. But can he sleep at night? Probably yes. So, you see, it happens, not just in the Philippines where you have a forgiving electorate but in the UK where the electorate now is not so forgiving. One of my FB pages is dedicated to having Tony Blair impeached. “Impeach Tony Blair”. If you read that you will see that the many in the UK support the move to have him impeached and sacked from his job as Middle East Peace Envoy, a title which, in itself, is a complete oxymoron since Blair has been responsible for taking the UK into 5 wars during his 10 year tenure as Prime Minister!
Anyone who bought into the peddling of the Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Removal of a Tyrant needs a serious head check. Those two are mere facades/smoke and mirrors in the justification for the military occupation of the Middle East. We were attacked by Islamic extremists on 9/11/01 and we needed to make sure that it does not happen again and that all the perpetrators are brought to justice. It was a declaration of war. Iraq simply, was the most militarily and logistically strategic location from which to effectively move personnel and materiel. The old adage and forever true saying, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” truly applied. Where else is the best place to be in a military conflict but in the enemy’s backyard. Saddam Hussein was simply the most desirable and vulnerable regime from which a case for a cause for war can be built and sold to the American people, to the U.S. Congress and for whatever it’s worth, to the world. More importantly, we, the US (especially the oil magnates of the south) wanted to make sure that the world’s flow and supply of the economic black blood (i.e. oil) is secured at all costs.
WMD is simply a figment of the mind deserving of a 2 hr. long expose` by PBS’ Frontline. The Brits came along for the ride and partake in the spoils of war. Afterall, you always need to back your cousins from across the pond, right?
I experienced lining up with my classmates just to waive for the Marcoses…We cannot opposed with that because they told us that it is a requirement…We walked from our school to Malacanang that afternoon and waited for about an hour then went back to school again…I also exprienced lining just to buy rice carried by a military truck….I can still remember the peso to $ was P7, that was during mid 70’s…Before Marcos was thrown out of Malacanang, the $ was around P30 something…What we need now is to strictly implement the laws so as to eliminate crimes….Another thing that i can say is that, we are already a progressive country even Marcos became a president…So the family or the supporters cannot say that the country just developed during his reign….
carolne, i dont understand why she is not rotting in jail for that? why is the filipino government letting this go. she does not deserve to be under house arrest. she should be thrown in jail with out any thing but bread and water or starve like all those malnourish children that she didnot care about. or thrown at the hands of the people he abused….i have nothing goood to say about this situation
Retribution and revenge is not always the best policy. Any President following the Marcos regime had to weigh up the benefits of sending Imelda to jail versus the benefits of being magnanimous and, thus perhaps, attaining the support of the Marcos loyalists.
To Ferdinand Marcos, you are speaking for the Marcoses? Forgiven? Mistakes? Forgiveness is only be given for those who deserves it, who really felt the need of it through humane action and not just by words for publicity & press release purposes! Mistake is committed only once! A repetitive corruption causing excessive glamour and luxury at the expense of the nation is never a mistake at all! It’s addiction, thirst of power, fame and attention! I grew up hearing mostly good accomplishments about these Marcoses but not knowing the real black shadow behind especially Imelda Marcos!
Please enlighten everyone here, has there been any case made against the Marcoses that actually proved with a verdict that they are indeed guilty of stealing and racketeering?
Obtained from US National Archives; Craig Wolff, “The Marcos Verdict; Marcos Is Cleared of All Charges In Racketeering and Fraud Case,” New York Times, July 3, 1990
nice try @anywhereiwander!
you should have appeared before the court and took the witness stand.
Why were the marcoses acquitted? maybe because the US COURTS haven’t heard your “story”. hehe
the reason why the Philippines is in this state right now is because of this. we have not fully recovered because of the damage this couple had done to our country. The rich and powerful after the Marcos era felt that they are now entitled to more, the corrupt saw that they also can get away from their crimes scott free eventually, and the poor became poorer and much more helpless than they were before. Never ever forget what this Family had done to the Philippines. they are now in a process of trying to erase and change this part of history thru propaganda especially thru social media. This article should be spread and shared.
I believe you are right. Sadly they created the example that every succeeding President would follow. Making as much money in as short a time frame as possible. And that includes family members and cronies.
it is so sad to see pro Marcos comments here. so many are still so blind. when articles about the Marcoses come out, these people immediately become defensive and attack the Aquinos as their defense. They should just acknowledge how much the country’s wealth and resources ended up in this family’s pockets; and the extent of how much moral, political and cultural damage they have done to the Philippines. The Aquinos definitely have not been and will never be the sole and final solution to the Marcos problem, it is the role of the entire people of the Philippines. There should be a complete overhaul in each of the people’s mindset that there is no “sole saviour” that will solve our country’s problems. It must be a collective effort.
Ms. Caroline, I really appreciate you writing this. Sadly, I think the Philippines is already on the fast track to becoming a failed state (if it already isn’t). The string of problems associated with extreme corruption are rooting deeper and deeper, making solutions, at best, band-aid ones. I find myself not wanting to grow old here because my opportunities are becoming narrower by the year (I’m a fresh grad from a state university by the way), the economy’s hanging by a thread, and because no good news has been seen since ever (rice prices never really lowered, together with commodities). I understand why Filipinos want to leave; for how can they love something that chose to destroy them?
