Ferdinand Marcos#Death and burial

{{Main|Marcos family}}

File:Ferdinand Marcos with family 1920s.jpg

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos was born on September 11, 1917, in the town of Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, to Mariano Marcos (1897–1945) and Josefa Edralin (1893–1988).{{cite book|last=Steinberg|first=David Joel|title=The Philippines: A Singular and a Plural Place|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=8mf8YUky_mMC}}|year=2000|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-8133-3755-5|pages=[{{Google books|plainurl=y|id=8mf8YUky_mMC|page=115}} 115–116]}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} Mariano Marcos was a lawyer and congressman from Ilocos Norte, Philippines.{{Cite web |url=http://www.pcij.org/stories/2001/ties.html |title=Families Remain Strong in Congress, but their Influence is Waning |access-date=October 16, 2019 |archive-date=December 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210193242/http://pcij.org/stories/2001/ties.html |url-status=dead}} He was executed by Filipino guerillas in 1945 as a Japanese propagandist and collaborator during World War II. Drawn and quartered with the use of carabaos, his remains were left hanging on a tree.{{Cite news |last=Sharkey |first=John |date=January 24, 1986 |title=New Doubts on Marcos' War Role |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/01/24/new-doubts-on-marcos-war-role/40076661-fe6a-4695-88ea-1ee707e1c090/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105151329/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/01/24/new-doubts-on-marcos-war-role/40076661-fe6a-4695-88ea-1ee707e1c090/ |archive-date=November 5, 2021 |access-date=August 15, 2016 |newspaper=The Washington Post |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/news-feature/2016/07/04/1599425/file-no-60-family-affair|title=File No. 60: A family affair|website=Philstar.com|access-date=November 7, 2023|archive-date=May 31, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531001502/https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/news-feature/2016/07/04/1599425/file-no-60-family-affair|url-status=live}}{{cite book|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=bmxHAgAAQBAJ|page=126}}|title=Lapham's Raiders: Guerrillas in the Philippines, 1942–1945|author=Robert Lapham, Bernard Norling|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=9780813145709|date=December 6, 2013|access-date=October 25, 2020|archive-date=November 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107161419/https://books.google.com/books?id=bmxHAgAAQBAJ&q=ferdinand+marcos+father+collaborator&pg=PT126|url-status=live}} Josefa Marcos was a schoolteacher who outlived her husband – dying in 1988, two years after the Marcos family left her in Malacañang Palace, they fled into exile after the 1986 People Power Revolution, one year before her son Ferdinand's death.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/30/world/marcos-s-mother-and-her-hospital-bill-are-left-behind.html |title=Marcos's Mother, and Her Hospital Bill, Are Left Behind |date=March 30, 1986 |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 17, 2018 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217110656/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/30/world/marcos-s-mother-and-her-hospital-bill-are-left-behind.html |url-status=live}}

Marcos claimed that he was a descendant of Antonio Luna, a Filipino general during the Philippine–American War,{{cite book|last=Ocampo|first=Ambeth|title=Looking Back|publisher=Anvil Publishing, Inc|year=2010|isbn=978-971-27-2336-0|pages=20–22}} a claim since debunked by genealogist Mona Magno-Veluz.{{Cite news |date=May 8, 2022 |title=FACT CHECK: Ferdinand Marcos Sr. is a descendant of General Antonio Luna #FactsFirstPH |work=The Baguio Chronicle |url=https://thebaguiochronicle.com/fact-check/fact-check-ferdinand-marcos-sr-is-a-descendant-of-general-antonio-luna-factsfirstph/ |access-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-date=December 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219141033/https://thebaguiochronicle.com/fact-check/fact-check-ferdinand-marcos-sr-is-a-descendant-of-general-antonio-luna-factsfirstph/ |url-status=live}} He also claimed that his ancestor was a 16th-century pirate, Limahong (Chinese: 林阿鳳), who used to raid the coasts of the South China Sea.{{cite book|last=White|first=Lynn|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=4mvfBQAAQBAJ|page=16}}|title=Philippine Politics: Possibilities and Problems in a Localist Democracy|date=2014|isbn=9781317574224|page=16|publisher=Routledge|access-date=November 7, 2023|archive-date=November 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107161422/https://books.google.com/books?id=4mvfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA16#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}{{Harvp|Mijares|1976|p=255}}. He is a Chinese mestizo descendant.{{Cite journal|last=Tan|first=Antonio S.|date=1986|title=The Chinese Mestizos and the Formation of the Filipino Nationality|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/arch_0044-8613_1986_num_32_1_2316|journal=Archipel|volume=32|pages=141–162|doi=10.3406/arch.1986.2316|via=Persée|access-date=October 20, 2021|archive-date=October 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020220412/https://www.persee.fr/doc/arch_0044-8613_1986_num_32_1_2316|url-status=live}}

Marcos studied law at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Manila, attending the College of Law. He excelled in both curricular and extra-curricular activities, joining the university's swimming, boxing, and wrestling teams. He was an accomplished orator, debater, and writer for the student newspaper. While attending the UP College of Law, he joined Upsilon Sigma Phi, where he met his future colleagues in government and some of his staunchest critics.{{Cite book |title=Fraternities, sororities, societies : secrets revealed|last=Elefan |first=Ruben S. |date=1997 |publisher=St. Pauls |isbn=978-9715048477 |location=Metro Manila, Philippines |oclc=41049366}}{{page needed|date=June 2020}}{{Cite book |title=For every tear a victory |last=Spence |first=Hartzell |date=1964 |publisher=McGraw Hill |oclc=251371498}}{{page needed|date=June 2020}}

Marcos attended the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) He served as an ROTC battalion commander and was commissioned as a third lieutenant (apprentice officer) in the Philippine Constabulary Reserve. He was a member of the rifle team and a national rifle champion.

When he sat for the 1939 Bar Examinations, he was a top scorer with a score of 92.35%.{{cite news |title=Vera Files Fact Check: Post revives FALSE claim ex-president Marcos scored 98.01% in bar exams |url=https://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-check-post-revives-false-claim-ex-president |publisher=Vera Files |date=January 31, 2021 |access-date=February 8, 2021 |archive-date=February 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212041443/https://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-check-post-revives-false-claim-ex-president |url-status=live}} He graduated cum laude and was in the top ten of his class: future Chief Justice Felix Makasiar was their class salutatorian.{{Cite web|title=Chief Justice Felix V. Makasiar|url=https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/supremecourtjustices/chiefjustice/15#:~:text=About%20Him%3A,salutatorian%20for%20lack%20of%20residence.|access-date=November 7, 2023|archive-date=October 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015122514/https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/supremecourtjustices/chiefjustice/15#:~:text=About%20Him%3A,salutatorian%20for%20lack%20of%20residence.|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Ferdinand Edralin Marcos|url=http://legacy.senate.gov.ph/senators/former_senators/ferdinand_marcos.htm|website=Senate of the Philippines|access-date=September 19, 2021|archive-date=October 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027194904/http://legacy.senate.gov.ph/senators/former_senators/ferdinand_marcos.htm|url-status=live}} He was elected to the Pi Gamma Mu and the Phi Kappa Phi international honor societies, the latter giving him its Most Distinguished Member Award 37 years later.See page 32, {{cite web |url=http://www.utoledo.edu/as/pdfs/100years.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=February 6, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227223116/http://www.utoledo.edu/as/pdfs/100years.pdf |archive-date=December 27, 2010}}

File:Ferdinand_Marcos_receiving_his_Doctor_of_Laws_degree_-_Central_Philippine_University.jpg degree during the investiture of the first Filipino president of Central Philippine University, Rex D. Drilon, on April 21, 1967]]

Marcos received an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) (honoris causa) degree in 1967 from Central Philippine University.{{Cite book |last1=Nelson |first1=Larry A. |title=Scientia et Fides: The Story of Central Philippine University |last2=Herradura |first2=Elma |publisher=National Press |year=1981 |location=Iloilo City |pages=265}}

{{main|Julio Nalundasan}}

Julio Nalundasan was a Filipino lawyer/politician and a political rival of Mariano Marcos's. He was killed with a single rifle shot at his home in Batac on September 21, 1935, the day after he had defeated Marcos a second time for a seat in the National Assembly.{{Cite book|last=Mijares |first=Primitivo|title=The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos|date=2017|publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press|isbn=9789715508117|oclc=1020636692}}

In December 1938, Ferdinand Marcos, his father Mariano, and his uncles, Pio Marcos and Quirino Lizardo were both accused of murder.{{Harvp|Mijares|1976|p=237}}. According to two witnesses, the four had conspired to assassinate Nalundasan.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chanrobles.com/cralaw19391.htm|title=Chan Robles Virtual Law Library: Philippine Supreme Court Decisions On-Line|website=chanrobles.com|access-date=November 7, 2023|archive-date=October 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015122821/https://chanrobles.com/cralaw19391.htm|url-status=live}}

Ferdinand was a member of the University of the Philippines rifle team and a national rifle champion.{{cite news |last1=Killen |first1=Patrick J. |title=Marcos overcame murder conviction |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/02/02/Marcos-overcame-murder-conviction/7964507704400/ |publisher=United Press International |date=February 2, 1986 |access-date=June 30, 2021 |archive-date=September 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920180659/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/02/02/Marcos-overcame-murder-conviction/7964507704400/ |url-status=live}} Marcos's rifle was in its gun rack in the ROTC armory, that of team captain Teodoro M. Kalaw Jr. was missing.

The National Bureau of Investigation obtained evidence that Kalaw's rifle was the murder weapon. Ferdinand had access to the armory. Ferdinand and Lizardo were then convicted of the murder. Ferdinand was sentenced to 10 to 17 years in prison.{{Cite news |date=January 11, 1940 |title=Convicted of Murder |pages=5 |work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-bulletin-convicted-of-murd/12491985/ |access-date=November 16, 2023}}

Marcos appealed to the Supreme Court of the Philippines.{{Cite web |title=Marcos overcame murder conviction |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/02/02/Marcos-overcame-murder-conviction/7964507704400/ |access-date=September 21, 2023 |website=UPI Archives |archive-date=September 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920180659/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/02/02/Marcos-overcame-murder-conviction/7964507704400/ |url-status=live}} Justice Jose P. Laurel, who wrote the majority decision, had almost killed a rival during a youthful brawl. He was convicted by a trial court of frustrated murder, but was acquitted after his own appeal to the Supreme Court. Laurel pleaded for his colleagues to acquit. The Supreme Court overturned the lower court's decision on October 22, 1940, acquitting both men of all charges except contempt.Justice Jose P. Laurel penned the ponencia (in [http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1940/oct1940/gr_l-47388_1940.html People vs. Mariano Marcos, et al., 70 Phil. 468] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413015754/http://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1940/oct1940/gr_l-47388_1940.html |date=April 13, 2009}}) with which Chief Justice Ramón Avanceña, Justices Imperial, Díaz and Horilleno all concurred.{{cite news |last1=Ocampo |first1=Ambeth |title='Puppet president' |url=https://opinion.inquirer.net/87395/puppet-president |publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=August 7, 2015 |access-date=June 30, 2021 |archive-date=July 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709182433/https://opinion.inquirer.net/87395/puppet-president |url-status=live}}

{{main|Military career of Ferdinand Marcos}}

{{Expand section|date=July 2018}}

After World War II, the American government became preoccupied with the Marshall Plan, attempting to revive Western European economies, losing focus on the Philippines, which gained independence on July 4, 1946.{{Cite book |title=From Marshall Plan to debt crisis : foreign aid and development choices in the world economy |last=Wood |first=Robert Everett |date=1986 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0520055261 |location=Berkeley |oclc=13358314}}{{Cite book |title=Technocracy and development in the Philippines |author=Roman Dubsky |date=1993 |publisher=University of the Philippines Press |isbn=978-9715420167 |location=Diliman, Quezon City |oclc=30679756}} Marcos was one of eleven lawyers to act as a special prosecutor tasked to try by "process of law and justice" all those accused of collaboration with the Japanese.{{Cite book|last=Hofileña |first=Saul Jr. |title=Under the Stacks|year=2011|isbn=978-971-95130-2-5|location=Philippines|pages=312}} Eventually, Marcos ran for his father's old post as representative of the 2nd district of Ilocos Norte and won three consecutive terms, serving in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959.[http://www.senate.gov.ph/senators/former_senators/ferdinand_marcos.htm Ferdinand Edralin Marcos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224052613/http://senate.gov.ph/senators/former_senators/ferdinand_marcos.htm |date=February 24, 2009}}. Philippines Senate

File:Rep. Ferdinand E. Marcos (3rd Congress).jpg.]]

Marcos joined the "Liberal Wing" that split from the Nacionalista Party, which became the Liberal Party. He later became the Liberal Party's economic spokesman, and chaired the House Neophytes Bloc which included future president Diosdado Macapagal, future Vice President Emmanuel Pelaez and future Manila Mayor Arsenio Lacson.

Marcos then became chairman of the House Committee on Commerce and Industry and member of the House Committees on Defense, Ways and Means; Industry; Banks Currency; War Veterans; Civil Service; and on Corporations and Economic Planning. He was also a member of the Special Committee on Import and Price Controls and the Special Committee on Reparations, and of the House Electoral Tribunal.

After serving in the House for three terms, Marcos won a Senate seat in 1959 and became Senate minority floor leader in 1960. He became executive vice president of the Liberal Party and served as party president from 1961 to 1964.

From 1963 to 1965, he was Senate President. He introduced significant bills, many of which were enacted.

