The Future of Our Nation (Part II)
58On the bright midday of December 30, 1965, thousands gathered at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta, as Ferdinand E. Marcos, 10th President of the Republic of the Philippines, delivered his first inaugural address to our nation. Promising a return to greatness, he seemed to breathe new hope for a country trying to set a course towards progress and prosperity. Marcos eloquently expressed his desire and commitment to bring to our people the opportunity to better their lives, as he promised equality and justice for the common Filipino.
Marcos fired the imagination of many with his vision of greatness for our nation. His stirring words were a call for Filipinos to rise to the challenge of rebuilding a nation that he claimed has lost direction, a nation that has strayed from its course. Of course, Marcos presented himself as the answer to our country long in need of redemption.
His solemn vow to “make this nation great again” was greeted with thunderous applause even if his stirring speech was delivered in English and many in his audience were ordinary Filipinos who may have not even understood his eloquent words, but it did not matter. They were captivated by his charisma, his seeming sincerity, not to mention his lovely wife Imelda.
Besides, his propaganda movie “Iguinuhit Ng Tadhana” which starred Luis Gonzales and Gloria Romero was a box office hit and people came to see their hero whose courage and bravery during the war and subsequent Japanese Occupation were portrayed in this movie. People voted for the youthful war hero and bar topnothcher whose last position before being elected President was Senate President and before that he was a three term congressman. Now, Marcos was at the Luneta addressing them as the new president and the people were cheering him wildly.
Even before this day, in the bitterly contested presidential campaign against Macapagal, Marcos already promised our people much and in his first inaugural address he made many more but the only promise he did keep was the promise to change our nation, which he overwhelmingly did.
Yes, he did change our nation, he did change our people. He changed our very institutions and our society did conform to his twisted designs. We suffered the evil of his greed, his lust for power and his vision that was filled with malice for our people. But on that noon day of his first inaugural many applauded Marcos and believed, because at that time there was still hope in the hearts of our people. We have not yet become a broken nation and our nation’s future seemed assured with Marcos leading us to what he claimed was our destiny of greatness.
The long-lived Marcos presidency was a dark blight to our nation, a curse that grievously wounded our national psyches, especially so when he seized complete and total power by declaring martial law on September 21, 1972. His rule over the Philippines extended a total of over 20 years. Our long suffering nation was left literally in ruins, plundered and devastated by Marcos and the people he placed in power, a greedy cabal of men and women who thought only of enriching themselves using the power they wielded.
In the days following Marcos’ declaration of the infamous Proclamation 1081, he jailed most of his political opponents, closed down newspapers, television and radio stations and blatantly grabbed businesses which were owned by those he perceived were threats to his power. He imposed a nationwide curfew and many arbitrary arrests were made to further control and eliminate any likely opposition to his power grab.
The first casualty of martial law was our human rights. Thus began the long darkness that descended on our hapless nation that saw countless victims of torture, disappearances, and outright summary executions. But for a while no one knew except the perpetrators of martial law of the abuses and complete disregard for human rights and of course the systematized plunder of Marcos Inc.
But in the beginning, the discipline imposed on the citizenry, the abatement of crime, the effective propaganda and trumpeting of the New Society, gained for Marcos the cooperation if not the support of the citizenry. People were lulled into submission as there were more pressing concerns than the loss of a few civil liberties which they were then willing to exchange anytime for a crime free metropolis and a steady job that put food on the table.
In the international front Marcos played the American card well and he had the open support of the Americans for the greater part of his rule. There was the presence of the US bases: Subic and Clark that made a cooperative Marcos, indispensible to the desire of the US for continued operations of their crucial military bases. Remember, at this time the Cold War divided much of the world into spheres of US and Russian influence. With US backing the Marcos regime had an air of legitimacy bestowed on it and the international community followed the American lead.