I hope you’re being too dramatic and this will not happen. The population is too high for the country to sustain. People have to go abroad and look for work. Sad but that is a fact.
well, as being part of today’s generation, it would be really nice if you could point out all negative and positive things during the marcos era and the time it ended. coz for you to only point out the corruption and saying that you can only write about what you see, what you experienced and what you feel is kinda like being bias.
i always ask every taxi driver i came to ride on to, how was their life during Marcos era, and they “all” say it was far better before the people power revolution.
i believe that politics will always be corrupt and it’s the new generation of local war. but most people doesn’t realized this yet or not ready to accept this fact.
so to put this simple, let’s face it, corruption will always be there, this is war, but the most important and what we really need to look at is what these leaders did that may benefit the many.
Informative. I hope millions of Filipino will b enligtened by this story. But, look at d political scenario now, marcos’ are back in polical scene. How shallow history knowledge is, we are not learning from our history. So gloomy.
it only means how good marcoses are … now look in the philippines… become worst after marcos era..
about the comment of this writer very bitter with marcoses you adopted already the real filipino way of thinking.. since she stayed in the philippines for long….
It is said that the Sicilians of Italy invented the Mafia. It is a fact the Philippines perfected it. You ask why? Because it is only in the Philippines where graft and corruption in a highly organized and effective levels reach the highest levels of government – Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Anyone who denies it is foolhardy. Blame should not be directed solely to the perpetrators but equally to blame is the average Filipino who is just as contributory and complacent players in a culture ripe and accepting of rampant graft and corruption as being the way business is done and business as usual.
My family left the country for the U.S. 30 yrs ago. and I thank God every minute of my waking life for putting me and my family in the greatest country on earth where live and breath free. God Bless America!
It is true America is great in many ways. But they too have a very corrupt political process. I spend a lot of time in the US visiting my daughter and grandchildren so I am very interested in US politics. Their current Supreme Court is an embarrassment. Their current Congress is a disaster. And the number of deaths from guns is complete and utter madness.
Not to mention, their leader’s policy that keeps meddling with other countries that’s thousands of miles away that results in more conflicts and wars and civilian casualties. If you read comments in a most of articles about US Government and their NATO, NWO, etc. agenda, you’d find out most of the people of the world are aware of how hideous their Government and the ones running it and are somewhat fed out of it. Only a handful of them are actually doing justice to humanity.
Point well taken but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. As for gun violence, people are quick blame guns when facts proved beyond doubt that the root / proximate causes of most gun violence are criminality and mental instability. These are the two major reasons and causes that are already in the books that prohibit the possession of any type of firearm. I come from a family of proud and responsible gun owners with 2 grandfathers that have fought and survived in WWII with Gen. Douglas MacArthur. I firmly believe and swear by the 2nd Amendment and history has proven and taught succeeding generations that anytime in history, unarmed people are always and will be conquered people To think that ridding the world with guns will make the world a better place is simply being naive and irresponsible because the world is a daily struggle between good and evil and guns are just one of the tools of implement. Loose it and you will be at the greatest disadvantage.
Point well taken but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. As for gun violence, people are quick blame guns when facts proved beyond doubt that the root / proximate causes of most gun violence are criminality and mental instability. These are the two major reasons and causes that are already in the books that prohibit the possession of any type of firearm. I come from a family of proud and responsible gun owners with 2 grandfathers that have fought and survived in WWII with Gen. Douglas MacArthur. I firmly believe and swear by the 2nd Amendment and history has proven and taught succeeding generations that anytime in history, unarmed people are always and will be conquered people To think that ridding the world with guns will make the world a better place is simply being naive and irresponsible because the world is a daily struggle between good and evil and guns are just one of the tools of implement. Loose it and you will be at the greatest disadvantage.
More gun deaths in the US than almost every other country. I wonder why.
Ahm Filiinos don’t vote for the people in the judicial part of the government.
Sorry I had to point that out. Blame in equal sharing is wrong. I like your opinion but I resent its facts because they’re emotionally biased.
Thank you.
It´s every Filipino´s dream to have a leader who would fight first of all for his people and development of the country, most of all building up new school system that would properly educate the young generation by the time they step in kindergarten – posting in their mind that discipline is the key to every success. If our youth would be disciplined now, there will be no, or not to exagerrate, much lesser corruption in the future. I say this because it seems that corruption is already in the blood of the majority of the Filipino people which has been inherited from the past generations. Our national hero said ” THE YOUTH IS THE HOPE OF OUR PEOPLE” This is the only way to give the Philippines a better future.
Well, I absolutely agree with you Crisanta. Our hope always lies in the next generation. And that is why it is vital to invest time, energy and patience instilling in them knowledge, comprehension, compassion, lessons from the past and, of course, the tools necessary to survive and flourish. We must never cease to invest in our young people. They hold the key to the future.
In 1969 the US gov’t gave a lump sum of $12 million to the Phil govt as a partial payment/ down payment for the benefits promised by the US govt during world war 1 to the Filipino soldiers who fought under the US flag as members of the USAFFE. Unfortunately, Imelda Marcos took that money and built a monument to herself on a reclaimed portion of Manila Bay the Cultural Center of the Philippines worth $12 million. That’s the reason why the US still refuses at this time give our aging veterans the pay that they deserve.