{{Main|1965 Philippine presidential election}}

File:Ferdinand Marcos and Fernando Lopez 1965.jpg during campaign in 1965]]

File:Marcos-1stInauguration.jpg

Marcos ran a populist campaign emphasizing that he was a medalled war hero. In 1962, Marcos claimed to be the most decorated war hero of the Philippines by garnering almost every medal and decoration that the Filipino and American governments had established.{{Harvp|Mijares|1976|p=246}}. Included in his claim of 27 war medals and decorations are those of the Distinguished Service Cross and the Medal of Honor.{{cite news |last=Reaves |first=Joseph A. |date=September 29, 1989 |title=Marcos Was More Than Just Another Deposed Dictator |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/09/29/marcos-was-more-than-just-another-deposed-dictator/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903122449/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-09-29/news/8901180123_1_mr-marcos-ferdinand-edralin-marcos-martial-law/2 |archive-date=September 3, 2014 |access-date=August 31, 2014 |work=Chicago Tribune}}{{cite web |title=US Department of Defense official database of Distinguished Service Cross recipients |url=https://valor.defense.gov/Recipients/Army-Distinguished-Service-Cross-Recipients/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823010206/https://valor.defense.gov/Recipients/Army-Distinguished-Service-Cross-Recipients// |archive-date=August 23, 2020 |access-date=November 28, 2014}} The opposition Liberal Party later confirmed that many of his war medals were awarded in 1962 to aid in his Senate election campaign. As a result, Marcos won the election.{{cite book |author=Abinales, P.N. |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=nwDzRHOc7cwC|page=156}} |title=Making Mindanao: Cotabato and Davao in the formation of the Philippine nation-state |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-971-550-349-5 |page=156}}

{{Main|List of cabinets of the Philippines#Ferdinand Marcos (1965–1986)}}

{{Infobox President styles

|name = Ferdinand Marcos

|image = 50px

|dipstyle = His Excellency

|offstyle = Your Excellency

|altstyle = Mr. President

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{{Main|First term of the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos}}

Marcos was inaugurated as the 10th president of the Philippines on December 30, 1965.{{Cite book|title=Kasaysayan, The Story of the Filipino People Volume 9:A Nation Reborn.|publisher=Asia Publishing Company Limited|year=1998|editor-last=Magno|editor-first=Alexander R.|location=Hong Kong|chapter=Democracy at the Crossroads}}

He launched an aggressive program of infrastructure development funded by foreign loans. He remained popular for most of his first term; although his popularity got flagged after debt-driven spending which triggered an inflationary crisis in November and December 1969. Major projects included the construction of the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex, which is considered one of the earliest examples of what became known as the Marcoses' edifice complex.{{Cite news |last=Villa |first=Kathleen de |date=September 16, 2017 |title=Imelda Marcos and her 'edifice complex' |url=https://business.inquirer.net/236962/imelda-marcos-edifice-complex |access-date=December 17, 2020 |archive-date=November 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111133920/https://business.inquirer.net/236962/imelda-marcos-edifice-complex |url-status=live}}{{cite book |last=Lico |first=Gerard |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=pMGTCb1Ypk4C}} |title=Edifice Complex: Power, Myth And Marcos State Architecture |date=January 30, 2003 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press}}

Marcos developed close relations with Philippine military officers and began expanding the armed forces by allowing loyal generals to stay in their positions past retirement age, or giving them government posts.{{Cite web |url=http://president.gov.ph/gov_at_work/phl-marks-29th-anniversary-of-aquinos-assassination-on-tuesday/ |title=PHL marks 29th anniversary of Aquino's assassination on Tuesday |date=August 20, 2012 |publisher=Office of the President of the Philippines |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208022821/http://president.gov.ph/gov_at_work/phl-marks-29th-anniversary-of-aquinos-assassination-on-tuesday/ |archive-date=February 8, 2016 |url-status=dead}} He gained the support of the US Johnson administration by allowing Philippine involvement in the Vietnam War via the Philippine Civic Action Group.

Marcos's first term saw the exposé of the Jabidah massacre in March 1968, where Jibin Arula (a Muslim) testified that he had been the lone survivor of a group of Moro army recruits that had been executed en-masse on Corregidor Island on March 18, 1968.{{cite news|url=http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/24025-jabidah-massacre-merdeka-sabah|title=Jabidah and Merdeka: The inside story|author1=Marites Dañguilan Vitug|author2=Glenda M. Gloria|work=Rappler|date=March 18, 2013|access-date=September 13, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913010948/http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/24025-jabidah-massacre-merdeka-sabah|archive-date=September 13, 2015|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|author=T. J. S. George|title=Revolt in Mindanao: The Rise of Islam in Philippine Politics|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=HmYKAQAAIAAJ}}|year=1980|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-580429-4}} The allegations became a major flashpoint that ignited the Moro insurgency.

File:CongressBuilding SEATO.jpg nations in front of the Congress Building in Manila, hosted by Marcos on October 24, 1966]]

One of President Marcos's earliest initiatives was to significantly expand the Philippine military. In an unprecedented move, Marcos chose to concurrently serve as his own defense secretary, giving him direct control over the military. He significantly increased the defense budget, tapping them for civil projects such as school construction. Marcos' policies led Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. to accuse Marcos in 1968 of trying to establish "a garrison state".

File:LBJ meets with Ferdinand Marcos in Manila 1966-10-23.JPG (center) meet with US President Lyndon B. Johnson (right) in Manila in October 1966.]]

Under intense pressure from the Johnson administration,{{Cite book |url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=lx0MWRuKtUkC|page=141}} |title=The Limits of Empire: The United States and Southeast Asia Since World War II |last1=McMahon |first1=Robert J. |authorlink=Robert J. McMahon |date=1999 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231108812 |page=141 |access-date=September 3, 2020 |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107161424/https://books.google.com/books?id=lx0MWRuKtUkC&pg=PA141#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}} Marcos reversed his prior position of not sending Philippine forces to Vietnam,{{cite web |last1=Jagel |first1=Matthew |title="Showing Its Flag": The United States, The Philippines, and the Vietnam War |url=https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/91307/1/showing%20its%20flag_19836-Article%20Text-46661-1-10-20130711.pdf |publisher=Northern Illinois University |access-date=July 5, 2019 |archive-date=July 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731043832/https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/91307/1/showing%20its%20flag_19836-Article%20Text-46661-1-10-20130711.pdf |url-status=live}} consenting to limited involvement.{{Cite book|last=Agoncillo|first=Teodoro|title=History of the Filipino People|publisher=C & E Publishing|year=1990|edition=8th|location=Quezon City}} He then asked Congress to approve sending a combat engineer unit. Despite opposition, the proposal was approved and Philippine troops were involved from the middle of 1966 as the Philippines Civic Action Group (PHILCAG). PHILCAG grew to a strength of some 1,600 troops in 1968. Between 1966 and 1970 over 10,000 Filipino soldiers served in Vietnam, mainly involved in civilian infrastructure projects.{{cite book |last=Celoza |first=Albert F. |url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=Sp3U1oCNKlgC}} |title=Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippines: The Political Economy of Authoritarianism |date=1997 |publisher=Praeger Publishers |isbn=978-0-275-94137-6 |access-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107161415/https://books.google.com/books?id=Sp3U1oCNKlgC&pg=PA57 |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |url-status=live}}{{rp|[{{Google books|plainurl=y|id=Sp3U1oCNKlgC}} 102–103]}}Lieutenant General Larsen, Stanley Robert (1985) [http://www.history.army.mil/books/Vietnam/allied/ch03.htm "Chapter III: The Philippines"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105005608/http://www.history.army.mil/books/Vietnam/allied/ch03.htm |date=January 5, 2008}} in Allied Participation in Vietnam, US Department of the Army

{{See also|Edifice complex}}

File:Emperor Hirohito in Philippines 1966.jpg in 1966]]

Attempting to become the first president of the third republic to be reelected, Marcos began taking massive foreign loans to fund the "rice, roads, and school buildings" he promised in his reelection campaign. With tax revenues inadequate to fund his 70% increase in infrastructure spending from 1966 to 1970, Marcos covered the gap with loans, creating a budget deficit 72% higher than the Philippine government's annual deficit from 1961 to 1965.

The Marcos administration continued this loan-funded spending throughout his reign, producing economic instability that continued for decades. Marcos's grandest first term infrastructure projects, especially the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex, marked the beginning of what critics would label his "edifice complex".{{page needed|date=June 2020}}

{{Main|Jabidah massacre|Moro conflict}}

In March 1968 Jibin Arula was fished out of Manila Bay, after he was shot. He was brought to then-Cavite Governor Delfin N. Montano, to whom he described the Jabidah massacre, saying that numerous Moro army recruits had been executed by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on March 18, 1968.{{better source needed|date=June 2020}} This became the subject of an exposé by Senator Aquino.{{cite web|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1968/03/28/jabidah-special-forces-of-evil-by-senator-benigno-s-aquino-jr/|title=Jabidah! Special Forces of Evil?|author=Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr.|publisher=Government of the Philippines|date=March 28, 1968|access-date=November 7, 2023|archive-date=December 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225182831/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1968/03/28/jabidah-special-forces-of-evil-by-senator-benigno-s-aquino-jr/|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Nasser A. Marohomsalic|title=Aristocrats of the Malay Race: A Historic of the Bangsa Moro in the Philippines|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=s3ZwAAAAMAAJ}}|year=2001|publisher=N.A. Marohomsalic}}

Although the lack of other living witnesses hampered the probe, it ignited the Moro insurgency in the Philippines. Despite numerous trials and hearings, none of the officers implicated in the massacre were convicted, leading many Filipino Muslims to believe that the "Christian" government in Manila had little regard for them.{{cite book|author=William Larousse|title=A Local Church Living for Dialogue: Muslim-Christian Relations in Mindanao-Sulu, Philippines : 1965–2000|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=qyo-Hti0-KAC}}|year=2001|publisher=Gregorian Biblical BookShop|isbn=978-88-7652-879-8|access-date=November 7, 2023|archive-date=November 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107162927/https://books.google.com/books?id=qyo-Hti0-KAC|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Cesar Adib Majul|title=The contemporary Muslim movement in the Philippines|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=6rpwAAAAMAAJ}}|date=October 1985|publisher=Mizan Press|isbn=978-0-933782-16-7}} This created a furor within the Philippine Muslim community, especially among educated youth,{{cite book|author1=Macapado Abaton Muslim|author2=Philippines. Office of the President|author3=Mindanao State University. College of Public Affairs|title=The Moro armed struggle in the Philippines: the nonviolent autonomy alternative|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=4ERxAAAAMAAJ}}|year=1994|publisher=Office of the President and College of Public Affairs, Mindanao State University|isbn=978-971-11-1130-4}}{{page needed|date=June 2020}} and among Muslim intellectuals, who had had no significant involvement in politics. The Jabidah massacre costed many Filipino Muslims their belief in opportunities for integration and accommodation.{{cite book|author=Paul J. Smith|title=Terrorism and Violence in Southeast Asia: Transnational Challenges to States and Regional Stability: Transnational Challenges to States and Regional Stability|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=nG6sBwAAQBAJ|page=5}}|date=March 26, 2015|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-45886-9|pages=5–}}

This eventually led to the formation of the Mindanao Independence Movement in 1968, the Bangsamoro Liberation Organization (BMLO) was created in 1969, and the consolidation of these various forces into the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in October 1972.{{Cite book|title = Between Integration and Secession: The Muslim Communities of the Southern Philippines, Southern Thailand and Western Burma/Myanmar|last = Yegar|first = Moshe|publisher = Lexington Books|year = 2002|pages = 267–268}}

{{Main|1969 Ferdinand Marcos presidential campaign}}{{Excerpt|Ferdinand Marcos 1969 presidential campaign}}

{{Excerpt|1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis|only=paragraphs}}

Marcos engaged in unofficial diplomacy with the Soviet Bloc, shaped by the Sino-Soviet split.{{Cite journal |last=Scalice |first=Joseph |date=June 28, 2021 |title=Cadre as informal diplomats: Ferdinand Marcos and the Soviet Bloc, 1965–1975 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02757206.2021.1946053 |journal=History and Anthropology |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=355–371 |doi=10.1080/02757206.2021.1946053 |s2cid=237790445 |issn=0275-7206 |access-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107163429/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02757206.2021.1946053 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }} The Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930 (PKP-1930), was an officially illegal organization that had endorsed Marcos in 1965. The formation of the China-aligned Communist Party of the Philippines led to government support of the Soviet-aligned PKP-1930. Some PKP-1930 members were appointed to positions within Marcos's government as salaried "researchers". Their connections were used as another channel of negotiation with the Soviet Union.

{{Main|Second term of the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos}}

{{See also|1969 Philippine presidential election}}

File:Ferdinand Marcos 1969 Inaugural.jpg Roberto Concepcion on December 30, 1969.]]

File:0238jfBaliuag Bulacan Landmark Interior Museum and Libraryfvf 08.jpg in 1973]]

Marcos was reelected on November 11, 1969, in a landslide. He was the only Filipino president to win a second full term.{{cite book|last=Timberman|first=David G.|title=A changeless land: continuity and change in Philippine politics|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|year=1991|page=63|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=NkBO2RhI4NUC|page=63}}|isbn=9789813035867}}{{cite book|author=Boudreau, Vincent|title=Resisting dictatorship: repression and protest in Southeast Asia|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-521-83989-1|page=7|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=ZpoCNHhUe7QC|page=7}}}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}{{cite book|author=Hedman, Eva-Lotta E.|title=In the name of civil society: from free election movements to people power in the Philippines|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0-8248-2921-6|page=70|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=CIYn9_ZMMesC|page=70}}}}{{cite book|author=McCoy, Alfred W.|title=Policing America's empire: the United States, the Philippines, and the rise of the surveillance state|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-299-23414-0|page=52|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=QYj6WUGsRuEC|page=52}}}} His running mate, incumbent Vice President Fernando Lopez was also elected to a third full term as Vice President of the Philippines.

Marcos's second term was characterized by social unrest, beginning with the balance of payments crisis. Opposition groups began to form, with "moderate" groups calling for political reform and "radical" groups espousing radical-left ideology.Talitha Espiritu Passionate Revolutions: The Media and the Rise and Fall of the Marcos Regime Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2017.

Marcos responded with military force. The most notable was the response to protests during the first three months of 1970 – a period known as the First Quarter Storm.{{Cite book |last=Kessler |first=Richard John |url=https://archive.org/details/rebellionrepress0000kess |title=Rebellion and repression in the Philippines |date=1989 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0300044065 |location=New Haven |oclc=19266663 |url-access=registration}}

Another major event was the Philippine Constitutional Convention of 1971. In May 1972, a delegate exposed a bribery scheme in which delegates were paid to vote with the Marcoses that implicated Imelda Marcos.{{rp|page=133}}

On August 21, 1971, a fatal bombing occurred at a political campaign rally of the opposition Liberal Party at Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila. Marcos blamed the Communist Party of the Philippines. He issued Proclamation No. 889, through which he assumed emergency powers and suspended the writ of habeas corpus. Oppositionists were accused as "radicals" and were arrested. This response ignored any distinction between moderates and radicals, already blurred since the First Quarter storm. This brought about a massive expansion of the underground socialist resistance, leading many moderate oppositionists to join the radicals. In 1972 a series of bombings in Metro Manila occurred. Marcos again blamed the communists, although the only suspects caught were linked to the Philippine Constabulary.{{Cite book |last=Brillantes |first=Alex B. Jr. |title=Dictatorship & martial law : Philippine authoritarianism in 1972 |date=1987 |publisher=University of the Philippines Diliman School of Public Administration |isbn=978-9718567012 |location=Quezon City, Philippines}}{{Cite journal |last=Overholt |first=William H. |title=The Rise and Fall of Ferdinand Marcos |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/as/article-abstract/26/11/1137/22236/The-Rise-and-Fall-of-Ferdinand-Marcos?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Asian Survey |year=1986 |volume=26 |issue=11 |pages=1137–1163 |doi=10.2307/2644313 |jstor=2644313 |issn=0004-4687 |access-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-date=October 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015122513/https://online.ucpress.edu/as/article-abstract/26/11/1137/22236/The-Rise-and-Fall-of-Ferdinand-Marcos?redirectedFrom=fulltext |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}

Marcos's second term effectively ended less than two years and nine months later, when Marcos established martial law.