Marcos fueled the economic drive of the Philippines with massive amounts of loans from the World Bank, IMF and the ADB, the greater part of which found its way into Swiss Bank accounts and Caribbean off shore banks. Corruption became institutionalized and the massive amounts stolen could have provided for our economic take off that would have turned the Philippines into an Asian economic tiger very much like Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Our economy eventually stalled under the pile of debts. Our economic ills could directly be traced to this period of government that was without accountability and Marcos brazenly demanded tribute (his ten percent or more) from all businesses that sought favor during his reign. Though the Philippines were mired in spreading poverty, a chosen few cornered the resources of our nation through presidential decrees and orders, creating an elite class of individuals who not only possessed economic power but because of their proximity to Marcos, political power as well.
Crony capitalism and behest loans were a Marcos era invention. There was no sector of government and private business that was spared rigid control and was subject to the direction of Marcos and his cronies. The top agricultural industries like sugar, coconut, rice, tobacco etc. were placed under the control of cronies who began to parlay their control of these industries to build business empires that gave them untold wealth.
Other cronies grabbed control of the media, banking and the construction industries all with the blessings of their godfather, Marcos who also immensely profited from these undertakings. The established oligarchs and rich families were forced to make the necessary arrangements with Marcos and company to protect their holdings but still many were forced to give up for a pittance, corporations businesses and valuable pieces of properties wanted by Marcos or some favored individual.
Every single of one these cronies benefitted from huge behest loans taken at favorable terms and which more often than not left the government with an empty bag. Others chose to just run with the borrowed money secured with bloated collateral to safer havens, laughing all the way to a Swiss bank and buying Austrian castles along the way.
But the most important institution that Marcos had to first seduce and then corrupt was the military. He needed the support and the backing of the military to succeed in his plan to perpetuate himself in power. This was the evil genius of Marcos at work as he offered his generals power, wealth, and the impunity to go with it in exchange for their personal loyalty to him.
Martial law brought the military the dizzying, heady, drunkenness of absolute power. And of course with this power came fabulous wealth. During the Marcos reign of martial law many of the corrupt practices and outright thievery saw first light. The whole military machinery was geared and oiled for graft, a profit making enterprise that totally disregarded the welfare of the common soldier yet rewarded the senior military officials immensely who were appointed in their powerful positions by Marcos and his cohorts.
Military officials became rich and fat and senior positions were reserved solely for the men who could be counted on for loyalty and of course obedience. Ilocanos, it cannot be denied dominated most positions. Marcos’ relatives like the two top generals of that time were his very own cousins who at one time vied for the post of AFP Chief of Staff and military officials who at that time were placed also in high positions in government and GOCCs, enjoyed the perks and privileges which eventually they could not let go.
A brigadier general was customs chief, another the rice czar, still another general headed the Civil Aviation Board, the Energy Commission, the Laguna Lake Development Authority and many were board representatives of the government to private corporations that took out loans from government banks like the PNB and Land Bank. A whole slew of generals who faithfully served Marcos retired to comfortable ambassadorial posts.
For the first time in our history generals were becoming millionaires and they were applauded by the men around them who in turn resolved that they too would do as well. Let us not wonder then how the leadership then has brought the military and the police to this state where just recently scandal after scandal of corruption rocked the AFP and the PNP.
There was no escaping the Marcos malaise of greed. Our whole society it seemed was infected by this corruption. And these generation of men of power, men that Marcos corrupted, who served under him and even after him, infected the many institutions they exerted their influence from. Marcos it seemed let lose a terrible plague upon our nation through these men and women, whom he gave a long grasp on absolute power, power that absolutely corrupted them. Marcos corrupted our fathers. Marcos corrupted us. Marcos corrupted our children.
We have seen three generations that have been affected by Marcos’ lust for power and greed, and even now a new generation faces an uncertain future. We cannot continue to accept the evil that pervades our people, an evil bequeathed from the past. You and I must change for our nation to change, a change that will renew our hopes because finally we have accepted the truth of our past and the truth shall make us free.
TO BE CONTINUED