Well, that’s an interesting anecdote if true. Thanks for this.
are you sure about this??? do you have any proof of your allegations ???
well i kinda felt like you ignored my comment so i’m gonna quote it.
“it would be really nice if you could point out all negative and positive things during the marcos era and the time it ended. coz for you to only point out the corruption and saying that you can only write about what you see, what you experienced and what you feel is kinda like being bias.”
Yes, I can see it might look like a biassed opinion. And, in a way, I agree with you. There were some good things that came out of martial law but most of them were overshadowed by the fact they were paid for out of money that was “appropriated” or, worse, “stolen”. The beautification of Manila, including the Pasig and Intramuros, for instance. The building of the Cultural Center, the Folk Arts Center, the Film Center and the heart hospital are other examples. But who were these edifices constructed for? The people? A very small minority of people are able to use these buildings. They were erected mainly for the glorification of Imelda Marcos as venues to impress her power base in the Philippines and her international friends from overseas.
I also saw many of my friends imprisoned and, in a couple of cases, murdered by the regime. So, no, I don’t think I am being too harsh. I was careful to point out these were my experiences. Others, of course, may have had very different ones and are free to write about them.
look at a larger scale, many old people i’ve asked told me that it’s more peaceful during martial law, although they are aware of corruption, they said it’s better that way, for atleast you know who to avoid. unlike today that you can’t be sure of your safety when you walk in an alley. i think you are lacking of experience in a lot of areas, that’s why you could only see corruption…
corruption has always been there from the time politics was established, it’s already part of politics. Buildings that were made due to Imelda’s selfish desires and other stuff are so tiny if you look at a wider scale.
There are illegal recruiters, illegal fire arms, illegal on everything. and there are other worse crimes that’s happening other than corruption. im not saying that these stuffs doesn’t exist during martial law but atleast it’s not as horrible as now. Cory gave freedom to people, and i salute to that, but part of this freedom is the freedom to self destruct.
The main problem is not about corruption. if you could pinpoint the negative and positive during the marcos era, hopefully the new leaders could use it as reference.
There’s always good effect in every bad thing we do, and there will always be bad effect in every good thing we do. this is the balance by nature. it’s a cycle.
journalist should be open minded… not because you’ve experience something horrible doesn’t mean everything is horrible. i think it would be nice if we could enlighten everyone other than pointing a finger on someone. no body’s perfect. we’re only humans. corruption will always be there. don’t stay on a closed box.
so once again:
“it would be really nice if you could point out all negative and positive things during the marcos era and the time it ended.”
Of course there is good and bad in everything, I agree. But the good things during the Marcos era were certainly massively outweighed by the bad things. I have pointed out some good things in another comment on this thread but, as I said, they were paid for by expropriated or stolen funds.
The question is, people are still going on about “Stolen Funds”, “Illegal Wealth” but forgetting the fact that the Philippine Government still, up till now, couldn’t prove anything about it and even the couldn’t prove it in the US Court. That’s why up until now, it’s called Alleged. But right now, people are starting to be aware of the Marcos Wealth which is actually, the World’s Wealth and there are records and documents about it which the Mainstream Media is hiding because the tables will turn unexpectedly quick.
Thanks for this extended comment. The Marcoses crime, from how I see it, is that they taught all others who came after them just how much power can be had, how much money can be made from being elected to high office. And not just them as a couple but the extended families who can get rich quick from selling privileges, jobs, access to power and patronage. Not to mention, of course, becoming overnight lumber and mineral millionaires, heads of top corporations, services and utilities. Yes, there is a lot of money to be made and the Marcoses truly showed others the way. And, sadly, no who follows will be content with anything less. That is the true crime.
Fascinating and sad, i read this a week before traveling to Manila for business, i have a soft spot for the Philippines, moreover it’s poignant timing in context of the recent coup in Thailand and the out of control corruption under the Shinawatras, who still enjoy enormous popularity but are no different in some respects. Fortunately the coups nipped their rule in the bud, some $150 billion was squandered in just two years on a corrupt rice subsidy plan, a lot f it believed to have gone into an election campaigning slush fund. Even those democratically elected by the people can be incredibly destructive and greedy. Let’s hope some major reform follows so that we can all learn from history.
Thanks, Andrew. As I hope came through in the article, I too have a very soft spot for the Philippines. Despite the obvious political abuses that were happening all around me, I had some of the best years of my life there, making friends who have lasted over the decades and who experienced the martial law years with and alongside me.
i’m deprived by the chance to witness what really happened before those years because i’m not still born and angry people kept on pointing fingers to marcos. blaming him to what happened and even his sons and daughters were cursed too not in an obvious way but i guess you have to read between the line as well if you know what i mean, it was as if they were all blaming everything to him and to his children. On the other hand, this topic is also a hot issue specially every time the media talked about people power and eds rev. so at this moment i would like you to ask some simple question regarding his reign (P F. Marcos) regarding his dictatorship and i am hoping for a simple honest answer as well. Is he the worst or most evil president we have? Or if he is the best? in which i doubt you would give an answer to that. Is he a smart dictator or dumb? or in his character as a person, is he the worst human being that ever existed in which to that extent that “good” is absent to his very soul? just needed information to feed my confuse brains. any answers would be much appreciated. God bless you.