Marcos's spending during the campaign triggered growing public unrest,{{cite book |last1=Robles |first1=Raissa |url=https://www.facebook.com/MarcosMartialLawNeverAgain/ |title=Marcos Martial Law: Never Again |date=2016 |publisher=Filipinos for a Better Philippines, Inc. |isbn=978-621-95443-1-3 |location=Quezon City |access-date=July 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209051128/https://www.facebook.com/MarcosMartialLawNeverAgain/ |archive-date=February 9, 2020 |url-status=live}} and led opposition figures such as Senator Lorenzo Tañada, Senator Jovito Salonga, and Senator Jose W. Diokno to accuse Marcos of wanting to stay in power beyond the two term constitutional limit.

Opposition groups quickly grew on campuses.

Media reports classified the various civil society groups opposing Marcos into either "moderates" or "radicals".{{Cite book |title=Dictatorship and revolution : roots of people's power |last=Daroy |first=Petronilo Bn. |date=1988 |publisher=Conspectus |isbn=978-9919108014 |editor-last=Javate -de Dios |editor-first=Aurora |edition= 1st |location=Metro Manila |chapter=On the Eve of Dictatorship and Revolution |oclc=19609244 |editor-last2=Daroy |editor-first2=Petronilo Bn. |editor-last3=Kalaw-Tirol |editor-first3=Lorna}} The moderates included church groups, civil libertarians, and nationalist politicians who wanted political reforms. Radicals included labor and student groups who wanted more systemic political reforms.{{Cite web |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/edsa/the-ph-protest-appendix/ |title=A History of the Philippine Political Protest |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705180022/http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/edsa/the-ph-protest-appendix/ |archive-date=July 5, 2017 |url-status=dead |access-date=December 10, 2018}}

{{See also|Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties}}

Statesmen and politicians opposed to the increasingly authoritarian administration mostly focused their efforts on political efforts. Their concerns usually included election reform, calls for a non-partisan constitutional convention, and a call for Marcos to comply with the Constitutional term limit.

Proponents included the National Union of Students in the Philippines, the National Students League (NSL), and later the Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties (MCCCL), led by Senator Jose W. Diokno.

MCCCL rallies were remembered for their diversity, attracting moderate and radical camps; and for their scale, attended by as many as 50,000 people.

{{See also|National Democracy Movement (Philippines)}}

The other broad category of opposition groups were those who wanted more systemic political reforms, usually as part of the National Democracy movement. The Marcos administration included moderate groups under the radical umbrtella.{{Cite book |last=Aquino |first=Ninoy |title=Testament from a Prison Cell |publisher=Philippine Journal, Incorporated |year=1989 |isbn=978-0962169502 |location=Los Angeles}}

Groups considered radical by the media include:

• Kabataang Makabayan (KM)
• Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan (SDK)
• Student Cultural Association of the University of the Philippines (SCAUP)
• Movement for Democratic Philippines (MDP)
• Student Power Assembly of the Philippines (SPAP)
• Malayang Pagkakaisa ng Kabataang Pilipino (MPKP)

{{Main|Communist Party of the Philippines}}

When Marcos became president, the policy and politics functioned under a postwar geopolitical framework.{{cite web |url=http://www.cadtm.org/The-World-Bank-and-the-Philippines |title=The World Bank and the Philippines |last=Toussaint |first=Eric |date=October 7, 2014 |website=www.cadtm.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091109191929/http://www.cadtm.org/The-World-Bank-and-the-Philippines |archive-date=November 9, 2009 |url-status=live |access-date=June 14, 2018}} The Philippines was caught up in the anti-communist scare perpetuated by the US during the Cold War.{{Cite journal |last=Sen |first=Rabindra |date=June 2005 |journal=Jadavpur Journal of International Relations |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=85–92 |doi=10.1177/0973598405110005 |issn=0973-5984|title=Philippines – U.S. Special Relationship: Cold War and Beyond|s2cid=157525312}} Marcos and the AFP claimed that the Communist Party of the Philippines was a threat, even though it was still a small organization.{{rp|page=43}} Richard J. Kessler claimed that Marcos "mythologized the group, investing it with a revolutionary aura that only attracted more supporters".

The unrest of 1969 to 1970, and the violent reaction to the "First Quarter Storm" protests were watershed events in which Filipino students of the 1970s were radicalized against Marcos. Many students who had previously held "moderate" positions (i.e., calling for legislative reforms) became convinced that more radical social change was required.{{Cite news |url=https://globalnation.inquirer.net/118130/remembering-the-first-quarter-storm |title=Remembering the First Quarter Storm |last=Rodis |first=Rodel |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|access-date=January 27, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150131131959/http://globalnation.inquirer.net/118130/remembering-the-first-quarter-storm/ |archive-date=January 31, 2015}}{{Cite book|title=Days of Disquiet, Nights of Rage: The First Quarter Storm & Related Events|last=Lacaba|first=Jose F.|publisher=Salinlahi Pub. House|year=1982|location=Manila|pages=11–45, 157–178}}

Other events that radicalized moderates included the February 1971 Diliman Commune; the August 1971 suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in the wake of the Plaza Miranda bombing; the September 1972 declaration of martial law; the 1980 murder of Macli-ing Dulag;{{Cite book |title=The Philippine Press Under Siege II |year=1985 |editor-last=Aureus |editor-first=Leonor J.}} and the August 1983 assassination of Ninoy Aquino.

By 1970, campus study sessions on Marxism–Leninism had become common, and many students joined organizations associated with the National Democracy Movement (ND), such as the Student Cultural Association of the University of the Philippines (SCAUP) and the Kabataang Makabayan (KM, lit. Patriotic Youth) founded by Jose Maria Sison;{{Cite news|title=Finishing the Unfinished Revolution|last=Torrevillas-Suarez|first=Domini|date=March 29, 1970|work=Philippine Panorama}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.up.edu.ph/signposts-in-the-history-of-activism-in-the-university-of-the-philippines/|title=Signposts in the History of Activism in the University of the Philippines|last=Guillermo|first=Ramon|date=February 6, 2013|website=University of the Philippines|access-date=November 19, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127024018/http://www.up.edu.ph/signposts-in-the-history-of-activism-in-the-university-of-the-philippines/|archive-date=November 27, 2016}} the Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan (SDK) was founded by a group of young writers.{{Cite web |url=http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article15837 |title=Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan: some basic information |website=Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières |access-date=April 7, 2020 |archive-date=July 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731131001/http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article15837 |url-status=live}}

The line between leftist activists and communists became blurred, as a significant number of radicalized activists joined the Communist Party of the Philippines. Radicalized activists from the cities began to be more extensively deployed in rural areas where some became guerillas.{{Cite web|date=February 14, 2011|title=The Communist Insurgency in the Philippines: Tactics and Talks|url=https://d2071andvip0wj.cloudfront.net/202-the-communist-insurgency-in-the-philippines-tactics-and-talks.pdf|website=International Crisis Group|access-date=September 19, 2021|archive-date=September 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210919162932/https://d2071andvip0wj.cloudfront.net/202-the-communist-insurgency-in-the-philippines-tactics-and-talks.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|last1=Santos|first1=Soliman M. Jr.|title=Primed and Purposeful: Armed Groups and Human Security Efforts in the Philippines|last2=Santos|first2=Paz Verdades M.|last3=Dinampo|first3=Octavio A.|last4=Kraft|first4=Herman Joseph S.|last5=Paredes|first5=Artha Kira R.|last6=Quilop|first6=Raymund Jose G.|publisher=Small Arms Survey, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies|year=2010|isbn=978-2-940415-29-8|editor-last=Rodriguez|editor-first=Diana|location=Geneva|pages=3, 17–35}}

{{Main|First Quarter Storm}}

By the time Marcos gave his State of the Nation Address on January 26, 1970, demonstrations, protests, and marches had broken out. Moderate and radical student groups became the protests' driving force, which lasted until the end of the university semester in March 1970, and came to be known as the "First Quarter Storm".{{cite book|title=Manila, My Manila|publisher=Vera-Reyes, Inc.|year=1990|author=Joaquin, Nick}}

During Marcos's address, the moderate National Union of Students of the Philippines organized a protest in front of Congress and invited student groups to join them. Some protesting students harangued Marcos as he and Imelda left the Congress building, throwing a coffin, a stuffed alligator, and stones at them.{{Cite news |url=https://globalnation.inquirer.net/118130/remembering-the-first-quarter-storm |title=Remembering the First Quarter Storm |last=Rodis |first=Rodel |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |access-date=November 27, 2018 |archive-date=January 31, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150131131959/http://globalnation.inquirer.net/118130/remembering-the-first-quarter-storm/ |url-status=live}}

The next major protest took place on January 30 in front of the presidential palace.{{Cite news |url=https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/51292-timeline-first-quarter-storm |title=Timeline: First Quarter Storm |last=Santos |first=Reynaldo Jr. |date=February 27, 2014 |work=Rappler |access-date=November 27, 2018 |archive-date=November 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127110629/https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/51292-timeline-first-quarter-storm |url-status=live}} Activists rammed through the gate with a fire truck and charged the Palace grounds tossing rocks, pillboxes, and Molotov cocktails. At least two activists were confirmed dead and several were injured by police.

Five more major protests took place around Manila before March 17, 1970 – what some media accounts later branded the "7 deadly protests of the First Quarter Storm".{{Cite news |last=Dacanay |first=Barbara Mae Naredo |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/02/24/20/the-7-deadly-protests-of-the-first-quarter-storm |title=The 7 deadly protests of the First Quarter Storm |date=February 24, 2020 |work=ABS CBN News and Public Affairs |access-date=February 28, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228094412/https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/02/24/20/the-7-deadly-protests-of-the-first-quarter-storm |archive-date=February 28, 2020}} This included rallies on February 12; a February 18 rally that proceeded to the US Embassy where they set fire to the lobby; a "Second People's Congress" demonstration on February 26; a "People's March" on March 3; and the Second "People's March" on March 17.

The protests ranged from 50,000 to 100,000 people.{{cite web|date=November 29, 2014|title=Historic role and contributions of Kabataang Makabayan » NDFP|url=http://www.ndfp.org/historic-role-and-contributions-of-kabataang-makabayan/|access-date=December 6, 2016|archive-date=August 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802164002/http://www.ndfp.org/historic-role-and-contributions-of-kabataang-makabayan/|url-status=dead}}{{Better source needed|reason=Partisan source|date=June 2020}} Students had declared a week-long boycott of classes and instead met to organize rallies.

Violent dispersals of protests have radicalized Filipino students against the Marcos administration.{{better source needed|date=June 2020}}

{{Main|Philippine Constitutional Convention of 1971}}

Civil society groups and opposition leaders began campaigning in 1967 to initiate a constitutional convention.{{Cite news |url=https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2014/10/11/1378790/chartering-change-ii |title=Chartering change (II) |last=Bautista |first=Andy |date=October 11, 2014 |work=The Philippine Star |access-date=July 25, 2018 |archive-date=July 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725122825/https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2014/10/11/1378790/chartering-change-ii |url-status=live}} On March 16 that year, the Philippine Congress made itself into a Constituent Assembly and passed Resolution No. 2, which called for a Constitutional Convention.{{Cite web |url=http://www.chanrobles.com/scdecisions/jurisprudence1970/sep1970/gr_32432_1970.php |title=G.R. No. L-32432 – Manuel B. Imbong vs. Jaime Ferrer |author=R.E. Diaz |website=www.chanrobles.com |access-date=July 25, 2018 |archive-date=July 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725122808/http://www.chanrobles.com/scdecisions/jurisprudence1970/sep1970/gr_32432_1970.php |url-status=live}}

Marcos was surprised by his critics by endorsing the move. Historians later noted that he was hoping the convention would allow presidents to serve for more than two terms.

