FERDINAND
E. MARCOS
"There are many things we
do not want about the world. Let us not just mourn them. Let us change
them."
Born: September 11, 1917
Died: September 28, 1989
Position in History: Philippines: 10th President, Third Republic: 6th
President, Fourth Republic: 1st President
First Presidential Term: December 30, 1965 - December 30, 1969
Second Presidential Term: December 30, 1969 - June 30, 1981 (extended
by martial law, otherwise until December 30, 1973)
Third Presidential Term: June 30, 1981 - February 25, 1986
Fourth Presidential Term: February 25, 1986 (Overthrown on the same day)
Duration of Terms: 1461 days (first), 4200 days (second), 1701 days
(third), 7362 days (total)
Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, the most infamous Philippine president and
one of the few prime ministers of the Philippines, was born on
September 11, 1917, in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte. His parents, Don Mariano
Marcos and Doña Josefa Edralin were both teachers. As a resulted
of this, Marcos transferred from school to school for his primary
education during 1923 - 1929. In 1929, Marcos entered the University of
the Philippines High School were he obtained his law degree with
honours in 1933. Marcos continued his education at the University of
the Philippines in 1933. His father was also a politician and was an
assemblyman and a representative of Ilocos Norte. However, in 1935, Don
Mariano Marcos was defeated by his political enemy, Julio Nalundasan in
the local elections. Julio Nalundasan was shot dead shortly after being
declared the winner. Ferdinand Marcos, along with his father and two
uncles, was arrested and charged with the murder of Julio Nalundasan in
1938.
In April 1939, Marcos received Bachelors of Laws and studied for the
bar examinations while in prison. He posted bail in August the same
year to attend the bar exams. In September 1939, Macros, his father and
two uncles stood trial before Laoag Provincial Court of First Instance.
In November 1939, Ferdinand Marcos was summoned by the university dean
on suspicion of cheating in the bar exams. Marcos managed to justify
his extremely high marks but was not allowed to take oath as his own
trial was still pending. Some months later Marcos was found guilty by
the Laoag Provincial Court and sentenced to imprisonment.
Marcos appealed to the Supreme Court and defended himself. The Supreme
Court under Justice Jose P. Laurel granted Marcos acquittal after
finding the prosecution's case contradictory. In effect, Marcos has won
his first case before he had even started to practice law. The
Philippine Free Press called him lawyer of the year in the November 12,
1940 issue. Marcos became a trial lawyer in Manila. During World War
II, he served in the Philippine armed forces. He was captured by the
Japanese but managed to survive and escape the Death March from Bataan
to Central Luzon and then joined the guerrilla units in Luzon. However,
American archive documents show Marcos had very little or no
participation in the anti-Japanese guerrilla units.
In 1946, Marcos returned to Manila to resume law practice and served as
technical assistant to President Roxas 1946 - 1947. He campaigned for a
seat in Congress under the Liberal Party and in 1949, at the age of 32
he became the youngest member of the House of Representatives. Marcos
was re-elected as congressman of Ilocos Norte in 1953 and again in
1957. He married Imelda Romualdez on May 1, 1954, in Trinidad, Benguet
after a courtship of only eleven days. The principal sponsor was
President Magsaysay and the reception was held on Malacañan
Palace grounds.
During his second term in Congress, Marcos served as acting temporary
president of the Liberal Party and ran for a seat in the Senate during
his third term. In 1959, he was elected a senator and served as Senate
president 1963 - 1965. In 1961, Marcos gave way to Diosdado Macapagal
as Liberal Party presidential candidate on the agreement that Macapagal
would support Marcos as presidential candidate in the 1965 presidential
elections. Marcos served as Macapagal's campaign manager.
In April 1964, Marcos was sworn into the Nacionalista by Jose P. Laurel
Jr. after President Macapagal refused to honour their agreement and
decided to run for re-election. In November 1964, he won the
Nacionalista Party nominations for candidate in the presidential
elections. The campaigns for the presidential elections of 1965 were
very expensive and vicious. Both Marcos and Macapagal spent about P32
million each. However, Marcos defeated Macapgal by just under 674,000
votes (both candidates had over three million votes each).
During his first term in office, Marcos created a spending program on
public works. This included uniting the islands by building roads and
bridges. Elsewhere money was spent on health centres, schools and
beautification projects. He also concentrated on self-sufficiency in
rice. Marcos was so successful in his first term that he made history
by becoming the first president of the Third Republic of the
Philippines to be re-elected. His popularity went into decline during
his second term. Students and activists started protesting against
Marcos and abuses by the military. Communists began recruiting and
established a guerrilla army which in turn started a campaign of
violent activities. As a result of military abuses, war erupted in the
Muslim areas of Mindanao.
Marcos held the Constitution Convention in 1971. The 1935 Constitution
denied him a third term in office. Many of the delegates in the
convention were bribed into changing this to allow Marcos more terms.
The bribery scandal was exposed and this particular part of the
constitution was not amended. On September 21, 1972, Marcos signed
Proclamation No. 1081 placing the entire nation under martial law.
Thousands of people including communists and activists were arrested
and imprisoned without due process. The 1935 Constitution was suspended
and replaced in 1973. The 1973 Constitution granted the president a
term of six years in office with no limit number of terms. The
president was also mandated to continue in office under a period
martial law. A semi-parliamentary form of government was established
under the new constitution.
Martial law was lifted in 1981, after eight years and Marcos announced
presidential elections were to be held. He won the 1981 elections
(which are generally belived to have been under the control of Marcos)
with a huge majority under his the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan Party (KBL).
Presidential elections were held again in February 1986. Marcos ran
against Corazon Aquino. The elections were greatly fraudulent to
Marcos' advantage. He was declared the winner. Protests against Marcos
and the election fraud started. Marcos planned to deal with the
protests and to re-impose martial law. However, the military defected.
Marcos was sworn in as president in the early morning of February 26,
1986. His fourth presidential term ended in the afternoon the same day
amidst the civilian and military uprising known as the EDSA Revolution.
Marcos, his family and closest followers fled to Honolulu, Hawaii.
In 1987, it is believed Marcos was conspiring to raise an army, invade
the Philippines and take office by force. However, the US authorities
learned of this and Marcos was confined to the island. Legal
proceedings took place concerning the ill-gotten wealth Marcos had
amassed and the crimes he had committed. He was unable to attend the
hearings himself due to deterioration of health and died before the
hearings concluded. His wife Imelda was put on trial but acquitted on
July 2, 1990. She returned to the Philippines with the remains of her
husband.
After the Marcos regime ended, the Philippines was in a far worse state
than before Marcos became president. Between 1983 - 1985, the economy
contracted and economic growth became negative. As a result, the
Philippines had the highest debt burden in East and Southeast Asia. The
Central Bank of the Philippines admitted it was unable to meet
obligations on the US$24.6 billion debt. In effect, the Philippines had
become bankrupt. By the time of his otherthrow in 1986, the debt had
reached about US$28 billion. Marcos and his cronies had illegally
extracted billions from the Philippine economy. The exact fortune
Marcos amassed is unknown. Estimates suggest it lies between US$3
billion and US$35 billion. Also, 24.6 kg of gold was found in one of
the numerous Marcos' Swiss bank accounts. Marcos arrived in Hawaii with
suitcases full of jewels, 24 gold bricks and paperwork relating to
large amounts of money in various Swiss bank accounts.
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