Those unbelievers on Marcos cheatings whether in money terms or election results are perceived loyalists and might be benefactors of the “dictatorship. ” they want to change the history and rewrite to it their liking. Much more if any one from the family will become president? This cannot be discounted because they will use their wealth plus pool of financial interest coming from their cronies/dummies (noting that the Marcoses hold the secrets of how they became billionaires at their present status).
Yes, the loyalists will remain true to the Marcos clan, no matter which descendant is elected President. They have all to lose if they don’t.
You clearly don’t have any idea where his wealth came from. The only thing I can advice you is research about the history Golds and other precious gemstone of the world and what happened to those. You’re only looking a small piece of information when this is about Global issue. Try researching about Marcos’ Last Will and Testament and related things to it, you’ll find a lot of things you’d never expected.
Researching is not just about reading what is available. It also includes finding out if the sources of what you are reading are credible ones.
I once read about John Perkins and his story about economic hit men. It was so controversial that it became a runaway bestseller. This was extended to a pdf version article about the Marcos regime and other alleged economic hit men. Clearly, if a loyalist would read such an article he would stop there and automatically buy into it, especially since they made it look very professional and academic. However, real academic researchers on Asian studies will be able to easily find that half truths were weaved to make it look like a global conspiracy, and that some of their claims have no ground, and therefore, no credibility.
she gave what she could give, she is not flawless, but oh do you really have the proper allegations about her pocket, Because until now she never entered Jail, you could say things about my country but try swimming in the water that we are in, I was young then but I know it was safer and better way back then , it was the memory of my childhood
people write things about the marcoses especially about her, I am not sure of the color that runs in your blood , probably yellow , but look , she never faced any jail time.. people just say things because the campaign has begun , you already did it 1986 but filipinos are thinking now , and the usage of famous american names are what made some of them vote for arroyo, but i assure you your black proapaganda is not working much anymore , the filipinos learned from their fall. we will be great again so please stop 。flooding the minds of the minority with false information , we have heard that before and the truth is, we were happy then than now.
true. all her cases were dismissed, and by God they were US Courts.
for any reason therein.. for whatever negative tell – tales about FM.. I will always commend what he had done to Philippiness. I will always be pro Marcos . Recall the past and compare : safety and security- wise : 0 tolerance on rape, 0 tolerance on drug addicts : comfort : free food rations in public schools – nutribuns , milk, rice , prices of commodities were very low . My stomach would be full with just 25 cents . .. and more to note . No article can ever reverse the loyalty I offer to Marcos . If his son one day decides to run for presidency , I pray that he wins .
That is your right to do so. I hope your loyalty to the Marcos clan is not proven to be misplaced.
I have but one and one solid reply: no negative article can ever reverse the loyalty i offer to Marcos . As it had and has been proven. , after his term , pandemonium broke loose. Most of whom seated took advantage of the vulnerability of our country… ripped us off of every privilege to grow in our own land and slowly drained us of every cent we had worked for outside our shells.Most of them now are enjoying the abundance of pork barrels and all ghost budgets . Rape had become rampant. Kidnappings , Insurgents , and the like .So why point fingers at Marcos ? See then and see now.
the problem in the Philippines is with us people because majority are politicians not stateman. We love our country but we don’t care to make it good. We people should change our behavior meaning we have to do good for the benefits of all. The corruptions in our country is already in the system that those in the party of the incumbent are dancing & laughing as the have the power and the purse while in the opposite party are complaining as they are not benefited. Some politicians say weather-weather lang so as time moves on the situations will become worst. All of us has to change if we give money to public servant for their services it is for gratitude only not as a bribe to make the service. We have to remember that life in this world is a privelege and a relay. Let us enjoy life in this world by moderation as all of us has an expiration date..Let us make our children our improved products adding that we have to develop them in a proper knowledge of right and wrong. We have to be an example to them. There’s no need of stealing, cheating, or in gov’t service graft & corruption. The most important all of us could live comfortably and contentment follows so there would be peace & order in this world. The present time we could no longer expect honesty on deprived people as they also need to survive. Our public servants from the top to the bottom should change & reform and formulate programs and ways for the benefit of the entire populations. Not selective, there’s no need of replacing terms for PDAF, DAP, BUB or whatever. The objective should be for the good of humanity particularly the Pilipino people.. Anywhere in this world service to humanity is the best work of life. We should change & forget the saying; “there’s everything in this world that can satisfy mans need but not on mans greed.
Thanks, Jose. You are right greed is at the bottom of all this. No one knows how long he/she will be in power thus they make as much as they can in the shortest possible time. Sad but true.
We should not only compared the Marcos regime with the succeeding terms after it, but also with the previous ones. I’m pretty sure a meal during the Quezon administration would be lower than 25 cents.
I beg to disagree with the 0 tolerance on rape claim. There were lots of unreported rape counts during the era and most of them done by the very institution that should be protecting the people–the police and military.