A special election was held on November 10, 1970, to elect the convention delegates.{{rp|page=130}} The convention was convened on June 1, 1971, at Quezon City Hall.{{Cite news |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/817651/september-1972-recalling-the-last-days-and-hours-of-democracy |title=September 1972: Recalling the last days and hours of democracy |last1=Pedroso |first1=Kate |date=September 21, 2016 |access-date=October 20, 2018 |last2=Generalao |first2=Minerva |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |archive-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719173917/http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/817651/september-1972-recalling-the-last-days-and-hours-of-democracy |url-status=live}} A total of 320 delegates were elected. The most prominent were former senators Raul Manglapus and Roseller T. Lim. Other delegates later became influential political figures, including Hilario Davide Jr., Marcelo Fernan, Sotero Laurel, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Teofisto Guingona Jr., Raul Roco, Edgardo Angara, Richard Gordon, Margarito Teves, and Federico Dela Plana.{{cite book|last1=De Leon|first1=Hector S.|last2=Lugue|first2=Emilio Jr. E.|title=Textbook on the new Philippine Constitution|date=1984|publisher=Rex Book Store}}

By 1972, the convention had become bogged down by politicking and delays. Its credibility fell further in May 1972 when a delegate exposed a bribery scheme in which delegates were paid to vote in favor of the Marcoses – First Lady Imelda Marcos became implicated in the alleged scheme.{{rp|page=133}}{{Cite news |url=http://www.bantayog.org/quintero-eduardo-t/ |title=Quintero, Eduardo T. – Bantayog ng mga Bayani |date=May 16, 2016 |work=Bantayog ng mga Bayani |access-date=June 2, 2018 |archive-date=June 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621000518/http://www.bantayog.org/quintero-eduardo-t/ |url-status=live}}

The investigation was shelved when Marcos declared martial law in September 1972, and had 11 opposition delegates arrested. The remaining opposition delegates were forced to go either into exile or hiding. Within two months, an entirely new draft of the constitution was created by a special committee.{{Cite news |url=http://pcij.org/stories/in-1971-and-2006-new-charters-designed-to-keep-embattled-presidents-in-power/ |title=In 1971 and 2006, new Charters designed to keep embattled presidents in power |date=May 1, 2006 |work=Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism Website |access-date=July 25, 2018 |archive-date=July 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725122900/http://pcij.org/stories/in-1971-and-2006-new-charters-designed-to-keep-embattled-presidents-in-power/ |url-status=dead}} The 1973 constitutional plebiscite was called to ratify the new constitution, but the validity of the ratification was brought to question because Marcos replaced secret ballot voting with a system of viva voce voting by "citizen's assemblies".{{Cite book |title=Asia-Pacific constitutional systems |author=Graham Hassall |last2=Saunders |first2=Cheryl |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780511549960 |location=Cambridge |oclc=715166703}}{{rp|page=213}} The ratification of the constitution was challenged in the Ratification Cases.Bernas, Joaquin (2003). The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines: a Commentary. Rex Book Store, ManilaCruz, Isagani A. (2000). Res Gestae: A Brief History of the Supreme Court. Rex Book Store, Manila

On December 29, 1970, Philippine Military Academy instructor Lt. Victor Corpuz led New People's Army rebels in a raid on the PMA armory, capturing rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, a bazooka and thousands of rounds of ammunition.{{cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/se-asia/CH30Ae02.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130117084811/http://www.atimes.com/se-asia/CH30Ae02.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=January 17, 2013|title=Victor Corpus and Jose Almonte: The righteous spies|website=Asia Times}} In 1972, China, which was then actively supporting and arming communist insurgencies in Asia as part of Mao Zedong's People's War Doctrine, transported 1,200 M-14 and AK-47 rifles aboard the MV Karagatan for the NPA to aid its campaign to defeat the government.{{cite news|work=Rappler|url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/60279-ak47-communist-rebels|title=AK-47: NPA rebels' weapon of choice|access-date=September 20, 2016|archive-date=September 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919233513/http://www.rappler.com/nation/60279-ak47-communist-rebels|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNlJoXfAH3c |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/nNlJoXfAH3c| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=MV Karagatan, The Ship of the Chinese Communist |work =I-Witness |agency=GMA 7 |publisher=YouTube|date=November 18, 2013}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news|work=The Philippine Star|url=http://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2012/07/30/832892/untold-story-karagatan-i-witness|title=Untold story of Karagatan in I-Witness |access-date=September 20, 2016|archive-date=September 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928020948/http://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2012/07/30/832892/untold-story-karagatan-i-witness|url-status=live}}

A report by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee said that shortly after the presidential election, a group composed mostly of retired colonels and generals organized a revolutionary junta with the aim of discrediting and killing Marcos. The group was headed by Eleuterio Adevoso, a Liberal Party official. A document given to the committee by a Philippine government official alleged that Vice President Fernando Lopez and Sergio, Osmena Jr. were key figures in the plot.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/18/archives/us-killer-reported-hired-in-a-plot-against-marcos-details-reported.html|title=U.S. Killer Reported Hired In a Plot Against Marcos|last=Finney|first=John W.|date=February 18, 1973|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 7, 2017|archive-date=September 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170919052555/http://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/18/archives/us-killer-reported-hired-in-a-plot-against-marcos-details-reported.html|url-status=live}}

As early as December 1969 in a message from the US Ambassador to the US Assistant Secretary of State, the ambassador said that most of the talk about revolution and even assassination had been coming from the defeated opposition, of which Adevoso was a leading activist. He also said that his information on the assassination plans was 'hard' (well-sourced) and he wanted it to reach President Marcos.{{cite book|title=Foreign relations of the United States, 1969–1976, V. 20: Southeast Asia|publisher=Government Printing Office|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=F5r7jrDoHM4C|page=429}}|isbn=9780160876387|access-date=October 25, 2020|archive-date=November 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107163429/https://books.google.com/books?id=F5r7jrDoHM4C&q=Eleuterio+Adevoso+marcos&pg=PA429#v=snippet&q=Eleuterio%20Adevoso%20marcos&f=false|url-status=live}}{{Primary source inline|date=August 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v20/d202|title=Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XX, Southeast Asia, 1969–1972 – Office of the Historian|website=history.state.gov|access-date=December 6, 2016|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220120950/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v20/d202|url-status=live}}{{Primary source inline|date=May 2022}}

{{Excerpt|Plaza Miranda bombing}}

Unnamed former Communist Party officials alleged that "the Communist party leadership planned – and three operatives carried out – the Plaza Miranda attack in an attempt to provoke government repression and push the country towards revolution". Communist leader Jose Maria Sison had calculated that Marcos could be provoked into cracking down on his opponents, thereby driving political activists into the underground, the anonymous former officials said. Recruits were urgently needed, they said, to make use of a large influx of weapons and financial aid that China had agreed to provide."{{cite news|title=Ex-Communists Party Behind Manila Bombing|url=https://washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/08/04/ex-communists-party-behind-manila-bombing/b987c165-4f26-4609-aeb5-cd05134c0cec/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 4, 1989|access-date=April 15, 2020|archive-date=July 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731050505/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/08/04/ex-communists-party-behind-manila-bombing/b987c165-4f26-4609-aeb5-cd05134c0cec/|url-status=live}} Sison denied these claims.{{cite web |last=Distor |first=Emere |title=The Left and Democratisation in the Philippines |url=http://cpcabrisbane.org/Kasama/2003/V17n2/Quimpo.htm |access-date=October 27, 2007 |archive-date=October 31, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031051141/http://cpcabrisbane.org/Kasama/2003/V17n2/Quimpo.htm |url-status=live}} The CPP never offered official confirmation of its culpability. Marcos and his allies claimed that Benigno Aquino Jr. was part of the plot, denied by Sison.{{Cite news |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/777194/joma-sison-cpp-ninoy-have-no-role-in-plaza-miranda-bombing |title=Joma Sison: CPP, Ninoy have no role in Plaza Miranda bombing |last=Gonzales |first=Yuji Vincent |access-date=January 31, 2018 |archive-date=February 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201075438/http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/777194/joma-sison-cpp-ninoy-have-no-role-in-plaza-miranda-bombing |url-status=live}}

File:Richard Nixon with the Marcos family.png with the Marcos family in 1969]]

Some historians claim Marcos was responsible for the Plaza Miranda bombing as he is known to have used false flag operations as a pretext for martial law.{{Cite book |url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=RmMCmvYBQtMC|page=280}} |title=International Handbook of Human Rights |last1=Donnelly |first1=Jack |last2=Howard-Hassmann |first2=Rhoda E. | author2-link = Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann |date=1987 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9780313247880 |pages=280–281 |access-date=January 31, 2018 |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107163431/https://books.google.com/books?id=RmMCmvYBQtMC&pg=PA280 |url-status=live}}{{Cite book |url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=3_0TBwAAQBAJ|page=1225}} |title=World Terrorism: An Encyclopedia of Political Violence from Ancient Times to the Post-9/11 Era: An Encyclopedia of Political Violence from Ancient Times to the Post-9/11 Era |last=Ciment |first=James |date=March 10, 2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317451518 |access-date=January 31, 2018 |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107163430/https://books.google.com/books?id=3_0TBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT1225#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}} US intelligence documents declassified in the 1990s contained evidence implicating Marcos, provided by a CIA mole within the Philippine Army.{{Cite book|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=n2rdOhMdCDEC|page=94}}|title=The Contested State: American Foreign Policy and Regime Change in the Philippines|last=Blitz|first=Amy|date=2000|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780847699346|pages=106–112|access-date=January 31, 2018|archive-date=November 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107163430/https://books.google.com/books?id=n2rdOhMdCDEC&pg=PA94|url-status=live}}

Another false flag attack took place with the attempted assassination of Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile in 1972. President Nixon approved Marcos's subsequent martial law initiative.

On August 21, Marcos issued Proclamation No. 889, through which he assumed emergency powers and suspended the writ of habeas corpus.{{cite web |title=Proclamation No. 889, s. 1971 |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1971/08/21/proclamation-no-889-s-1971/ |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |access-date=June 2, 2020 |date=August 21, 1971 |archive-date=March 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309005940/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1971/08/21/proclamation-no-889-s-1971/ |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Simafrania |first=Eduardo D. |title=Commemorating Ninoy Aquino's assassination |work=The Manila Times |date=August 21, 2006 |url=http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/aug/21/yehey/opinion/20060821opi6.html |access-date=October 27, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018070946/http://manilatimes.net/national/2006/aug/21/yehey/opinion/20060821opi6.html |archive-date=October 18, 2007}}

Marcos's act forced many members of the moderate opposition, such as Edgar Jopson, to join the radicals. In the aftermath of the bombing, Marcos lumped all of the opposition together and referred to them as communists. Many former moderates fled to the radicals' mountain encampments to avoid arrest by Marcos's forces. Those disenchanted with the Marcos administration often joined the ranks of the radicals as the only group vocally opposing Marcos.{{Cite book |title=U.G. an underground tale : the journey of Edgar Jopson and the first quarter storm generation |last=Pimentel |first=Benjamin |date=2006 |publisher=Anvil Publishing, Inc |isbn=978-9712715907 |location=Pasig |oclc=81146038}}{{Page needed|date=June 2020}}

{{Main|1972 Manila bombings}}{{Excerpt|1972 Manila bombings}}

{{Main|Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos}}

{{See also|Proclamation No. 1081}}On the evening of September 23, 1972, President declared martial law for the Philippines. This marked the beginning of a 14-year period of one-man rule lasting until Marcos went into exile on February 25, 1986. Even though martial law was formally lifted on January 17, 1981, Marcos retained virtually all of his powers until he was ousted by the EDSA Revolution.{{Cite news |last=Francisco |first=Katerina |date=September 22, 2016 |title=Martial Law, the dark chapter in Philippine history |url=https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/146939-martial-law-explainer-victims-stories |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923155126/https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/146939-martial-law-explainer-victims-stories |archive-date=September 23, 2016 |access-date=June 29, 2018 |work=Rappler}} The first of these bombings took place on March 15, 1972, and the last took place on September 11, 1972,{{Cite news |author1=Minerva Generalao |author2=Kate Pedroso |date=September 21, 2016 |title=September 1972: Recalling the last days and hours of democracy |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/817651/september-1972-recalling-the-last-days-and-hours-of-democracy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015122816/https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/817651/september-1972-recalling-the-last-days-and-hours-of-democracy |archive-date=October 15, 2023 |access-date=November 7, 2023 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer}} twelve days before martial law was announced on September 23 of that year.

File:Marcos Declares Martial Law.jpg

Marcos's declaration became known on September 23, 1972, when press secretary Francisco Tatad announced{{cite news |url=http://opinion.inquirer.net/78720/the-night-marcos-declared-martial-law |title=The night Marcos declared martial law |last=Doronila |first=Amando |date=September 24, 2014 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |access-date=February 28, 2016 |archive-date=July 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711093515/http://opinion.inquirer.net/78720/the-night-marcos-declared-martial-law |url-status=live}} that Proclamation № 1081 would extend Marcos's rule beyond the two-term constitutional limit.{{cite book|author=Mendoza Jr, Amado|chapter='People Power' in the Philippines, 1983–1986|editor1=Roberts, Adam |editor2=Ash, Timothy Garton|title=Civil resistance and power politics: the experience of non-violent action from Gandhi to the present |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-955201-6 |page=181 |chapter-url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=BxOQKrCe7UUC|page=181}}}} Ruling by decree, he almost dissolved press freedom and other civil liberties, closed down Congress and the media, and ordered the arrest of opposition leaders and militant activists, including Benigno Aquino Jr., Jovito Salonga and Jose W. Diokno.{{cite book|author=Brands, H.W.|title=Bound to empire: the United States and the Philippines|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1992|isbn=978-0-19-507104-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/boundtoempireuni00bran/page/298 298]|url=https://archive.org/details/boundtoempireuni00bran|url-access=registration}}{{cite book|editor-last=Dolan|editor-first=Ronald E.|title=Philippines: A Country Study|url=http://countrystudies.us/philippines/|chapter=28. Proclamation 1081 and Martial Law|chapter-url=http://countrystudies.us/philippines/28.htm|location=Washington|publisher=GPO for the Library of Congress|year=1991|access-date=January 24, 2011|archive-date=April 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418221927/http://countrystudies.us/philippines/|url-status=live}} Marcos claimed that martial law was the prelude to creating his Bagong Lipunan, a "New Society" based on new social and political values.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

The early years of martial law met public approval,{{cite book |work=United States Congress House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs |title=The Situation and Outlook in the Philippines: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-eighth Congress, Second Session, September 20 and October 4, 1984 |date=1985 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=7 |url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=aXIOA1-mVg0C|page=7}} |access-date=March 27, 2022}}{{rp|217}} as it was believed to have caused crime rates to drop.{{cite book |last1=Vreeland |first1=Nena |title=Area Handbook for the Philippines |date=1976 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |pages=382–383 |url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=GzWWDwAAQBAJ|page=85}} |access-date=March 27, 2022}}

However, unlike Ninoy Aquino's Senate colleagues who were detained without charges, Ninoy, together with communist NPA leaders Lt. Corpuz and Bernabe Buscayno, was charged with murder, illegal possession of firearms and subversion.{{cite news|title=Max Soliven recalls Ninoy Aquino: Unbroken|url=http://asianjournalusa.com/max-soliven-recalls-ninoy-aquino-unbroken-p5828-87.htm|access-date=August 30, 2013|work=Philippines Star|date=October 10, 2008|archive-date=October 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016015855/http://asianjournalusa.com/max-soliven-recalls-ninoy-aquino-unbroken-p5828-87.htm|url-status=dead}}

{{Redirect|Bagong Lipunan|the song|Bagong Pagsilang}}

File:President Marcos and Hiroo Onoda.jpg soldier Hiroo Onoda offering his military sword to Marcos on the day of his surrender on March 11, 1974]]

