Marcos, Ferdinand

Born September 11, 1917 in Sarrat - a small town in the province of Northern Ilokos . His father, Don Mariano Marcos, was a teacher, a lawyer and a "Pulitico" (political commander) in the main city of the province - Laoag , then governor of the province of Davao on the island of Mindanao . Mother, Dona Josefa Edralin, the daughter of a wealthy landowner, taught elementary school after graduation. Following the example of his parents, Ferdinand became an ardent supporter of the Roman Catholic Church. He never smoked, drank, led a healthy lifestyle, respected Filipino customs. He spoke in three languages ​​- native Ilokan , Spanish and English .

In 1939, Marcos graduated from the Law College of the State University of the Philippines, received a bachelor of law degree with honors, and in the same year was the first in the list of those who took the exam for the master’s degree. Marcos became one of the student leaders - he performed well at rallies, led student demonstrations to the presidential palace of Malakanyang , in which he was to settle after a quarter of a century. Like at school, at the university he won almost all the top awards - the Caeson medal for eloquence, the Laurel medal for excellence in court practice, the Avancegni cup for skillful possession of polemics, and the gold medal for success in military science. On charges of murdering his father’s political rival, he was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment, but he was so skillfully defended at the second trial that after the case was reviewed, the charge was dropped.

The war in the Pacific Ocean found Marcos in the rank of lieutenant of military intelligence. According to the official version, he participated in raids on the enemy’s rear, was among the defenders of the Baatan Peninsula and the Correhidor Islands - the last support of the American and Philippine troops in the Philippine Islands. Among the 36 thousand prisoners, of whom 25 thousand died on the way, under the scorching sun, Marcos passed the famous " death march " to Camp O'Donnell concentration camp in Capaca . He fled from captivity, joined the partisans of Northern Luzon, and ended the war as a major , receiving 28 military awards - more than any of his countrymen. With the release of the country in 1944 - 1945, he was in the military legal service of USAFFE, was a member of the Guerrilla Council of Northern Luzon to verify political credibility.

After the proclamation of the independent Republic of the Philippines, Marcos served as technical assistant to President Manuel Rojas y Acuña in 1946–1948 . At the age of 27, retired Major Marcos headed the civil administration of Northern Luzon and led the Ilokan district, which for many years had become a solid base for his political career, the successful beginning of which many associate with his ability to communicate with voters. In 1949, Marcos was first elected to the House of Representatives of the Congress of the Philippines from Northern Ilokos, receiving 70 percent of the vote. “Vote for me, he convinced voters at election rallies, and in 15 years you will have an Ilokan president.” At 32, he was the youngest Filipino congressmen of the time. In 1953 he was again elected to Congress. His work at the Congress Press Club, in committees and commissions (he was chairman of the Committee on Trade and Industry, a member of the Electoral Court, as well as committees on civil service, economic planning, the committee of war veterans) was highly appreciated by the nomination of “ten outstanding congressmen ". The Manila Times newspaper wrote: “Marcos plays an important role in raising a sense of duty in the lower house.”

In 1959, Marcos is elected to the Senate. He becomes the "recognized leader of the North", especially Ilokan, the third largest national group of the Philippines. As a member of Congress, he had the opportunity in close proximity to observe the activities of the three presidents of the country - Elpidio Quirino , Ramón Magsaysaya and Carlos Garcia . As vice-president of the Liberal Party, he was one of the leaders of the opposition in relation to Diosdao Macapagalu , his immediate predecessor, elected in 1961 .

From 1963 to 1965, Marcos served as chairman of the Senate. In 1965, he ran for president, his election campaign was planned as a large-scale operation — he gave incendiary speeches about the “ethics of freedom — not freedom of solitude, but freedom of struggle.” Three terms in the House of Representatives, one in the Senate, the leadership of the Liberal Party, beautiful origins, a heroic biography, a beautiful wife, three lovely children — all this made Marcos an undoubted candidate for the presidency.

In 1965, Marcos defeated his rival Macapagala, in the blink of an eye by changing his party and becoming a candidate of the Nationalist Party , following the example of Winston Churchill (depending on the political situation that passed from the Conservative Party to the Liberal Party and back), but thereby setting a kind of record of Philippine politicking. .

Marcos took the oath as president on September 30, 1965 . Having accepted “leadership of the nation in a crisis situation,” he stated in his message to Congress: “We should not hope for anyone’s help. We must rely only on ourselves, in order to raise the economy by our own labor, improve the living conditions of the people, pursue a policy of national consolidation within the country and an independent foreign policy. ” Among the measures taken during the first term of Marcos’s presidency, the “infrastructure development program” stands out, which, unlike the previous economic policy, equally affected all the major islands of the Philippine archipelago .