You can read the torture methods in detail here: http://www.bantayog.org/?p=924
Given it is all true about the extravagant issue of Imelda…But, it is still hesitant to accused the Marcoses in corruption of the Philippine government. Are you aware about the “TRIAL OF THE CENTURY”??? This are the 900+ count case of FRAUD and RACKETEERING filed against Marcoses by Philippine Government done in International court in New York..In around 1990 Imelda Marcos Has been ACQUITTED in all this case(please research). I hoped that this issue should be mentioned also in all the latest article written against Marcoses. Becaused it is the Factual end of those Allegations against the Marcoses..
This is indeed very informative. Being part of th younger generation, it’s a good thing to have an account of what transpired back then from someone who experienced it firshand. And reading along, i was totally at lost at the amouny of money and resources that you pointed out. We could have build more school building,hired more teachers, improve hospital facilities and hire pay our doctors aptly so they won’t have to leave. We could have done so kuch for the country with that amount of resources.
It’s just sad that to these days, people are still blindsided. That the Marcos family is still in power. And from the comments here, many people still put them in the pedestal. They still have high regards for the late president for all the projects completed dueing his time. But for me, it’s not our “utang na loob” to anyone in power if they have built infrastracture. In the first place, if you’re in position, it’s your job to have these projects to improve the lives and well being of the people.
It’s also disheartening to see how corruption have prevailed and continue. Well, they have paved the way for it. I just hope that we can riae from this status and uplift the country once again.
Thank you Ms. Caroline for this article and for your love for the Philippines. I was also amazed to know that you were once married to sir BenCab.
You are right, of course, about the “utang na loob”. It should certainly be expected of any government to try to improve the living conditions, the economy, the infrastructure and the services of the country during its time in power.
You’re forgetting that the “Utang na Loob” could be a show of respect to the one (and the leaders-WITH “S”) who truly loved peace and progress and has tried to maintain it. And to top it all, he showed not only with concrete evidences but with top services. Unlike some gullible people, those who seek the truth would be hard to fool.
I read some interesting things about The late Pres.Marcos, i’m pretty sure he manage to won a case and for winning got some maharlika gold, is that true? i’m not pretty sure though., well at least our economy back then was a boost. 1dollar=2pesos right?
There is a great deal of information about that in a previous comment. A very detailed report.
Bless you Ms. Kennedy for writing the truth about the Marcoses especially of Imelda ” the deranged “. Marcos. I just cant believe that there are still people defending them right here in your blog … Some Filipinos have a way of admiring and patronizing those that enslave them … Maybe as former dogs they expect to get some piece of the scraps when they do and some are just plain dumb and just dont know any better. Well, the Marcoses are back now and had been here for over a decade already and have already ” willed ” their way into positions of power in the present political system once more and makes me wonder if my countrymen will ever learn.
Yes, it’s interesting how the Marcoses seem to be able to get in to positions of trust and power, yet again. But they certainly still have their loyal supporters as you can see from many of the comments here.
This was the “MARCOS WEALTH” that some POLITICIAN and CHURCHMEN kept on saying was the:
” ILL – GOTTEN ” Marcos Wealth..
Brief History
From 1866 to 1898 , Prince Julian Macleod Tallano, who became titleholder of OCT 01-4 in 1864 – ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF TITLE 01-4 PROTOCOL ,The number 01 refers to the ONE NATION, known in pre – Hispanic times as MAHARLIKA. The number 4 refers to the original four regions og this nation:(1) Luzon (2) Visayas (3) Mindanao (4) Palawan , has been frequenting the Vatican.
In 1934, under Pope PiusXII , the Vatican negotiated with the member of the Filipino Royal Family, the Christian Tallano clan in Maharlika. An agreement was reached that 640,000 metric tons of the Tallano gold would be LENT to the Pope. This was part of that gold accumulated by the Southeast Asian Srivijayan/Madjapahit Empire during its glorious reign of 900 years.
In 1939, two members of the Tallano family and Roman Catholic Priest , Fr. Jose Antonio Diaz brought the gold from Kota Kinabalu , Sabah to the Vatican.
After doing this, Fr Diaz went back to the Maharlika and resided in Cabanatuan City.
After World War II , he facilitated the safe return of the 640,000 metric tons of GOLD from the Vatican tovthe Maharlika .Manuel Acuna Roxas( relative of the Acuna/ Tagean/ Tallano clan), then a congressman, and Bishop Enrique Sobrepena Sr, in the presence of Atty. Lorenzo Tanada, RECEIVED the gold in Manila.
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There is good reason to believe, even from further along in this account , that the young attorney FERDINAND E. MARCOS was involved in the return of the GOLD. Certainly by all accounts we have seen jt was Ferdinand Marcos and Diaz who shared in the enormous 30% commission- that is 192,000 TONS of Gold worth around $4 TRILLION today(2006) – for handling this transaction.
WHO CAN SAY THIS WEALTH WAS ” ILL- GOTTEN”?
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A lease agreement was made between the Tallano clan and the Maharlika government. A total of 640,000 metric tons of gold was deposited in the newly installed Central Bank of the Maharlika to comply with its requirement for GOLD RESERVE. Under the terms of the contract , the Central Bank became the HOLDER of that gold. That LEASE agreement will EXPIRE in the year 2005.
