And probably passed on his skill to the rest of his family
By Raïssa Robles
People have asked me how I know that Ferdinand Marcos is lying about his accomplishments as a President. My answer to them is this – Marcos was a serial liar.
In the twilight of his presidency, he lied to the Filipino people about the most basic thing – his personal health.
You might ask – why should this be important to you and me when he’s been dead so long?
Because his family has been playing necropolitics all these years and wants you and me to honor him as a hero.
This would signal to all our current and future politicians that if Marcos is a hero, then like Marcos they can lie and cheat and steal because anyway this truth will – like Shakespeare said – be forever interred with their bones.
I dug up from my personal files a 36-page report entitled “The Situation in the Philippines” dated December 7, 1985 and prepared by his office – the Office of the President. It was part of the propaganda blitz for his candidacy in the 1986 presidential snap elections.
Here’s the front page of the report:
For me, probably the most telling and verifiable thing about this report was the section on “President Marcos’ health.”
I’ve scanned that section for you below:
That last sentence saying – “If he were ill, his character would compel him to tell his national constituency, directly and without equivocation” – that sentence summed up for me the essence of Marcos’ true character and the pure audacity for lying that the Marcos dictatorship possessed.
Let me contrast that now with a photo of Marcos that I have also kept all these years. I don’t recall now whether Business Day, the newspaper I worked for then, ever ran that photo. I don’t know why I have it nor how I came by it.
But it showed Marcos’ true state of health around that time. It profoundly contradicted his lie.
Dictator Ferdinand Marcos leans on a pillow and belies his claim of god health - PHOTO from my personal collection
What astounds me today is that his family continues to say the big lies – about how good he was as a president, how better off the nation was under his thumb, and how it was all untrue that he stole money from the Filipino people because all that fortune came from the treasure that the retreating Japanese soldiers buried and left behind in 1945.
They say the big lies and they are believed. The nurture in the public a nostalgia for a return of a Marcos.
And having lived in that era, I know they’re untrue, but even I begin to doubt sometimes that maybe I was wrong.
This evidence that I’m now sharing with you is to remind me what a great liar he was and this ability has been passed on to the rest of his family.
intrigued says
I only read this just now. I was a martial law baby and the day Marcos left for Hawaii with his family was one of my happiest days. I can’t believe that his son had the temerity and brazen audacity to run for a Senate seat after all the things his parents and his relations have done to the Phils. The name Marcos outside the Phils. is like poison thus they i.e. Imelda, Bongbong, Imee and Irene with all the ill-gotten wealth they’ve accumulated can’t openly strut their stuff overseas. If I’m not mistaken Bongbong’s kids go to Worth School -now the question is how did they get the funds to finance the expensive schooling of these kids? Answer–Juan dela Cruz’s hard earned pesos plus the kurakot they’ve got during their Lolo’s reign.
jhon philip que says
Its maybe out of topic, but i ddnt read any blog here about the Aquino administration..hope to read one soon…
raissa says
Pls go to the search bar – top right – and type Aquino. The entries will all come out.
Laurence says
A few days after Ninoy’s assassination, Ferdinand was flown to Clark Air Base hospital with a life threatening condition, not sure what it was. I know this because it came straight from an American serviceman who works in the hospital back then.
R & R says
The picture doesn’t prove anything.it should be something undoubtedly, irrefutable proof. i can’t tell from that picture. A pillow come on now. Although, i do believe he(Marcos’) fabricates a lot of story, this may not be the good proof of his condition during that time. .
raissa says
Hello? Look at his face especially his eyes.
And recall how his condition actually was then.
Kim Bartolome says
I think no president was every clean nor good. I think there never was a president who was not guilty of any crime (except for the poor guy who died in a plane crash). I think there will never be, to the Filipino people, a good president.
Notice how we all every year and say the president, who ever is seated there, should resign. Not one president can please or will please this people. Not now… not ever.
No amount of good nor bad things that Marcos or any president will satisfy the Filipinos. Marcos was a Filipino. If all Filipino leaders lie, cheat and steal, then they, as fathers/mothers of the country, bear fruit to a nation of liars, cheats and thieves. Hence, we are all liars, cheats and thieves all together.
And this can be proven by our electing liars, thieves and cheats to office election after election after election.
raissa says
And therefore, in your book, Marcos is OK?
What I’m trying to suggest is, it’s high time we Filipinos start holding our leaders accountable AND punishing them.
Marcos was EXCEPTIONALLY evil and now his spawn wants to be president.
Therefore, going by your logic, we should give the Marcoses a pass and elect another Marcos?
I think you love the Marcoses, that’s why.
Jason says
Well said, i didn’t realise this sort of topic will come out after 3 decades but then again we Filipinos are suffering from chronic amnesia or should I say some of us are bloody stupid when it comes to politics. It seems like when election comes Filipinos can’t distinguise what is good & evil. I think every person in Marcos era knows that Marcoses are pure evil. Marcos ruined Philippine politics he introduced TRAPO, corruption is ok, greed is ok, to kill a political rival is ok & to control the media is to control the population mind. And look where we are now…still trying to clean the mess that the Marcoses has left.
Ms Babes says
Kim, I think you’re tired of all the corruptions we have in our government. This culture of corruption and political patronage was Marcos’ legacy to our politicians and all government employees, which also affected us all since we have to deal with them, whether we like it or not. During the dictatorship, no one is allowed to contradict the dictator or his family, lest you’ll be dead the next day! Now that we are free to know the truths, we must know how to use them!