Re-elected in 1969 by an overwhelming majority for a second term (this time he was opposed by Sergio Osmenya Jr., son of the first vice-president , but Marcos was unexpectedly supported by major liberal politician Cornelio Villarreal ), Marcos announced his intention to solve the most serious and difficult problems: eliminate poverty, social inequality, to overcome stagnation in agricultural production. He began an active "personal diplomacy", refusing to support the policies of the " cold war " and setting a goal to consolidate the region of Southeast Asia . According to his opponents, already at that time he began to show a desire for absolute power and intolerance for dissent - the election campaign of 1969 , in their opinion, was marked by intimidation, bribery and vote rigging. Although all these features were present in Philippine politics before the “era of Marcos,” and continued after its overthrow.

In 1972, Marcos' relations with Congress and political parties worsened. Under these conditions, on September 21, 1972, the president declared a state of emergency in the country and repealed the constitution. Already by 1973, Marcos managed to achieve a favorable balance in foreign trade, increase tax revenues by 60 percent, develop and implement the initial stage of radical land reform, create a broad political and administrative base for further transformation and overcoming the general economic stagnation. The most significant event of his government was the creation of the National Department of Economics and Development, which was entrusted with the planned management of the economy. The main focus of economic policy was proclaimed “economic nationalism”. Marcos announced a program to create a “new society - an equality society” and a “new social orientation” to improve the lives of low-income families through land reform, employment, and higher wages.

Considering himself a direct successor to the revolutionary traditions of 1896 , Marcos used every opportunity to join the glory of Jose Rizal , Apollinario Mabini and other members of the Philippine liberation movement. Apparently, he was preparing for the introduction of a state of emergency in advance, since his announcement was preceded by the publication of one of his first books - “The Revolution Today is Democracy” ( 1971 ), where he widely quoted Marx and Engels (including the Communist Manifesto ) ), Adam Smith , Jacobins , leaders of the Philippine anti-Hispanic revolution, as well as Pope Paul VI . In this book, he proclaimed a “democratic revolution from the center,” which was interpreted in two ways: as a revolution from above like the “ White Shah revolution ” and as a revolution from the midst of the masses. Subsequently, all of his writings were solemnly dedicated to the Filipino people, and after the “democratic revolution of 1972, ” as he called the coup he committed (the introduction of a state of emergency), he himself more and more often began to be favorably called the “father of the people” (Imeldu, respectively, the “mother”) and "Leader of the nation."

In 1973, Marcos introduced a new Constitution (the fourth since 1898 ). During his reign, he practiced referendums ( constitutional referendum 1973 , referendum 1973 (July) , referendum on legislative and executive power 1975 , constitutional referendum 1976 , constitutional referendum 1977 , constitutional referendum 1981 , referendum 1981 (June) ), which, like elections , held under the supervision of the military. Proclaiming the main task of achieving political and economic equality, ensuring human rights , he sent to prison on various criminal charges the majority of opposition figures to him, in particular, Benigno Aquino , Secretary General of the Liberal Party, as well as prominent representatives of the academic world, journalists, industrialists, often resorting to expropriation of their property. Many figures, fleeing persecution, were forced to emigrate.

In 1974, the Communist Party of the Philippines was legalized, the Communists were released from prison, and the party stopped the armed struggle. The president stated that "the leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines had ceased anti-government activities and had surrendered to the government." In 1976, Marcos visited Moscow, during which diplomatic relations were established between the USSR and the Philippines .

“More insidious danger” for the government than the communist and insurgent movement, Marcos considered “right-wing groups operating by legal means”. He also managed mainly to cope with “private armies”, which possessed a larger number of firearms than the armed forces of the state, and “political commanders” - the so-called “pulitics”, who traded power in Filipino society, and also reduced organized crime at the expense of reliance on the military. He managed to locate the separatist movement on the islands of Mindanao and Sulu , although to a much lesser extent.

For five years of building a “new society,” the state budget has grown 4-fold and reached 32.8 billion pesos by 1978, and by 1984 it was planned to basically complete the electrification of all cities and villages in the country. Marcos called for a "democratic revolution from the center" with the redistribution of private property and wealth. “Our society must choose, the president declared in those days, between the democratization of wealth and its destruction.” Our society needs fundamental, fundamental changes. And therefore, revolution is inevitable. ” He proposed to conduct it peacefully, ensuring “the predominance of human rights for all the people over the rights of the few”.

In 1981, Marcos issued the “proclamation number 2045”, canceling the martial law in force since 1972, and achieved an impressive electoral victory, which, however, the opposition almost completely boycotted. On August 21, 1983 , Benigno Aquino was killed, a longtime rival of Marcos, who was considered the only one capable of leading and uniting the opposition to the Marcos regime. The shadow of the killing fell on Marcos, although there were no signs of Marcos's interest in killing a popular rival, and there is still no.