~~~The Tallano Foundation has given notice of the termination of this 50 year lease following the additional 5 year discretionary period on December 31,2005 but remains unable to obtain an inventory of this asset even though the CENTRAL BANK( now Bangko Sentral Pilipinas ) is no longer entitled to HOLD the gold.~~~
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Having gained the trust and confidence of Fr Diaz, the Tallano clan made him the main negotiator and trustee of their gold. Fr Diaz in turn, hired the services of ATTY. FERDINAND E MARCOS. , then a RECOMMENDED BRILLIANT YOUNG LAWYER having attained notoriety when he successfully defended himself in the ” NALUNDASAN CASE” in 1939.
Tha TALLANO clan paid commission to Fr. Diaz and Atty .Marcos in gold, 30% From the principal of 640, 000 metric tons.
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In 1949. The two richest men in the world were Fr. Jose Antonio Diaz and Atty. Ferdinand E. Marcos . Between the two of them they legitimately earned and owned 192,000 metric tons of GOLD- from TALLANO CLAN and Maharlika Government.
Ferdinand Marcos withdrew their share of the gold from the Central Bank and minted it ” RP -CB”. Sometime later, Fr.Diaz and Marcos brought their gold to SWITZERLAND , in the SWISS BANK CORPORATION in Zurich.
The remaining 400,000 metric tons of TALLANO GOLD- ( Prince Lacan Acuna Macleod Tallano- son of Rajah Soliman Tagean and grandson of Maharajah Luisong Tagean) is in the third floor basement of the CENTRAL BANK MINTING PLANT in East Ave. Quezon City.
There are 950,000 metric tons of Gold (declearedmissing in the International Court of Justice) picked up by Yamshita from its European ally, Hitler.
….. Let’s review some numbers at this point because there are certainly some unexplained LOSSES along the way.
The Tagean- Tallano gold started at 720,000 tons . 640,000 tons were transported to the Vatican and back, leaving 80,000 tons unaccounted from the outset.
Out of 640,000 tons, 192,000 tons were paid in commission, which should be leave 448,000 tons- but somehow hat number as become 400,000 tons , leaving another 48,000 tons unaccounted.
Following this story there are 128,000 (80,000 plus 48,000) tons of gold which somehow ” slipped through the cracks” in addition to 192,000 earned in commission, WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN.. Opppsss!!!
Out of the remaining 400,000 tons we do not know how much remains. We know there was an effort to do a major ” disappearing act” when the old Central Bank morphed into the new Bangko Sentral Pilipinas- but a recent decision of the SUPREME COURT ( Banco Filipino versus BSP ) has upheld that BSP is responsible for the liabilities of the old Central Bank.
~~~~~
The POINT is that ultimately , a complete accounting should show where ALL of the original 720, 000 tons WENT- not to mention estimated 1.2 MILLION tons of Yamashita treasure ( combined German and Japanese plunder) identified above ( that is very nearly TWO MILLION TONS OF GOLD worth more than $38 TRILLION at todays price 2006)
~~~~~
The phony, CIA backed EDSA ” PEOPLE POWER ” exhibition of 1986 had one primary purpose and that was to take this vast QUANTITY OF GOLD from the Philippines and the FILIPINO PEOPLE for the benefit of the INTERNATIONAL BANKING CARTEL to enslave mankind.
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WHAT ABOUT FR. DIAZ COMMISSION SHARED WITH FERDINAND MARCOS?
……When Fr. Jose Antonio Diaz , died in 1974 all the 30% COMMISSION in gold became the legendary ” MARCOS GOLD” . After providing for his family in Marcos ‘ Letter of Instruction, the whole wealth derived from this was supposed to be given to the FILIPINO PEOPLE . This was the “MARCOS WEALTH” that some POLITICIAN and CHURCHMEN kept on saying was the:
” ILL – GOTTEN ” Marcos Wealth..
WHY THIS WEALTH HAS BEEN LABELED ” ILL – GOTTEN ” a little further along in our STUDY , that unti today is in MARCOS SECRET ACCOUNTS.
– On April 9, 1973 Marcos said: “MY EARTHLY GOODS HAVE BEEN PLACED IN THE CUSTODY AND FOR THE DISPOSITION OF THE MARCOS FOUNDATION DEDICATED TO THE WELFARE OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE.”
In his GRAND PLAN, MARCOS wanted to RE ESTABLISHED the former grandeur of MAHARLIKA and the whole region of SOUTHEAST ASIA , the former MALAYAN EMPIRE.
In June 1983, Marcos appeared before the First World leaders in Toronto. He announced his plan to boost economy of the Southeast Asia Region by creating ASIAN DOLLAR. This would be backed up by the 400,000 metric tons of gold in Central Bank.
The ASIAN DOLLAR , backed up by the two thirds of all gold in the world that was in the Maharlika. Would made the Maharlika money more valuable and stronger that the American dollar. This was his vision to raise Southeast Asia to be par with the rest of the first world countries.
There is plenty of solid evidence of a program MARCOS worked on with American President Ronald Reagan, which referred to as the ABL ( ANG BAGONG LIPUNAN) program. Under this program some 250 sets of gold , documentation and related ABL currency were to be shipped to various countries around the world.
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WHAT BECAME OF THE REMAINING 400,000 metric TONS PERTAINING TO THE TAGEAN – TALLANO CLAN and where is it today?
