Marcos: One of 15 worst dictators

NEVER AGAIN. This is the reason why nations commemorate, not only victories, but also the most tragic events in their history. This is why Israel has the Holocaust Museum so the world will never forget the six million Jews that were brutally killed by Nazi Germany. The United States continues to remember December 8, 1941 as its Day of Infamy and the cost of a nation being unprepared.

September 21, 1972 was the day martial law was declared in the Philippines. On that day, all media outlets, except for one, were shut down and two persons appeared on television. There was Ferdinand Marcos who proclaimed the imposition of martial law and the start of the most tragic and unheroic episodes in Philippine history. Then there was his chief propaganda officer – Francisco “Kit” Tatad – who read the entire proclamation to the nation.

It was a long proclamation, but it was the last paragraph that made his intentions clear:

“In addition, I (Marcos) hereby order that all persons presently detained as well as all others who may hereafter be similarly detained for the crimes of insurrection or rebellion, and all other crimes and offences committed in furtherance of or on the occasion, thereof, or incident thereto, or in connection therewith, for crimes against national security and the law of nations, crimes against public order, crimes involving usurpation of authority, rank, title and improper use of names, uniforms and insignias, crimes committed by public officers, and for such other crimes as will be enumerated in Orders that I shall subsequently promulgate, as well as crimes as a consequence of any decree, code or regulation promulgated by me personally or promulgated upon my direction shall be kept under detention UNTIL OTHERWISE ORDERED RELEASED BY ME or my duly designated representatives.”

With this proclamation Marcos became judge, jury and executioner of the Filipino people. Thousands were detained without charges. The list included Ninoy Aquino, Jose Diokno, Chino Roces, Eugenio Lopez Jr., Nene Pimentel, professionals, students, teachers, media men and anybody else the Marcoses disliked.

In 2011 TIME magazine listed the Top 15 Toppled Dictators who were overthrown by their own people. Here is the list according to TIME’s ranking:

1.) Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany; 2.) Sadam Hussein of Iraq; 3) Muammar Gadhafi of Libya; 4.) Benito Mussolini of Fascist Italy; 5.) Pol Pot of Cambodia whose terror campaign led to more than 2 million deaths out of a population of 7 million; 6.) Idi Amin of Uganda; 7.) Mobutu Sese Seko of Congo; 8.) Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania who ruled for 24 years and had the most feared secret police in Eastern Europe; 9.) Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia who was the architect of the bloody conflicts in Bosnia and Croatia; 10.) Jean-Claude Duvalier of Haiti whose country still suffers from the terrible years of Duvalier family rule; 11.) FERDINAND MARCOS of the Philippines; 12.) Hosni Mubarak of Egypt; 13.) Fulgencio Batista of Cuba whose corrupt regime was ousted by Fidel Castro; 14.) Antonio Salazar of Portugal who was a fascist and imperialist; and, 15) Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay.

The list is an unusual one because the magazine is more known for honoring persons, especially on its cover, for outstanding accomplishments. This list has covered personalities such as Mother Teresa, Barack Obama, Pope Francis and Nobel Prize winners. In recent times, I recall that there have been two Filipino personalities that have earned the recognition of a TIME cover — former President Corazon Aquino and her son President Noynoy Aquino.

The magazine has a short write up regarding each one of the 15 worst dictators toppled by their own people. Here is the one on Marcos:

“In September 1972, following a failed assassination attempt on one of his chief aides, Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in the Philippines. Marcos, who had been elected President in 1964, exaggerated the threat of communist revolutionaries and used it to justify shutting down the press and arresting several of his political opponents. Initially Marcos did good for the country as an autocrat: inflation dropped and government revenue increased. But widespread corruption and cronyism — including the siphoning of billions of state funds into Marcos’ Swiss bank account — undermined his legitimacy. His glamorous wife Imelda — she of the shoe closet — seemed to embody the regime’s brazen excesses. And the 1983 assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr., Marcos chief political rival, galvanized opposition.

Hoping to quell international criticism, he staged snap elections in 1986, but the move backfired as a result of the violence, intimidation and coercion he deployed. Abandoned by his closest rivals, Marcos fled the country several weeks later paving the way for the rightful winner — Aquino’s widow Corazon — to take power. Marcos died in exile in Hawaii three years later but his wife, his son and some of his old allies still wield influence in the Philippines’ unpredictable democracy.”

At the beginning of Marcos rule, the Philippine was the second most prosperous nation Asia, next only to Japan. At the end of this dictatorship the Philippines had become the “sick man of Asia.” Economic historians who have studied dictatorships agree that if one person has all the powers, the economy suffers.

It is important to remember the brutality and corruption and abuses of the Marcos dictatorship. In the last few years, Marcos officials, cronies and family members have been trying to rewrite Philippine history. In their desire to redeem their names, instead of apologizing for their support of martial law, they have parroted the arguments that Nazi generals and officials used in the Nuremburg war crime trials. They have said that they were not aware of the abuses and the salvaging of people; or, they claim they were only following orders. Their worst argument is that Martial law was actually good for the Philippines, forgetting that this was the cause why our country became the sick man of Asia.

Just like the Holocaust Museum, the Filipino people need a Marcos Martial Law Museum to show us the real story. And to prove to all those Marcosian believers that it will never happen again.

Write Away! Weekends on Sept. 27 with Candy Gourlay

Where The Write Things Are, a center for lovers of writing of all ages, will feature guest author Candy Gourlay on September 27, 2014 as part of its Write Away! Weekends classes held from 1-5 p.m. on the last Saturday of every month at the Canadian American School, 6th floor The City Club, Alphaland. The session with Ms. Gourlay will deal with the topic, “Where to get writing ideas?”

Candy Gourlay is a Filipino author based in the United Kingdom. Her debut novel Tall Story won the National Children’s Book Award of the Philippines in 2012 and the Crystal Kite Award for Europe in 2011. It was shortlisted for 13 prizes and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal, the British literary award for children’s literature. Her latest novel Shine is published by Random House. Both novels have Philippine editions with Cacho and Anvil Publishing. A former journalist in the Philippines, she was with the weekly opposition tabloid Mr. And Mrs. Special Edition, which played a significant role in the overthrow of the 21-year dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos.

Write Away! Weekends are fun and intensive writing classes for 7 to 17-yearolds on a special topic with different guest authors. The 4-hour session includes a presentation by the author on the writing life and his/her books, writing techniques, specific writing assignments to undergo the writing process, and class sharing/feedbacking on written and revised pieces.

These writing sessions endeavour to have young writers interact with renowned published authors and illustrators, not only to familiarize them with Philippine titles but more important to come away inspired and motivated to read and write. The guest authors will emerge as real-life writing models and mentors for the participants.

To enrol in the class as well as inquire about other writing classes and sessions offered by Where The write Things Are, such as the Young Writers’ Saturday Hangout, kindly call/text 0917-6240196, email [email protected], or log on to www.write-things.com.

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