One of Marcos' rationalizations for martial law stated that there was a need to "reform society"{{rp|page=66}} by placing it under the control of a "benevolent dictator" who could guide the undisciplined populace through a period of chaos.{{rp|page=29}}{{Cite news |last1=Beltran |first1=J. C. A. |last2=Chingkaw |first2=Sean S. |date=October 20, 2016 |title=On the shadows of tyranny |work=The Guidon |url=https://www.theguidon.com/1112/main/2016/10/on-the-shadows-of-tyranny/ |access-date=June 20, 2020 |archive-date=July 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731095017/https://www.theguidon.com/1112/main/2016/10/on-the-shadows-of-tyranny/ |url-status=dead}} He referred to this social engineering exercise as the bagong lipunan or "new society".{{Cite book |last=Onyebadi |first=Uche |title=Music as a platform for political communication |date=February 14, 2017 |isbn=978-1-5225-1987-4 |location=Hershey, PA |oclc=972900349}}{{rp|page=13}} His administration produced propaganda materials, including speeches, books, lectures, slogans, and numerous propaganda songs – to promote it.{{rp|page=13}}{{Cite magazine |date=September 11, 2018 |title=Listen to 'Bagong Silang,' the Most Famous of Marcos-Era Propaganda Songs |url=https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/music/the-bagong-lipunan-anthem-is-now-up-on-a-pro-fascism-youtube-channel-a00203-20180911 |magazine=Esquire Philippines |access-date=June 20, 2020 |archive-date=July 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731065137/https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/music/the-bagong-lipunan-anthem-is-now-up-on-a-pro-fascism-youtube-channel-a00203-20180911 |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |last=Navera |first=G.S. |year=2019 |title=Metaphorizing Martial Law: Constitutional Authoritarianism in Marcos's Rhetoric (1972–1985) |journal=Philippine Studies |volume=66 |issue=4|doi=10.13185/2244-1638.4362}}

According to Marcos's book Notes on the New Society, his movement urged the poor and the privileged to work as one for the common goals of society and to achieve the liberation of the Filipino people through self-realization.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}

The Marcos regime instituted a youth organization, known as Kabataang Barangay, which was led by Marcos's eldest daughter Imee. Presidential Decree 684, enacted in April 1975, encouraged youths aged 15 to 18 to go to camps and do volunteer work.{{cite book|author=McCoy, Alfred W.|title=An Anarchy of Families: State and Family in the Philippines|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-299-22984-9|page=17|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=fawaNZu-yqUC|page=17}}}}{{cite book|author=Wurfel, David|title=Filipino Politics: Development and Decay|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=1988|page=130|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=R-oK4ZetPIAC}}|isbn=978-0-8014-9926-5}}{{rp|[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=R-oK4ZetPIAC|page=130}} 130]}}

In October 1974, Marcos and PKP-1930 entered into a "national unity agreement" by which PKP-1930 would support New Society programs such as land reform, trade union reform, and including revitalized Soviet Bloc relations.{{rp|230}}{{Cite book |last1=Quimpo |first1=Susan F. |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=bd_FDAAAQBAJ}}|title=Subversive Lives: A Family Memoir of the Marcos Years |last2=Quimpo |first2=Nathan Gilbert |date=July 29, 2016 |publisher=Ohio University Press |isbn=978-0-89680-495-1 |quote=The PKP viewed Marcos as a "nationalist capitalist" exercising a degree of independence from Washington. It made a negotiated settlement with Marcos in 1974. Thereafter, Marcos publicly announced the agreement as the surrender of the PKP. On the other hand, the PKP said that it achieved legality that it had long sought. |access-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107165043/https://books.google.com/books?id=bd_FDAAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}

To instill patriotism among Filipino citizens and prevent the growing number of Chinese schools from propagating foreign ideologies, Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 176,{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Khoon Choy |title=Golden Dragon And Purple Phoenix: The Chinese And Their Multi-ethnic Descendants In Southeast Asia |date=March 26, 2013 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-4518-49-9 |page=86 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=wTa7CgAAQBAJ|page=86}} |access-date=May 3, 2022 |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107165044/https://books.google.com/books?id=wTa7CgAAQBAJ |url-status=live}} preventing educational institutions from being established exclusively for foreigners or from offering curriculum exclusively for foreigners.{{cite web |title=Presidential Decree No. 176, s. 1973 |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1973/04/16/presidential-decree-no-176-s-1973/ |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |date=April 16, 1973 |access-date=May 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903160328/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1973/04/16/presidential-decree-no-176-s-1973/ |archive-date=September 3, 2017}} It restricted Chinese language instruction to not more than 100 minutes/day.{{cite book |last1=Suryadinata |first1=Leo |title=Rise of China and the Chinese Overseas |date=January 26, 2017 |publisher=Flipside Digital Content Company Inc. |isbn=978-981-4762-66-3 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=ax1qDwAAQBAJ|page=154}} |access-date=May 3, 2022 |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107165045/https://books.google.com/books?id=ax1qDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT154#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}

Martial law was put to a vote in the 1973 Philippine martial law referendum which was marred with controversy{{Rp|page=191}} resulting in 90.77% support.

Along with Marcos, members of his Rolex 12 circle such as Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, Chief of the Philippine Constabulary Fidel Ramos, and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Fabian Ver were the chief administrators of martial law. The three remained Marcos' closest advisers until he was ousted. Peripheral members of the Rolex 12 included Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. and Lucio Tan.

Between 1972 and 1976, Marcos increased the size of the Philippine military from 65,000 to 270,000 personnel, in response to South Vietnam falling into the hands of North Vietnam and other communist successes in South East Asia. Military officers were placed on the boards of media corporations, public utilities, development projects, and other private corporations, most of whom were highly educated graduates of the Philippine Military Academy. Marcos also supported the growth of a domestic weapons-manufacturing industry and increased military spending.{{cite journal|author=Moran, Jon|title=Patterns of Corruption and Development in East Asia|journal=Third World Quarterly|volume=20|issue=3|date=June 1999|page=579|doi=10.1080/01436599913695}}

Many human rights abuses were attributed to the Philippine Constabulary then headed by future president Fidel V. Ramos. Marcos organized the Civilian Home Defense Force, a precursor to Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) to battle communist and Islamic insurgencies. It was accused of inflicting human rights violations on leftists, the NPA, Muslim insurgents, and rebels.{{cite book|author=Cesar Lumba|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=thzpCgAAQBAJ|page=132}}|title=Once Upon a Blue Dot|date=November 6, 2015|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=9781504959117|access-date=November 7, 2023|archive-date=November 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107165046/https://books.google.com/books?id=thzpCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT132#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}

By 1977, the armed forces had quadrupled and over 60,000 Filipinos had been arrested for political reasons. In 1981, Vice President George H. W. Bush praised Marcos for his "adherence to democratic principles and to the democratic processes".{{refn|name=BushMarcos|group=lower-alpha|There is some disagreement between sources about whether President Bush said principle{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Tony|title=America's Mission: The United States and the Worldwide Struggle for Democracy|year=2012|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-4202-5|page=281}}{{cite book|last=Shain|first=Yossi|title=Marketing the American Creed Abroad: Diasporas in the U.S. and Their Homelands|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=8pqj8GFCg7MC|page=79}}|year=1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-64225-5|page=79}} or principles{{cite book|last=Schmitz|first=David F.|title=The United States and Right-Wing Dictatorships, 1965–1989|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=1EV440YU6toC|page=232}}|year=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-45512-1|page=232}}{{cite journal |last1=Cheevers |first1=Jack |last2=Sherman |first2=Spencer A. |date=June 1983 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=ZOYDAAAAMBAJ|page=15}}|title=The Palace Plot |journal=Mother Jones |page=35 |issn=0362-8841}}}} No American military or politician in the 1970s ever publicly questioned Marcos' authority to fight communism in South East Asia.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

From the declaration of martial law in 1972 until 1983, the US government provided $2.5 billion in bilateral military and economic aid to Marcos, and about $5.5 billion through multilateral institutions such as the World Bank.{{cite journal|author=Bello, Walden|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40468561|title=Edging toward the Quagmire: The United States and the Philippine Crisis|journal=World Policy Journal|volume=3|issue=1|date=Winter 1985–1986|page=31|jstor=40468561}}

During the Carter administration (1977–1981) the relationship with the US had soured somewhat when Carter targeted the Philippines in his human rights campaign. Despite this, the Carter administration provided military aid to the Marcos regime.{{cite news |date=February 6, 1978 |title=Carter Asks for No Cut in Arms Aid to Marcos Despite Negative Human-Rights Report |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/06/archives/carter-asks-for-no-cut-in-arms-aid-to-marcos-despite-negative.html |work=The New York Times}}

A 1979 US Senate report stated that US officials were aware, as early as 1973, that Philippine government agents were in the United States to harass Filipino dissidents. In June 1981, two anti-Marcos labor activists were assassinated outside a union hall in Seattle. On at least one occasion, CIA agents blocked FBI investigations of Philippine agents.{{cite book|author=Shalom, Stephen R.|title=Imperial alibis: rationalizing U.S. intervention after the cold war|publisher=South End Press|year=1993|isbn=978-0-89608-448-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/imperialalibisra0000shal/page/149 149]|url=https://archive.org/details/imperialalibisra0000shal|url-access=registration}} By 1984, US President Ronald Reagan started distancing himself from the Marcos regime that he and previous American presidents had strongly supported even during martial law. The United States, which had provided hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, was crucial in buttressing Marcos's rule over the years,{{cite news |last=Pace |first=Eric |date=September 29, 1989 |title=Autocrat With a Regal Manner, Marcos Ruled for 2 Decades |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0715FE3A5E0C7A8EDDA00894D1484D81 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714124930/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0715FE3A5E0C7A8EDDA00894D1484D81 |archive-date=July 14, 2012 |access-date=January 24, 2011 |work=The New York Times}}

{{Main|Philippines–Taiwan relations|China–Philippines relations}}

Pre-Marcos, the Philippines had maintained a close relationship with Taiwan's Kuomintang-ruled Republic of China (ROC) government. Prior administrations had seen the People's Republic of China (PRC) as a security threat, due to its financial and military support of communist rebels.{{Cite journal|last=Zhao|first=Hong|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23595518|title=Sino-Philippines Relations: Moving beyond South China Sea Dispute?|journal=Journal of East Asian Affairs|volume=26|issue=2|year=2012|pages=57–76|jstor=23595518|access-date=September 14, 2021|url-access=|issn=1010-1608|archive-date=September 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914214220/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23595518|url-status=live}}

By 1969, however, Ferdinand Marcos started publicly asserting the need for the Philippines to establish a diplomatic relationship with the People's Republic of China. In his 1969 State of the Nation Address, he said:{{cite web|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1969/01/27/ferdinand-e-marcos-fourth-state-of-the-nation-address-january-27-1969/|title=Ferdinand E. Marcos, Fourth State of the Nation Address|date=January 27, 1969|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|publisher=Government of the Philippines|access-date=November 7, 2023|archive-date=May 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523184404/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1969/01/27/ferdinand-e-marcos-fourth-state-of-the-nation-address-january-27-1969/|url-status=live}} {{blockquote|We, in Asia must strive toward a modus vivendi with Red China. I reiterate this need, which is becoming more urgent each day. Before long, Communist China will have increased its striking power a thousand fold with a sophisticated delivery system for its nuclear weapons. We must prepare for that day. We must prepare to coexist peaceably with Communist China.|Ferdinand Marcos|January 1969}}

In June 1975, President Marcos visited the PRC and signed a Joint Communiqué normalizing relations between the Philippines and China. Among other things, the Communiqué stated that "there is but one China and that Taiwan is an integral part of Chinese territory..." In turn, Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai pledged that China would not intervene in the internal affairs of the Philippines nor seek to impose its policies in Asia, a move that isolated the local communist movement that China had financially and militarily supported.{{cite journal|url=http://pascn.pids.gov.ph/files/Discussions%20Papers/1999/pascndp9916.pdf|title=The Political Economy of Philippines-China Relations|author=Benito Lim|journal=Discussion Paper|publisher=Philippine APEC Study Center Network|date=September 1999|access-date=September 21, 2016|archive-date=November 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104015927/http://pascn.pids.gov.ph/files/Discussions%20Papers/1999/pascndp9916.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/149|title=Communist Party of the Philippines–New People's Army – Mapping Militant Organizations|first=Daniel|last=Cassman|website=web.stanford.edu|access-date=September 18, 2021|archive-date=December 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230081441/https://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/149|url-status=live}}

The Washington Post, in an interview with former Philippine Communist Party officials, stated that, "they (local communist party officials) wound up languishing in China for 10 years as unwilling "guests" of the (Chinese) government, feuding bitterly among themselves and with the party leadership in the Philippines".

The government subsequently captured NPA leaders Bernabe Buscayno in 1976 and Jose Maria Sison in 1977.

By 1977, reports of "gross human rights violations" had led to pressure from the international community. US President Jimmy Carter pressured the Marcos Administration to release Ninoy Aquino and to hold parliamentary elections to demonstrate that some "normalization" had begun after the declaration of martial law.{{Cite book |last=Franco |first=Jennifer |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=LIkECwAAQBAJ|page=168}} |title=Elections and Democratization in the Philippines |publisher=Routledge |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-136-54191-9 |access-date=September 3, 2020 |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107165046/https://books.google.com/books?id=LIkECwAAQBAJ&pg=PT168#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}{{rp|page=168}} Marcos did not release Aquino, but announced that the 1978 Philippine parliamentary election would be held.{{rp|page=168}}

The April 7 elections were for 166 (of the 208) regional representatives to the Interim Batasang Pambansa (parliament). The elections were contested by parties including Ninoy Aquino's new party, the Lakas ng Bayan (LABAN) and the regime's party known as the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL).

LABAN fielded 21 candidates for the Metro Manila area{{cite news |work=The Philippine Star |url=http://www.philstar.com/opinion/354387/lakas-ng-bayan-candidates |title=Lakas ng Bayan candidates |first=Alejandro R. |last=Roces |access-date=September 25, 2016 |archive-date=October 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005063047/http://www.philstar.com/opinion/354387/lakas-ng-bayan-candidates |url-status=live}} including Ninoy, activist Jerry Barican, labor leader Alex Boncayao,{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Alex-Boncayao-Brigade|title=Alex Boncayao Brigade | Filipino death squad|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=September 25, 2016|archive-date=October 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011224348/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Alex-Boncayao-Brigade|url-status=live}} Neptali Gonzales, Teofisto Guingona Jr. Ramon Mitra Jr., Aquilino Pimentel Jr., journalist Napoleon Rama, publisher Alejandro Roces, and poet-playwright Francisco Rodrigo.

Irregularities noted during the election included "prestuffed ballot boxes, phony registration, 'flying voters', manipulated election returns, and vote buying",{{Cite book |last=Case |first=William |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=is3bAAAAQBAJ}}|title=Politics in Southeast Asia: Democracy or Less |date=September 13, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-87121-4 |access-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107165047/https://books.google.com/books?id=is3bAAAAQBAJ&q=lakas+ng+bayan+1978&pg=PT306#v=onepage&q=lakas%20ng%20bayan%201978&f=false |url-status=live}}{{rp|306}} and LABAN's campaigning faced restrictions, including Marcos's refusal to let Aquino out of prison to campaign. All of the party's candidates, including Aquino, lost.