To this day, the 400,000 metric tons of GOLD are still in the CENTRAL BANK in East Avenue , Quezon City. NOBODY CAN MOVE it because Marcos insured it with the LLOYDS OF LONDON and its agents are guarding it.
~~~ BUT THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ITS EXISTENCE.~~~~~
Not only have SUCCESSIVE GOVERNMENTS of the Philippines failed to ACKNOWLEDGE the existence of the GOLD, they have CONSPIRED to keep this information from being KNOWN to the Filipino People.
We assume this is because they have been working at ways to convert the GOLD for their own selfish gain, probably in conspiracy with the International Banking Cartel.
~~~~~
Immediately after Ferdinand Marcos was REMOVED from the office by a U.S MILITARY helicopter , the NEWLY installed PRESIDENT CORAZON AQUINO , formed the PCGG- Presidential Commission on Good Government, PURPORTEDLY to go after the Marcos – ILL GOTTEN WEALTH.
” IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO THE CONSPIRATORS THAT THIS WEALTH SHOULD BE LABELLED ~~ILL – GOTTEN~~ even though, as has already been shown , MR MARCOS was in his OWN RIGHT the WEALTHIEST MAN on the face of the EARTH and had absolutely no need to take anything from anyone.
~~~
A decision of the FEDERAL SUPREME COURT OF SWITZERLAND dated December 21,1990 said……”… By decision of May 29,1986 , the attorney general of District of Zurich accepted in principle to the legal assistance requested by the PHILIPPINES and invited all the banks of the City of Zurich to FREEZE IMMEDIATELY all the accounts, deposits or safes of the persons, companies or foundations ( of MARCOS) in the order….”
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THE ACCOUNTS WERE FROZEN at the request of the government of the Philippines and the PCGG has ensured they have remained FROZEN to this day.
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This is all a GRAND SCHEME OR SCAM. BLINDED Filipinos must keep repeating that MARCOS was a THEIF ( MAGNANAKAW) so that those HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of DOLLARS of Marcos Money will remain FROZEN and not be given to them for their use..
Consequently, they MUST CONSTANTLY BORROW MONEY from International Monetary Fund( IMF) and World Bank ( WB) with SO MUCH INTEREST so that this COUNTRY WILL REMAIN A SLAVE and SHACKLED to the foreign powers.
HISTORY will show that the money was not stashed away and inaccessible but AVAILABLE to truly deserving Filipinos.
There was NOTHING SECRET about Marcos Accounts. These ACCOUNTS were ONLY MADE SECRET by some people in the government so that the PUBLIC would not know its REAL STORY.
GOLD FOR GOLD , DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR, this country , the Maharlika is the RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
During a talk show in U.S TV the week following the bombing of the New York Twin Towers, PRES BUSH was asked this question:
WHICH IS THE RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD TODAY ? With a smile he said : THE PHILIPPINES, Marcos knew it, but he could not talk.
At the time they made sure that MARCOS would not longer talk. After kidnapping him from Malacanang , they put him in a golden prison in Hawaii.
So much about the SARSUELA of the 1986 EDSA PEOPLE POWER REVOLUTION, the Roman Catholic Archbishops, his priests, the seminarians, his nuns, and his FOLLOWERS who just PRAY, PAY AND OBEY. These TRAITORS on the Filipino people did a good job IN FAVOR OF THOSE TWO FOREIGN ALMIGHTY POWERS.
DEMOLITION CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE FILIPINO PEOPLE.
The invisible and long arm of the the foreign powers are now EXPOSED AND BROUGHT to light so that everyone will see the real , greater and hidden MANIPULATORS and AUTHORS of the miseries of this country today.
On FEBRUARY 28, 1986 ( two days after Cory Aquino was sworn as President but before the proclamation of her Revolutionary Government throught Proclamation No.3 on March 25, 1986, Cory Aquino created the PCGG through her Executive Order No. 1 section 2 says:
” The Commission shall be charged with the task of assissting the President in regard to the following matters:
a. The recovery of all ill- gotten wealth accumulated by the Former Resident Ferdinand Marcos , his immediate family, relatives
B. The investigation of such cases of graft and corruption..
So far, the PCGG had succeeded in sequestering 88 BILLION PESOS, allegedly the ” ill- gotten wealth” of Marcos.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE GOLD OF MARCOS HAS, SO FAR , ELUDED IT.
PRESIDENT FERDINAND E. MARCOS had a wonderful VISION MIND for his people and for the people of the world, as can be presumed from his efforts to implement the ABL PROGRAM mentioned above. But he had some problems.
Marcos could not announce possession of the gold plundered by the Germans and the Japanese during World War Two until some time after 1986 because of the ruling of the International Criminal Court in 1976.
Today, the truth can be made known and shouted from the rooftops: THE PHILIPPINES IS THE RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD..
I can’t comment on this. It is far too detailed and I simply don’t have the time at the moment. But I will come back to it when I’ve finished the filmscript I am writing because it looks like a fascinating read. Thank you.