Of course we had some good presidents even after Marcos! For me, Cory was good in bringing back the democracy we now enjoy. Ramos was good in showing the world that we can get back on our feet and sustain our democracy, which has been threatened several times by some ambitious would be Marcos! Erap, a Marcos loyalist through and through, and has acquired Marcos culture all through the years of being San Juan mayor naturally did what his idol did, corruption to the max!!! Gloria, who’s husband is Erap’s buddy, did the same!
So, there, you can not include us, or say all Filipinos can not be satisfied or can not be pleased. You can only say that for yourself. I am not a liar, and i know a lot of Filipinos who are not liars. If that’s what you’re telling yourself, then how do you think you can change it??? Learn the truth, don’t just listen to your neighbor, or your buddies, or just pick -up what others write in social media. Think and think a lot! That’s the way to learn. :)
cesar arellano says
thy will be done!
net says
salamat sa walang sawang pagbubunyag ng kasinungalingan ng lahing kawatan…MARCOSES!
xXx says
you talk as if you know everything about the marcoses.
Wendy says
There is such as thing as healthy and righteous anger.Jesus got angry and drove out the merchants that turned His temple into a market place! This is the kind of anger that we,as Filipinos should put in our hearts and minds for the sake of the next generation.,lest they commit the same mistakes that our generation did.Ever heard of that saying that says..”all it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.?” I rest my case
cesar arellano says
i always believe in the DNA and the breeding of any person, That if your parents are bad it will be triple bad for the siblings, so while early, be sure to spread the word that the children of Marcos, should not be elected for a government position, but the ilocanos, and the die hard supporter of killers and plunderers are hardheaded,besides it is also our fault ! that we did not put them in jail, or kill them like what they did to the activist. Acting like an angel is good for the devil, so we have to bear the brunt, Hoping that we should look back like this article of Ms. Raissa Robles, so very bad events in the past should not be forgotten and that it should not be repeated, he was not only a liar,but a bestial liar and condoned the conjugal dictatorships. I have predicted in 1965, that there will be chaos and panic in the philippines, because they voted a murderer, Search Magazine ateneo de manila.It happened and it is even worst because the moral fiber of the people are also destroyed, until now.
Bart Molina says
You have so much anger in your heart. You should not even be reading such an article, and worse – commenting with rage. At your age, you should be doing something else in preparation to your next journey.
Or you can just take life more lightly…
Jason says
Mr. Cesar Arellano is just saying the truth about the marcoses. I’m still young when they are in power but that doesn’t mean I don’t understant whats going on. Its only after the 1986 EDSA revolution I fully comprehend the damages the Marcoses had left for my generation to fix. It seems to me now it will take an asteroid to fix that mess. Its beyond human capabilities. Because you can see a marcos in every goverment office around the country. Corruption is everywhere, sic. If u r ilocano don’t get offended coz Im Gi too born & bred in Batac.
Anghel says
Get over it – stop beating a dead horse – it seems you only survive bringing up the past. Also 26 years after Marcos, those FREEDOM leaders failed to deliver, the country is back in the hands of a privileged few, the poor are even worse off and growing more in number. Communists are no longer in the hills but in Congress, plus pork barrel is at its mightiest form of corruption
When Marcos left our foreign debt was $16B (20 years) but ballooned to $25B after Cory’s 6 years in office, with no new infrastructures.
So whats so bad about a dictator when the freedom lady brought more misery to the country and more destitute citizens – who once ate gallunggong who now eat PAGPAG
Be ashamed of yourself Raissa
Tristan Duane says
That’s weird.
From what I’ve read, when the Marcoses left the Philippines, the foreign debt was $28 billion.
Jason says
R u kidding me?! Marcoses destroy our moral values by making corruption a way of policians life. Look around now even security guards in gov offices is corrupt. And look back before Marcos time. Election is honest. No TRAPOS in top offices. No political killings. No power hungry leader of the nation. Cory wants to set as a good example but the TRAPOS prevail. My opinion is this, what we should have done in 1986 EDSA revolution is to do what the French people have done on their last Royal family & their associates. The result is much effective. It’s grusome but it paid off.
Rallie F. Cruz says
El Cid of Spain was mounted on a horse while already dead that gave them victory over the enemy. Had the palace been successful on continuing to lie and cover up on Marcos health, maybe the revolution will not be as easy what had happened.
I am not sure if this our Filipino mentality or human nature in general, like in a fraternity or gang, if their opponent is only one and will say I do not want to fight with you, the more they they will gang up on you, never show them you are weak and that will be your end but show them that you will fight and hurt just one and you will see how they run away fast.
Marcos knew that and that is why he has to lie so he might survive.
Anjo Bagaoisan says
Faithful in the little things, faithful in the big things. Same goes otherwise.
I still get the various apologetics for the Marcos era (which un/fortunately, I did not grow up in). Many still believe that his “New Society” could have turned things around for our country, more so in the region where his family holds power.
But then again, as one schooled in journalism, I’ve learned about the various cover-ups and suppression that occurred under his watch. It is true, indeed, to keep a watchful eye on the present with a persistent retrospect on the past–so we are not doomed to forget and watch it return all over again.
Do you think Ms Raissa, that the 2nd generation of the Marcoses might not follow the same route their parents did?
raissa says
I think they want to follow his route.
They think what daddy did was a great thing. They will try to do what daddy did.
Rallie F. Cruz says
If they try to follow their dad and they succeed on plundering the nation, then it is the Filipino as a nation who did not learn from their dad but if they are able to vindicate him, then the Marcoses have learn what not to do what their father did. Let us have an open mind.
R & R says
Open mind? tell that to the countless families that have victimized and or murdered by Marcos’ regime, extinguishing anyone who oppose and have strong opinions as soon as he gets the wind of it. Ha!
‘Only if you learned from your mistakes, that a person will be defined’