File:His excellency the President welcomes the New Zealand Prime Minister, 27 January 1980.jpg on the latter's official visit to the Philippines, 1980. New Zealand was a valuable strategic partner for the country in the last years of Marcos's rule.]]

Marcos's KBL party won 137 seats, while Pusyon Bisaya led by future Minority Floor Leader Hilario Davide Jr., won 13 seats.

In 1978, Ferdinand Marcos became Prime Minister of the Philippines, marking the return of the position for the first time since the terms of Pedro Paterno and Jorge Vargas during the American occupation. Based on Article 9 of the 1973 constitution, it had broad executive powers typical of prime ministers in other countries. The position was the official head of government, and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. All of the previous powers of the President from the 1935 Constitution were transferred to the prime minister. The prime minister also acted as head of the National Economic Development Authority. Upon his re-election to the presidency in 1981, Marcos was succeeded as prime minister by an American-educated leader and Wharton graduate, Cesar Virata, who was elected as an Assemblyman (Member of the Parliament) from Cavite in 1978.

After amending the constitution and enacting legislative,{{rp|[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=Sp3U1oCNKlgC|page=73}} 73]}} Marcos issued Proclamation 2045, which lifted martial law, on January 17, 1981,{{cite web |title=Proclamation No. 2045, s. 1981 |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1981/01/17/proclamation-no-2045-s-1981/ |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |access-date=June 2, 2020 |date=January 17, 1981 |archive-date=February 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202194842/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1981/01/17/proclamation-no-2045-s-1981/ |url-status=live}} without restoring habeas corpus for rebellion and subversion-related crimes. The lifting of martial law was synchronized with the election of US President Ronald Reagan and the visit of Pope John Paul II, to get support from Reagan and minimize Papal criticism.{{rp|[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=Sp3U1oCNKlgC|page=73}} 73]}}{{cite web|title=In many tongues, pope championed religious freedoms|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2005/04/03/Worldandnation/In_many_tongues__pope.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050424090414/http://www.sptimes.com/2005/04/03/Worldandnation/In_many_tongues__pope.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 24, 2005|work=St. Petersburg Times|access-date=August 21, 2006}}

{{Main|1981 Philippine presidential election and referendum}}

File:Ferdinand Marcos and George Shultz DA-SC-84-05877.JPEG, 1982]]

On June 16, 1981, six months after lifting martial law, the first presidential election in twelve years was held. President Marcos ran while the major opposition parties, the United Nationalists Democratic Organizations (UNIDO), a coalition of opposition parties and LABAN, boycotted the election. Marcos won a massive victory.{{cite book|title=The Philippines: a singular and a plural place |first=David Joel |last=Steinberg|publisher=Westview Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8133-3755-5 |page=135}}

Marcos' third inauguration took place on Tuesday, June 30, 1981, at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila.{{Cite speech |date=June 30, 1981 |title=Third Inaugural Address of President Marcos, June 30, 1981 |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1981/06/30/third-inaugural-address-of-president-marcos-june-30-1981/ |access-date=June 2, 2023 |publisher=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines}} Then U.S. Vice President George H. W. Bush, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, future President of China Yang Shangkun and Thai Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda attended. At the inauguration, Bush had infamous praise for Marcos: "We love your adherence to democratic principles and to the democratic process."[https://web.archive.org/web/20080304202331/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960545-4,00.html Time (magazine)] A Test for Democracy

Under martial law the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People's army was a period of significant growth.{{rp|page=43}} This continued into the 1980s. The NPA established itself in urban areas while the NDF formed relationships with legal opposition organizations – all despite Marcos' claims in January 1981 that the conflict had been "substantially contained".{{rp|[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=Sp3U1oCNKlgC|page=73}} 73]}} The killing of key leaders in Davao City in the opening years of the 1980s led the administration to claim that the CPP "backbone" in the south had broken,"{{cite news|agency=Philippine News Agency|title=Communist backbone in south broken|publisher=Times Journal |volume= X |issue= 336|date=September 23, 1982}} But the remaining leaders soon began to experiment with new tactics including urban insurrection, leading the international press to label Davao City as the "Killing Fields", and as "the Philippines' 'Murder Capital'".{{Cite news |last=Chapman |first=William |date=May 19, 1985 |title=A Philippine Laboratory Of Revolution |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1985/05/19/a-philippine-laboratory-of-revolution/a91a2664-f069-4886-8247-3c14514d3ebf/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401144754/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1985/05/19/a-philippine-laboratory-of-revolution/a91a2664-f069-4886-8247-3c14514d3ebf/ |archive-date=April 1, 2023 |access-date=January 7, 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post |issn=0190-8286}} The violence reached its peak in 1985 with 1,282 military and police deaths and 1,362 civilian deaths.

The Marcos administration's spending had relied heavily on debt since Marcos's first term in the 60s. This left the Philippines vulnerable when high inflation caused the US to raise interest rates from 1980 to 1982, which caused US recessions in 1980 and 1981.{{Cite web |title=Recession of 1981–82 {{!}} Federal Reserve History |url=https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/recession-of-1981-82 |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=www.federalreservehistory.org}}{{cite news |last1=Guido |first1=Edson Joseph |last2=de los Reyes |first2=Che |year=2017 |title=The best of times? Data debunk Marcos's economic 'golden years' |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/21/17/the-best-of-times-data-debunk-marcoss-economic-golden-years |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103210619/https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/21/17/the-best-of-times-data-debunk-marcoss-economic-golden-years |archive-date=November 3, 2018 |access-date=November 29, 2018 |work=ABS-CBN News}} The Philippine economy went into decline in 1981. Economic and political instability combined to produce the worst recession in Philippine history in 1984 and 1985, with the economy contracting by 7.3% for two successive years and poverty incidence at 49%.{{cite book |last1=Balisacan |first1=Arsenio M.|last2=Pernia|first2=Enresto |title=Poverty, Growth, and Institutions in Developing Asia |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-349-51389-5 |pages=219–246 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304752126 |access-date=April 16, 2022}}

{{Main|Assassination of Ninoy Aquino}}

File:MarcosinWashington1983.jpg

On August 21, 1983, opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated on the tarmac at Manila International Airport. He had returned to the Philippines after three years in exile in the United States, where he had a heart bypass operation after Marcos allowed him to leave the Philippines to seek medical care. Prior to his heart surgery, Ninoy, along with his two co-accused, NPA leaders Bernabe Buscayno (Commander Dante) and Lt. Victor Corpuz, were sentenced to death by a military commission on charges of murder, illegal possession of firearms and subversion.

A few months before his assassination, Ninoy had decided to return to the Philippines after his research fellowship from Harvard University had ended. The opposition blamed Marcos directly for the assassination while others blamed the military and Imelda Marcos. Popular speculation pointed to three suspects; the first was Marcos himself through his military chief Fabian Ver; the second theory pointed to Imelda, who had her own designs now that her ailing husband seemed to be getting weaker, and the third was that Danding Cojuangco planned the assassination to serve his own political ambitions.{{cite news|url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/columns/columns/view/20090819-221072/Who-ordered-the-hit-on-Ninoy-Aquino|title=Who ordered the hit on Ninoy Aquino?|last=Rodis|first=Rodel|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=August 19, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822122022/http://globalnation.inquirer.net/columns/columns/view/20090819-221072/Who-ordered-the-hit-on-Ninoy-Aquino|archive-date=August 22, 2009}} The 1985 acquittals of Ver as well as other high-ranking military officers charged with the crime were widely seen as a whitewash and a miscarriage of justice.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

On November 22, 2007, Pablo Martinez, one of the soldiers convicted in the Aquino assassination, alleged that Marcos crony Danding Cojuangco had ordered the assassination while Marcos was recuperating from his kidney transplant. Cojuangco was the cousin of Aquino's wife Corazon Cojuangco Aquino. Martinez alleged that only he and Galman knew of the assassination, and that Galman was the actual shooter, which is not corroborated by other evidence.{{cite web|url=http://archives.newsbreak-knowledge.ph/2007/11/23/transcript-of-abs-cbn-interview-with-pablo-martinez-co-accused-in-the-aquino-murder-case/|title=Transcript of ABS-CBN Interview with Pablo Martinez, co-accused in the Aquino murder case|access-date=April 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150628232250/http://archives.newsbreak-knowledge.ph/2007/11/23/transcript-of-abs-cbn-interview-with-pablo-martinez-co-accused-in-the-aquino-murder-case/|archive-date=June 28, 2015|url-status=dead}}

After the February 1986 People Power revolution swept Aquino's widow to the presidency, the Supreme Court ordered a reinvestigation of the assassination.{{Cite web|last=Grande|first=Gigi|date=August 20, 2018|title=A tale of two triggermen|url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/08/21/18/a-tale-of-two-triggermen|access-date=May 6, 2021|website=ABS-CBN News|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506205820/https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/08/21/18/a-tale-of-two-triggermen|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Panganiban|first=Artemio V.|date=August 26, 2018|title=Who masterminded Ninoy's murder?|url=https://opinion.inquirer.net/115635/masterminded-ninoys-murder|access-date=May 6, 2021|website=Inquirer|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506120041/https://opinion.inquirer.net/115635/masterminded-ninoys-murder|url-status=live}} The Sandiganbayan convicted 16 military personnel for the murder, ruling that Constable 1st Class Rogelio Moreno, one of the military escorts assigned to Aquino, "fired the fatal shot" that killed Aquino, not Galman.{{Cite web|last=Gavilan|first=Jodesz|date=August 20, 2016|title=Look Back: The Aquino assassination|url=https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/look-back-ninoy-aquino-assassination|access-date=May 6, 2021|website=Rappler|archive-date=October 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030222807/https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/look-back-ninoy-aquino-assassination|url-status=live}}

In August 1985, 56 Assemblymen signed a resolution calling for the impeachment of President Marcos for alleged diversion of US aid for personal use,{{rp|[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=n2rdOhMdCDEC|page=167}} 167–168]}} citing a July 1985 San Jose Mercury News exposé of the Marcos's multimillion-dollar US investments and property holdings.

The properties included the Crown Building, Lindenmere Estate, residential apartments, a shopping center, mansions (in London, Rome, and Honolulu), the Helen Knudsen Estate, and three condominiums.

The Assembly included in the complaint the misuse and misapplication of funds "for the construction of the Manila Film Center, where X-rated and pornographic films{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} are exhibited, contrary to public morals and Filipino customs and traditions." The impeachment attempt gained little traction, however, even in the light of this incendiary charge; the committee to which the impeachment resolution was referred did not recommend it, and any momentum for removing Marcos under constitutional processes soon died.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}

{{See also|People Power Revolution}}

During his third term, Marcos's health deteriorated rapidly due to kidney ailments, as a complication of a chronic autoimmune disease lupus erythematosus. He had a kidney transplant in August 1983, and when his body rejected the first kidney transplant, he underwent a second transplant in November 1984.{{cite news|title=Marcos Underwent Kidney Transplants, Doctors Say|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-11-11-mn-3824-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=November 11, 1985|access-date=February 20, 2020|archive-date=January 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119092425/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-11-11/news/mn-3824_1_kidney-transplants|url-status=live}} A palace physician who alleged that during one of these periods Marcos had undergone a kidney transplant was shortly afterwards found murdered. Police said he was kidnapped and slain by communist rebels. Many people questioned whether Marcos had capacity to govern, due to his illness and the burgeoning political unrest.{{rp|[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=R-oK4ZetPIAC|page=289}} 289]}} With Marcos ailing, Imelda emerged as the government's main public figure.

{{Excerpt|Economy of the Philippines under Ferdinand Marcos}}{{Infobox

|title = Economy of the Philippines under
President Ferdinand Marcos
1966–1971

|bodystyle = width:26em; padding: 0px;

|abovestyle = background: lightblue;

|headerstyle = background: lightblue;

|header1 = Population

|label2 = 1967

|data2 = $\backslash approx$ 33.71 million

|header3 = Gross Domestic Product (1985 constant prices)

|label4 = 1966

|data4 = {{increase}} ₱285,886 million

|label5 = 1971

|data5 = {{increase}} ₱361,791 million

|label6 = Growth rate, 1966–71 average

|data6 = 4.75%

|header7 = Per capita income (1985 constant prices)

|label8 = 1967

|data8 = {{increase}} ₱8,932

|label9 = 1971

|data9 = {{increase}} ₱9,546

|header10 = Total exports

|label11 = 1966

|data11 = {{increase}} ₱70,254 million

|label12 = 1971

|data12 = {{decrease}} ₱63,626 million

|header13 = Exchange rates

|data14 = USD1 = ₱6.44
₱1 = USD0.16

|data15 = Sources:{{cite web|url=http://malacanang.gov.ph/presidents/fourth-republic/ferdinand-marcos/#efs-tabpane-1-3|title=malacanang.gov.ph|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826033152/http://malacanang.gov.ph/presidents/fourth-republic/ferdinand-marcos/#efs-tabpane-1-3|archive-date=August 26, 2012}}

}}

{{Main|1986 Philippine presidential election}}

{{POV section|date=February 2023}}

In late 1985, in the face of escalating public discontent and under pressure from foreign allies, Marcos called a snap election with more than a year left in his term. He selected Arturo Tolentino as his running mate. The opposition to Marcos united behind two American-educated leaders, Aquino's widow, Corazon, and her running mate, Salvador Laurel.{{cite book|author=Pollard, Vincent Kelly|title=Globalization, democratization and Asian leadership: power sharing, foreign policy and society in the Philippines and Japan|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|year=2004|isbn=978-0-7546-1539-2|page=50|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=L37RZlzA530C|page=50}}}}{{cite book|author=Parnell, Philip C.|chapter=Criminalizing Colonialism: Democracy Meets Law in Manila|editor1=Parnell, Philip C. |editor2=Kane, Stephanie C.|title=Crime's power: anthropologists and the ethnography of crime|publisher=Palgrave-Macmillan|year=2003|isbn=978-1-4039-6179-2|page=214|chapter-url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=j2hpz4_fob4C|page=214}}}}

File:Corazon Aquino inauguration.jpg, widow of the assassinated opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr., takes the Oath of Office on February 25, 1986.]]

Marcos's World War II medals were first questioned by the foreign press during this campaign. During a campaign in Manila's Tondo district, Marcos retorted:{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-23-mn-28079-story.html|title=Marcos Blasts U.S. Reports He Was a Phony War Hero: American Records Fail to Back Him|date=January 23, 1986|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=February 20, 2020|archive-date=October 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010145000/http://articles.latimes.com/1986-01-23/news/mn-28079_1_war-record|url-status=live}}

{{Blockquote|You who are here in Tondo and fought under me and who were part of my guerrilla organization—you answer them, these crazy individuals, especially the foreign press. Our opponents say Marcos was not a real guerrilla. Look at them. These people who were collaborating with the enemy when we were fighting the enemy. Now they have the nerve to question my war record. I will not pay any attention to their accusation.|Ferdinand Marcos|January 1986}}

Marcos was referring to both presidential candidate Corazon Aquino's father-in-law Benigno Aquino Sr. and vice presidential candidate Salvador Laurel's father, former president José P. Laurel.