You don’t need to, Caroline. It’s just a bunch of BS. Google gold and you will see that as of the present time, in all of human history, only more than 170,000 metric tons of gold have been mind. I don’t know what kind or how much illegal stuff people like up above was ingesting on a daily basis, but judging from the hallucinations it’s giving the person, it’s pretty substantial…
I dont know if I should be mad or sad. With all these informations, from you and Caroline, it was just so hard to digest everything. It get me down to thinking, these may be all true, all these words of wealth, but what will it do to me today? As an ordinary citizen, living from paycheck to paycheck, the answer is NADA. What will all these informations do to someone who has no access to internet, living on slums, can’t read and understand English? Nada.
Here’s what I’ll do. I will let you and Caroline and all the other “know it’s” do what you gotta do to get all those wealth back to the Filipino people while I will do what I gotta do, saving every centavos I could, to make my own wealth so that my family and my family’s family will live a decent life.
But I thank you for what you’ve shared here. I hope it will take us somewhere.
I understand your frustration and despair, Clair. And, yes, I agree with you, simply just trying to eke out enough money to exist is an everyday battle for many people. But something I have learned over the decades is that many people living in poverty tend to vote against their own self-interest at election time. This is particularly true in the US where a huge swathe of voters who would be better off under the Democrats and their social welfare programmes, vote Republican whose very nature abhors any form of income support, housing benefits, healthcare, etc and, yet, these same people vote Republican time and time again. It baffles me.
As for your own situation, Clair, just let me give you an example of someone who made it out of poverty closer to home. My ex husband, Ben Cabrera (BenCab, the National Artist), grew up in the worst slums of Tondo and managed, through hard work and talent, to succeed. I know that sounds trite but it is true – so it is possible. I was always – am still – proud of him that he was able to do this. It couldn’t have been easy.
Good luck.
This post is amazing. Ma’am or sir @justsoyouknow, if you would please post your references or publish an article or book about this I would be more than happy to buy it. Ever since I read snippets of F.Marcos’s diary from a notable online blog, I’ve always believed that he was a brilliant man with a geniuine love for the country and I believe that the peaceful Edsa revolution is a testament to this. That Marcos never issued the order to attack and that he fled to avoid a Philippine Civil war are information that I find consistent with his diary entries:indeed he was a man who loved his country. Of course this doesn’t mean I applaud corruption or Imelda for that matter. I think that men who are able to change the world are able to dirty their hands for the greater good. The only ruler I’ve heard to have seemed holiest are Solomon and the Mughal Akbar the Great, but even they have blood on their hands. And so, there is a part of me that believes that Marcos was in fact a great man who married an ill-fit woman. I will not blame the failure of the country on the extravagances of one woman, but her vanity is disgusting. I think and this is solely my opinion that he married this woman aware that her charms will prove useful to his political game. That I learned the couple sleeps in different bedrooms has allowed me to further think that. So, I think the actual Ferdinand Marcos Sr deserves the benefit of doubt. I say this even though I’m not a Marcos scholar or loyal. I say this based only on what I observe of my country and its history. F.Marcos was a visionary.
But as for voting for another marcos this 2016, I honestly doubt that. Despite Tamerlane, the best of leaders don’t usually produce impressive bloodlines so i’ll decide based on credentials.
This came from a conspiracy article that claiming that Jose Rizal is actually the father of Adolf Hitler and General Yamashita. He escaped prosecution and eventually came to be known as the stated Rev. Father Jose Antonio Diaz. It’s a good read, but more of a conspiracy. Kinda like Dan Brown and his famous book “The Davinci Code.” If it is true, then we know where the gold came from and why Ferdinand Marcos did not want to let it go …
I certainly didn’t claim it as fact! I am a great admirer of Rizal. He was the right man at the right time. The Philippines needs another Rizal of this particular period in its history. Let us hope someone with the strength, foresight, intelligence, compassion and charisma emerges soon.
Sorry Caroline. I wasn’t referring to your article but to another essay linking Rizal with Hitler and Yamashita. I believe @Ichinose Kotome posted the link …. wait, I’ll try to back read …
No problem, Henry. I remember the post you are referring to. Thanks for the clarification.
Indeed BS. Marcos told Imelda he wanted to become president to maximize his wealth. What billionaire needs P50,000 salary to maximize his wealth? Only an insane billionaire.
I don’t think he was insane, just very very very greedy.
So he was just a corrupt lying president and succesful in his goals.
Of course there are lots of bias media and journalists. But Marcos is worth more than the next 6 presidents of the Philippines. Philippines was once the greatest country of Asia credit to the late Marcos! Marcos pa rin!
Thank you very much for writing this piece. There’s so many young Filipinos who think that the Philipinnes would be better off if the Marcoses are back in power. I am reposting this article and sharing it online in the hopes that my fellow young Filipinos will be educated on what is the real story about the Marcoses. From a very grateful Filipino, maraming salamat!
Thank you for your kind words, Janice.
Janice, even if I’m not living in the Philippines I’m constantly reminding expats like me about the ills of the Marcos regime and to never give in to such grandiose lies that the dictator’s proponent are championing right now to reinstall that shameful and hideous name back to power again. I’m sure that the comments I’ve posted on one of the videos they are promoting right now made a lot of people mad, but I will not stop telling people that anything other than the kind of destruction that this greed laden family brought to the Filipinos must be challenged.
This article is a very interesting read. It would be great if Hollywood would accurately make this into a film. A trilogy perhaps because a lot happened. Will definitely watch it.
Thanks for sharing this author.