February 7, 1986 held early presidential elections. Marcos' opponent was Corazon Aquino , the widow of Benigno Aquino. Juggling results were noted on both sides. Marcos was declared the winner, but Corazon Aquino called for mass protest and received strong support from the Catholic Church, and then the army. In the country, unrest began, there was a military coup. Marcos fled to Hawaii in the USA . Corazon Aquino and Minister of National Defense Fidel Ramos cleared the army from its supporters.

The last years of Marcos' life in Hawaii were overshadowed by severe kidney disease and detachment from the homeland.

The new president of the Philippines, Corazon Aquino, did not allow either Marcos or his family members to come to the Philippines for the funeral of his mother, Dona Josefa Edralin-Marcos, who died on May 4, 1988. When Marcos, already in grave condition, wanted to return to his homeland and die in his his hometown of Sarrat, he was also denied. The problem of the return of the terminally ill Marcos was seriously disturbed by the country's political circles. On this occasion, even going to the National Security Council. However, on the evening of September 28, 1989 , the expected news of the death of the former president, who had recently turned 72, came to the Philippines from Hawaii.

October 15, 1989 Marcos was buried in Hawaii. Reburied in the Cemetery of Heroes in Tagig .

In the struggle for the "happiness of the people" Marcos and his family did not forget about themselves. Their "personal economy" consisted of a multitude of flourishing industrial enterprises and services, designed in the name of relatives and friends. The provincial American magazine San Jose Mercury News in 1985 in a series of acclaimed articles tried to describe the mechanism of the huge enrichment of the "first couple", especially in areas related to the United States . But he could not determine his sources, and to date, the amount of "Marcos' money" is estimated from 5 to 10 billion dollars. Despite the moral and ethical condemnation of the president’s “personal economy”, it is obvious that, from the point of view of law, it cannot be identified with embezzlement or “robbery”. After the overthrow of Marcos, the Swiss banks froze the accounts of his family, but refused to accept the claim of the Aquino government as insufficiently substantiated, and did not recognize these contributions as property of the Philippines. By August 1987, the Special Presidential Commission on Good Governance initiated against the former president, his wife and 300 people from their entourage 35 cases of compensation for the alleged financial damage to the state, totaling $ 90 billion, by August 1987 . Of particular interest is the question of the so-called “ gold of Marcos ”: allegedly the treasures looted by Japanese armed forces in Asian countries during World War II and buried by the Japanese commander Tomoyuki Yamashita in the Philippines, whose location became known to Markos, were in his possession in 1975 . At the same time, the official presidential salary of Marcos remained unchanged from the very beginning of his rule.

Since 1977, the president has been increasingly openly abusing power with every passing year. Ferdinand Jr. led one of the provinces in Ilokos at the age of 20, while studying at a university in the United States ; the eldest daughter, Imelda Jr., led the official “Youth Council,” the second, Irene, at the age of 20, conducted the Manila Symphony Orchestra . Imelda's brother, Benjamin Romualdes, was the ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the PRC , and then to the United States. He successively appointed his childhood friend from Sarrat, Fabian Vera, to various posts: from personal presidential driver to chief of the General Staff of the Philippine army. Кстати, вооружённые силы при Маркосе возросли в 2 раза, составив 112 800 человек; было значительно увеличено денежное содержание для солдат и офицеров. При этом следует оговориться, что в принципе «семейственность», «клановость» филиппинцы не считают предосудительной, однако Маркос перешел, по-видимому, какие-то границы.

В провинциальном центре Северного Илокоса Маркос открыл новый Университет им. дона Мариано, своего отца, на базе… средней школы. На острове Палаван был основан город Маркос, одно из местечек на острове Ромблон было названо Имельда. Их именами назывались улицы, площади, колледжи, дворцы, конкурсы и фестивали искусств.

С Маркосом приятельствовали многие знаменитости его времени, его восхваляли как искренние почитатели (и на Филиппинах, и в США и остальном мире), так и специально нанятые с этой целью журналисты, писатели, художники, музыканты, скульпторы, архитекторы. Огромный портрет Ф. Маркоса был выбит в скале в горах Северного Лусона.

• http://www.tonnel.ru/?l=gzl&uid=518
• http://www.krugosvet.ru/enc/istoriya/MARKOS_FERDINAND.html
• http://www.uspex.kiev.ua/metal/dop_1/jamasita.htm
• https://web.archive.org/web/20040724061624/http://www.elib.ru/Encycl/History/SENSATION/sens27.html