The elections were held on February 7, 1986.{{cite book|last1=Zunes|first1=Stephen|last2=Asher|first2=Sarah Beth|last3=Kurtz|first3=Lester|title=Nonviolent Social Movements: A Geographical Perspective|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=rlIH-NQbFQgC|page=129}}|date=November 5, 1999|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-1-57718-076-0|page=129|access-date=May 14, 2016|archive-date=November 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107165602/https://books.google.com/books?id=rlIH-NQbFQgC&pg=PA129|url-status=live}} The official election canvasser, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), declared Marcos the winner. The final tally of the COMELEC had Marcos winning with 10,807,197 votes against Aquino's 9,291,761 votes. On the other hand, the partial 69% tally of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), an accredited poll watcher, had Aquino winning with 7,502,601 votes against Marcos's 6,787,556 votes. Cheating was reported on both sides.{{cite web|url=http://www.namfrel.com.ph/v2/photogallery/1986-tallyboard2.php|title=NAMFREL|website=www.namfrel.com.ph|access-date=September 20, 2016|archive-date=August 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809053035/http://www.namfrel.com.ph/v2/photogallery/1986-tallyboard2.php|url-status=dead}} This electoral exercise was marred by widespread reports of violence and election tampering.

The fraud culminated in the walkout of 35 COMELEC computer technicians to advance their claim that the official election results were manipulated to favor Ferdinand Marcos, according to their testimonies, which were never validated. The walkout was led by Linda Kapunan{{cite web|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1990/10/03/the-final-report-of-the-fact-finding-commission-iv-military-intervention-in-the-philippines-1986-1987/|title=The Final Report of the Fact-Finding Commission: IV: Military Intervention in the Philippines: 1986 – 1987|date=October 3, 1990|publisher=Official Gazette of the Government of the Philippines|access-date=July 22, 2017|archive-date=October 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021023713/http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1990/10/03/the-final-report-of-the-fact-finding-commission-iv-military-intervention-in-the-philippines-1986-1987/|url-status=dead}} and the technicians were protected by Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) officers led by her husband, Lt. Col. Eduardo "Red" Kapunan.

In the last months of Marcos's administration, the Soviet Union stepped up relations and was the only major country to officially congratulate Marcos on his disputed election victory.{{Cite web |title=Collapes of Marcos regime ends Soviet courtship |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/03/02/Collapes-of-Marcos-regime-ends-Soviet-courtship/7612510123600/ |access-date=September 2, 2022 |website=UPI |archive-date=March 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311110225/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/03/02/Collapes-of-Marcos-regime-ends-Soviet-courtship/7612510123600 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |date=February 20, 1986 |title=MARCOS REPORTS SOVIET GREETINGS |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/20/world/marcos-reports-soviet-greetings.html |access-date=September 2, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015123425/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/20/world/marcos-reports-soviet-greetings.html |url-status=live}} Marcos had provided favors to the Soviets such as allowing the banned Philippine Communist Party to visit the Soviet Union for consultations.{{Cite news |author= |date=February 23, 1986 |title=IN SOVIET, A SHIFT TO INCREASING SUPPORT FOR MARCOS |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/23/world/in-soviet-a-shift-to-increasing-support-for-marcos.html |access-date=September 2, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015121957/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/23/world/in-soviet-a-shift-to-increasing-support-for-marcos.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |last=Morris |first=Stephen J |date=1994 |title=The Soviet Union and the Philippine Communist Movement |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45301887 |journal=Communist and Post-Communist Studies |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=77–93 |doi=10.1016/0967-067X(94)90031-0 |jstor=45301887 |issn=0967-067X |access-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-date=October 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015122611/https://www.jstor.org/stable/45301887 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }} A UPI article from March 1986 reported, "Diplomats in Moscow believe the Soviet government totally misjudged Marcos' power to control events. They speculate that Moscow considered his control of legal bodies and his readiness to be 'ruthless' would thwart any popular opposition."

{{Main|February 1986 Reform the Armed Forces Movement coup|People Power Revolution}}

{{POV section|date=February 2023}}

The election gave a decisive boost to the "People Power movement". Enrile and Ramos later abandoned Marcos, switched sides and sought protection behind the 1986 People Power Revolution, backed by fellow-American educated Eugenio Lopez Jr., Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, and the old political and economic elites. RAM, led by Lt. Col. Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan and backed by Enrile had plotted a coup d'état to seize Malacañang and kill Marcos and his family.{{cite news|url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/84953-gringo-plot-kill-marcos-almonte-memoir|title=Gringo plotted to kill Marcos – Almonte|work=Rappler|access-date=September 11, 2016|archive-date=January 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128120522/http://www.rappler.com/nation/84953-gringo-plot-kill-marcos-almonte-memoir|url-status=live}}

At the height of the revolution, Enrile claimed that a purported ambush attempt against him years earlier was in fact faked, in order for Marcos to have a pretext for imposing martial law. Enrile later retracted this statement, and in 2012, he claimed that the ambush was real.{{Cite web|url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/blogs/insights/11/06/12/enrile-retracts-act-contrition-he-made-when-he-thought-he-was-facing-death-1|title=Enrile retracts 'Act of Contrition' he made when he thought he was facing death in 1986|first=Raïssa |last=Robles|date=November 6, 2012|website=ABS-CBN News|access-date=June 17, 2020|archive-date=June 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617172750/https://news.abs-cbn.com/blogs/insights/11/06/12/enrile-retracts-act-contrition-he-made-when-he-thought-he-was-facing-death-1|url-status=live}} Marcos continually maintained that he was the duly elected president for a fourth term, but was unfairly and illegally deprived of his right to serve it. On February 25, 1986, rival presidential inaugurations were held,{{Citation |last=Crisostomo |first=Isabelo T. |title=Cory, Profile of a President: The Historic Rise to Power of Corazon |publisher=Branden Books |isbn=978-0-8283-1913-3 |page=257 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=iW_ddLowBYkC|page=257}} |access-date=December 3, 2007 |date=April 1, 1987 |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107165557/https://books.google.com/books?id=iW_ddLowBYkC&pg=PA257 |url-status=live}}. but as Aquino supporters overran parts of Manila and seized state broadcaster PTV-4, Marcos was forced to flee.{{Citation |author1=Paul Sagmayao Mercado |author2=Francisco S. Tatad |title=People Power: The Philippine Revolution of 1986: An Eyewitness History |publisher=The James B. Reuter, S.J., Foundation |year=1986 |location=Manila, Philippines |oclc=16874890}}

File:President Ronald Reagan with President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos and Imelda Marcos.jpg in 1982]]

At 15:00 PST (GMT+8) on February 25, 1986, Marcos talked to United States Senator Paul Laxalt, a close associate of President Reagan, asking for advice. Laxalt advised him to "cut and cut cleanly", to which Marcos expressed his disappointment.{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/02/26/marcos-flees-aquino-rules/ |title=Marcos Flees, Aquino Rules |work=Chicago Tribune |date=February 26, 1986 |last1=de Lama |first1=George |last2=Collin |first2=Dorothy |access-date=February 3, 2014 |archive-date=October 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010145555/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-02-26/news/8601140956_1_marcos-final-destination-marcos-flight-ferdinand-e-marcos |url-status=live}} In the afternoon, Marcos talked to Enrile, asking for safe passage for him and his family, including close allies such as General Ver. Finally, at 9:00 p.m., the Marcos family was transported by four Sikorsky HH-3E helicopters{{cite book|author=Halperin, Jonathan J.|title=The Other Side: How Soviets and Americans Perceive Each Other|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-0-88738-687-9|page=63|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=H1so7Od--csC|page=63}}|year=1987|access-date=September 3, 2020|archive-date=November 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107165558/https://books.google.com/books?id=H1so7Od--csC&pg=PA63#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} to Clark Air Base in Angeles City, about 83 kilometers north of Manila, before boarding US Air Force C-130 planes bound for Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, and finally to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii where Marcos arrived on February 26.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/26/world/marcos-flees-and-is-taken-to-guam-us-recognizes-aquino-as-president.html|title=Marcos Flees and is Taken to Guam; U.S. Recognizes Aquino As President|first1=Seth|last1=Mydans|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 26, 1986|access-date=September 11, 2020|archive-date=September 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200915140004/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/26/world/marcos-flees-and-is-taken-to-guam-us-recognizes-aquino-as-president.html|url-status=live}} He also brought with him 22 crates of cash valued at $717 million, 300 crates of assorted jewelry, $4 million worth of unset precious gems, 65 Seiko and Cartier watches, a 12 by 4 ft box full of pearls, a 3 ft solid gold statue covered in diamonds and other precious stones, $200,000 in gold bullion, nearly $1 million in Philippine pesos, and deposit slips to banks in the United States, Switzerland, and the Cayman Islands worth $124 million.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/556744/news/specialreports/what-marcoses-brought-to-hawaii-after-fleeing-phl-in-86-717-m-in-cash-124-m-in-deposit-slips/|title=What Marcoses brought to Hawaii after fleeing PHL in '86: $717-M in cash, $124-M in deposit slips|website=GMA News Online|date=February 25, 2016|access-date=November 7, 2023|archive-date=February 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208024530/http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/556744/news/specialreports/what-marcoses-brought-to-hawaii-after-fleeing-phl-in-86-717-m-in-cash-124-m-in-deposit-slips|url-status=live}}

Initially, there was confusion in Washington as to what to do with Marcos and the 90 members of his entourage.{{cite news |title=List of Marcos' Companions Released With PM-Philippines Bjt |url=https://apnews.com/article/c7e5627bdace0aeb2197fc1cad669a75 |access-date=June 11, 2021 |work=Associated Press |date=March 11, 1986 |archive-date=June 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611035612/https://apnews.com/article/c7e5627bdace0aeb2197fc1cad669a75 |url-status=live}} Given the special relations Marcos nurtured with Reagan, the former had expectations of favorable treatment. However, Reagan kept his distance. The State Department in turn assigned former Deputy Chief of Mission to Manila, Robert G. Rich Jr. to be the point of contact. The entourage was first billeted inside the housing facilities of Hickam Air Force Base. The State Department announced the Marcoses were not immune from legal charges, and within weeks hundreds of cases had been filed against them.{{cite web |title=The End of an Era—Handholding Ferdinand Marcos in Exile |url=https://adst.org/2015/02/the-end-of-an-era-handholding-ferdinand-marcos-in-exile/ |website=Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training |date=February 18, 2015 |publisher=Association of Diplomatic Studies & Training |access-date=June 11, 2021 |archive-date=June 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611035613/https://adst.org/2015/02/the-end-of-an-era-handholding-ferdinand-marcos-in-exile/ |url-status=live}}

Throughout his stay in Hawaii, he and his family enjoyed a high life, living in a luxurious house in Makiki Heights, as Imelda entertained guests at parties,{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/16/us/marcos-and-wife-enjoy-the-high-life-in-hawaii.html |title=Marcos and Wife Enjoy The High Life in Hawaii |first1=Kendall J. |last1=Wills |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 16, 1988 |access-date=September 11, 2020 |archive-date=March 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302202248/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/16/us/marcos-and-wife-enjoy-the-high-life-in-hawaii.html |url-status=live}} while Filipinos back in the Philippines suffered under the debt Marcos incurred.{{Cite web|url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/774774/well-pay-marcos-debt-until-2025|title='We'll pay Marcos debt until 2025'|date=March 18, 2016|website=INQUIRER.net|access-date=September 11, 2020|archive-date=September 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913031320/https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/774774/well-pay-marcos-debt-until-2025|url-status=live}}

When protestors stormed Malacañang Palace shortly after their departure, it was notoriously discovered that Imelda had left behind over 2,700 pairs of shoes.{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |title=Ferdinand E. Marcos |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/364302/Ferdinand-E-Marcos |access-date=November 19, 2007 |archive-date=May 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512072139/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/364302/Ferdinand-E-Marcos |url-status=live}} The protesters looted and vandalized the palace, many stole documents, jewelry, food, typewriters, etc.{{Cite web |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/02/25/Jubilant-Filipinos-loot-Marcos-Malacanang-palace/2403509691600/ |title=Jubilant Filipinos loot Marcos' Malacanang palace |website=UPI |access-date=November 7, 2023 |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507064304/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/02/25/Jubilant-Filipinos-loot-Marcos-Malacanang-palace/2403509691600/ |url-status=live}}

The Catholic hierarchy and Manila's middle class were crucial to the success of the revolution. Contrary to the widely-held notion that the protests were limited to Manila, protests against Marcos also occurred in the provinces and on the islands of Visayas and Mindanao.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mindanews.com/mindaviews/2021/03/reflections-edsa-from-the-eyes-of-a-mindanawon/|title=REFLECTIONS: EDSA from the Eyes of a Mindanawon|first=Mags Z.|last=Maglana|date=March 7, 2021|access-date=March 11, 2021|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308121827/https://www.mindanews.com/mindaviews/2021/03/reflections-edsa-from-the-eyes-of-a-mindanawon/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://mindanaogoldstardaily.com/people-power-was-not-just-on-edsa/|title=People Power was not just on Edsa|website=Mindanao Gold Star Daily|date=February 28, 2020|access-date=March 11, 2021|archive-date=May 31, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531001738/https://mindanaogoldstardaily.com/people-power-was-not-just-on-edsa/|url-status=live}}

More than a year after the revolution, it was revealed to the United States House Foreign Affairs subcommittee in 1987 that Marcos held an intention to return to the Philippines and overthrow the Aquino government. American attorney Richard Hirschfeld and business consultant Robert Chastain, both of whom posed as arms dealers, gained knowledge of a plot by gaining Marcos's trust and secretly recorded their conversations with the ousted leader.

According to Hirschfeld, he was first invited by Marcos to a party held at the latter's family residence in Honolulu. After hearing that one of Hirschfeld's clients was Saudi Sheikh Mohammad Fassi, Marcos's interest was piqued because he had done business with Saudis in the past. A few weeks later, Marcos asked for help with securing a passport from another country, in order to travel to the Philippines while bypassing travel restrictions imposed by the Philippines and United States governments. This failed, however, and subsequently Marcos asked Hirschfeld to arrange a $10-million loan from Fassi.

On January 12, 1987, Marcos stated to Hirschfeld that he required another $5-million loan "in order to pay 10,000 soldiers $500 each as a form of "combat life insurance". When asked by Hirschfeld if he was talking about an invasion of the Philippines, Marcos responded, "Yes". Hirschfeld stated that Marcos said that he was negotiating with several arms dealers to purchase up to $18 million worth of weapons, including tanks and heat-seeking missiles, and enough ammunition to "last an army three months".

Marcos had thought of flying to his hometown in Ilocos Norte and initiating a plot to kidnap Corazon Aquino. "What I would like to see happen is we take her hostage", Marcos told Chastain. "Not to hurt her ... no reason to hurt her ... to take her."

Learning of this plan, Hirschfeld contacted the US Department of Justice, and was asked for further evidence. This information eventually reached President Ronald Reagan, who placed Marcos under "island arrest", further limiting his movement.{{Cite news|url=https://www.apnews.com/1b750440d5a491184f5b2a91533774c1|title=Former Philippine President Marcos Reveals Plan to Invade Homeland|work=AP News|access-date=July 8, 2018|archive-date=July 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708191844/https://www.apnews.com/1b750440d5a491184f5b2a91533774c1|url-status=dead}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-07-10-mn-1939-story.html|title=10,000 Troops, Billions in Gold: House Panel Hears Tapes of Marcos Plotting coup|last=GETLIN|first=JOSH|date=July 10, 1987|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=July 8, 2018|issn=0458-3035|archive-date=November 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107165526/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-07-10-mn-1939-story.html|url-status=live}}

Within two weeks of his arrival to the United States, hundreds of criminal and civil cases against the Marcos clique were filed in Hawaii, San Francisco, and New York. Marcos made personal appeals to Reagan to put a stop to these cases. In June 1988 National Security Advisor Colin Powell recommended proceeding with indictments of the Marcoses, as he reviewed the cases as forwarded by United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Rudy Giuliani. Reagan tacitly approved.{{cite web |title=Collection: WHORM Subject Files Folder Title:CO 125 (Philippines) 560000-574999 Box 153 |url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/whormsubject/co125/box-153/40-654-6282802-153-009-2018.pdf |website=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library |publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Digital Library Collections |access-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614013620/https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/whormsubject/co125/box-153/40-654-6282802-153-009-2018.pdf |url-status=live}} On August 4, Marcos stated that he had head of state immunity to resist subpoenas by a federal grand jury to produce his finger and palm prints, and failed to consent to investigators to review his bank accounts. By August 18, a bench warrant of arrest was issued against the Marcoses. By October of that year, Reagan personally wrote to Marcos informing him that he believed in his innocence of the charges against him, but reminding him that the case was out of his hands. He assured him that they would have every opportunity to prove their innocence.{{cite web |title=Folder Title:CO 125 (Philippines) 589090 (1) Box: 153 |url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/whormsubject/co125/box-153/40-654-6282802-153-012-2018.pdf |website=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library |access-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614020802/https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/whormsubject/co125/box-153/40-654-6282802-153-012-2018.pdf |url-status=live}}

Giuliani pressed for indicting the Marcoses for violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). The RICO Act focuses specifically on racketeering and allows the leaders of a syndicate to be tried for the crimes they ordered others to do or assisted them in doing. For example, before RICO, a person who instructed someone else to murder could be exempt from prosecution because they did not personally commit the crime. In his next letter to President Reagan on October 20, Marcos complained that Giuliani was giving them nothing but an ultimatum to plead guilty, and even to testify against others, including his own family.

Ferdinand was baptized and raised into the Philippine Independent Church.{{rp|23}}

Marcos lived with a common-law wife, Carmen Ortega, an Ilocana mestiza who was 1949 Miss Press Photography. They had three children and resided for about two years at 204 Ortega Street in San Juan. In August 1953, their engagement was announced in Manila dailies.{{cite news |last1=Reyes |first1=Miguel Paolo P. |last2=Ariate |first2=Joel F. |date=July 18, 2021 |title=Ferdie and Meldy's House of love, lies, and loot |url=https://verafiles.org/articles/ferdie-and-meldys-house-love-lies-and-loot |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216141137/https://verafiles.org/articles/ferdie-and-meldys-house-love-lies-and-loot |archive-date=December 16, 2022 |access-date=November 7, 2023 |publisher=Vera Files}}

Not much is known about what happened to Ortega and their children. He subsequently converted to Catholicism in later life to marry Imelda Trinidad Romualdez.{{Cite web |title=Ferdinand Marcos |url=https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/ferdinand-marcos |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121145120/https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/ferdinand-marcos |archive-date=November 21, 2022 |access-date=November 21, 2022 |website=Harvard University official website |publisher=Religious and Public Life, Harvard Divinity School}} They married on April 17, 1954, 11 days after they first met. They had three biological children: Imee, Bongbong and Irene Marcos.{{cite web |title=Ferdinand E. Marcos |url=http://malacanang.gov.ph/presidents/fourth-republic/ferdinand-marcos/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826033152/http://malacanang.gov.ph/presidents/fourth-republic/ferdinand-marcos/ |archive-date=August 26, 2012 |access-date=March 10, 2016 |website=GOVPH}} Marcos's fourth child with Ortega was born after his marriage to Imelda. Marcos and Imelda later adopted a daughter, Aimee.{{Cite web |date=November 24, 2012 |title=A dynasty on steroids |url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/a-dynasty-on-steroids-20121118-29kwy.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318181437/http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/a-dynasty-on-steroids-20121118-29kwy.html |archive-date=March 18, 2016 |access-date=March 10, 2016 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald}}

Marcos had an affair with American actress Dovie Beams from 1968 to 1970. According to reports by the Sydney Morning Herald, Marcos also had an affair with former Playboy model Evelin Hegyesi around 1970 and sired a child with her, Analisa Josefa.{{cite news |date=July 24, 2004 |title=Hunt for tyrant's millions leads to former model's home |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/hunt-for-tyrants-millions-leads-to-former-models-home-20040704-gdj9hj.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216141131/https://www.smh.com.au/national/hunt-for-tyrants-millions-leads-to-former-models-home-20040704-gdj9hj.html |archive-date=December 16, 2022 |access-date=November 7, 2023 |publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald}}{{cite news|last=Abad|first=Michelle|title=Marcos Jr.'s alleged half-sister banned from drinking on planes after mid-air brawl|url=https://www.rappler.com/philippines/marcos-jr-alleged-half-sister-analisa-corr-banned-plane-drinking-mid-air-brawl/|access-date=January 11, 2025|work=Rappler|publisher=Rappler Inc.|date=January 11, 2025|location=Manila, Philippines|quote=Reports say Analisa works as an interior designer and photographer in Australia.}}

{{See also|Burial of Ferdinand Marcos}}

File:Ferdinand E. Marcos Presidential Center sign.jpg in Batac, Ilocos Norte until 2016.]]

Marcos was admitted to the hospital on January 15, 1989, with pneumonia and underwent a series of operations.{{Cite web|title=The Glasgow Herald – Google News Archive Search|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BTFAAAAAIBAJ&pg=4150,3739287|access-date=September 22, 2020|website=news.google.com|archive-date=April 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220430014904/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BTFAAAAAIBAJ&pg=4150,3739287|url-status=live}} In his dying days, Marcos was visited by Vice President Salvador Laurel.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/04/world/aquino-s-vice-president-asks-sympathy-for-ailing-marcos.html |title=Aquino's Vice President Asks Sympathy for Ailing Marcos |journal=The New York Times |date=February 4, 1989 |access-date=February 7, 2017 |archive-date=February 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208051042/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/04/world/aquino-s-vice-president-asks-sympathy-for-ailing-marcos.html |url-status=live}} During the visit, Marcos offered to return 90% of his ill-gotten wealth to the Filipino people in exchange for a burial in the Philippines beside his mother, an offer also disclosed to Enrique Zobel. However, Marcos's offer was rebuffed by the Aquino government and by Imelda.{{cite web|url=http://www.doylaurel.ph/from_the_lips_of_a_dying_president.html|title=Two Great Activities in the Philippines|publisher=doylaurel.ph|access-date=July 22, 2017|archive-date=November 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121194550/http://www.doylaurel.ph/from_the_lips_of_a_dying_president.html|url-status=live}}{{verify source|date=July 2017}}{{cite news|url=http://www.philstar.com/opinion/142497/doy-macoy-yorac-corner|title=Doy on Macoy|work=The Philippine Star|access-date=September 20, 2016|archive-date=September 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924071551/http://www.philstar.com/opinion/142497/doy-macoy-yorac-corner|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1036706|title=Marcos' message to Mrs. Aquino|website=CNN iReport|access-date=September 11, 2016|archive-date=October 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010145627/http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1036706|url-status=live}}

Marcos died at St. Francis Medical Center in Honolulu at 12:40 a.m (HST) on September 28, 1989, of kidney, heart, and lung ailments, 17 days after his 72nd birthday.{{Cite web|title=Manila Standard – Google News Archive Search|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8cBNEdFwSQkC&dat=19890929&printsec=frontpage&hl=en|access-date=October 13, 2021|website=news.google.com|archive-date=November 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127081601/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8cBNEdFwSQkC&dat=19890929&printsec=frontpage&hl=en|url-status=live}} Moments after, the younger Ferdinand eulogised his late father by stating, "Hopefully friends and detractors alike will look beyond the man to see what he stood for: his vision, his compassion and his total love of country".{{Cite web|last=Donnelly|first=Christine|date=September 29, 1989|title=Marcos Dies in Exile at 72; 'Father's Not Here Anymore'|url=https://apnews.com/article/65c33b6132f2f56bc2f813655f200aae|access-date=October 13, 2021|website=Associated Press|archive-date=April 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420112714/https://apnews.com/article/65c33b6132f2f56bc2f813655f200aae|url-status=live}}

Marcos was interred in a private mausoleum at Byodo-In Temple on the island of Oahu.

The Aquino government refused to allow Marcos's body to be brought back to the Philippines, which ultimately happened four years later.{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-07-20-mn-15027-story.html |title=4 Years After Death, Marcos' Body to Go Home for Burial |first=Bob |last=Drogin |date=July 20, 1993 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=February 20, 2020 |archive-date=October 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010145008/http://articles.latimes.com/1993-07-20/news/mn-15027_1_imelda-marcos |url-status=live}}

From 1993 to 2016, Marcos's remains were interred inside a refrigerated, frozen crypt in Batac, Ilocos Norte, where his son, Ferdinand Jr., and eldest daughter, Imee, became the local governor and congressional representative, respectively.

A large bust of Ferdinand Marcos (inspired by Mount Rushmore) was commissioned by the tourism minister, Jose Aspiras, and carved into a hillside in Benguet. It was subsequently destroyed, allegedly by left-wing activists, members of a local tribe who had been displaced by construction of the monument, and looters hunting for the legendary Yamashita treasure.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2612709.stm |title=Philippines blast wrecks Marcos bust |date=December 29, 2002 |work=BBC News |access-date=November 19, 2007 |archive-date=December 14, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214141522/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2612709.stm |url-status=live}}File:Marcos burial Ateneans protest.jpg protesting the burial of Marcos]]On November 18, 2016, his remains were reburied at the Libingan ng mga Bayani ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte despite opposition from various groups. On the morning of November 18, using Philippine Armed Forces helicopters, his family and their supporters flew his remains from Ilocos to Manila for a private burial. This account was challenged and the physical location of his remains is disputed.{{Cite web|last=Merez|first=Arianne|title=DLSU law dean: Was Marcos' body really buried at LNMB?|work=ABS-CBN News |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/19/16/dlsu-law-dean-was-marcos-body-really-buried-at-lnmb|date=November 19, 2016|access-date=November 7, 2023|archive-date=April 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427052340/https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/19/16/dlsu-law-dean-was-marcos-body-really-buried-at-lnmb|url-status=live}} Various groups protested the burial.{{cite news|title=Galawang Hokage: Youth protest sudden Marcos burial at LNMB|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/589346/news/nation/galawang-hokage-youth-protest-sudden-marcos-burial-at-lnmb|work=GMA News}}{{cite news|url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/845680/congressmen-slash-litigants-denounce-marcos-sneak-burial|title=Solons hit dictator's burial, suspect Duterte knew of Marcos plans|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=November 18, 2016|quote=Hanggang huling hantungan, galawang magnanakaw pa rin itong si Marcos. Sa salita nga ng mga millennial, galawang Hokage (Up to his final resting place, Marcos moves like a thief. Or in the words of the millennial, moves like a Hokage)}}

Rogelio Roxas, a Filipino treasure hunter, discovered a 3-foot-tall golden Buddha statue in tunnels under the Baguio General Hospital in 1971. Roxas was later arrested and tortured by members of the military, and the statue was taken away. Upon exile of the Marcoses, Roxas assigned his rights to a friend in the United States and formed the Golden Buddha Corporation (GBC) who pursued the case against the former president. In 1996, the lower court awarded US$22 billion in favor of GBC, making this the largest award in a civil case in US history. In November 1998, the Hawaii Supreme Court overturned the ruling, but maintained an award of US$6 million for the illegal arrest and torture experienced by Roxas.{{cite news |last1=Tighe |first1=Michael |title=$22B Award Against Marcos Reversed |url=https://apnews.com/article/73bf26f810dce8f2157374743043ed10 |access-date=June 11, 2021 |work=Associated Press}}{{cite web|url=http://uniset.ca/other/cs6/969P2d1209.html|title=Roxas v. Marcos|author=|date=|website=uniset.ca}}

File:Ferdinand Marcos with Emmanuel Pelaez.jpg

On November 9, 2018, Imelda Marcos was found "guilty beyond reasonable doubt" by the Sandiganbayan of seven counts of graft for private organizations set up in Switzerland during her time as a government official from 1968 to 1986. In less than 20 days however, the Sandiganbayan listed Imelda's "advanced age" and health condition as considerations for allowing the accused to post bail. The Fifth Division's (of the Sandiganbayan) ruling read that "the fact that she is of advanced age and for health reasons, consistent with the doctrine in Enrile vs Sandiganbayan, bail is allowed for these seven cases".{{Cite news|title=Sandiganbayan defends grant of bail to Imelda Marcos|work=The Philippine Star|url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/12/04/1874021/sandiganbayan-defends-grant-bail-imelda-marcos|access-date=April 19, 2019}} The Supreme Court of the Philippines affirmed that the family's assets, beyond their government salaries, are considered as ill-gotten wealth. In 1998 the Court acquitted Imelda Marcos of corruption charges from a previous graft conviction in 1993.

The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed a contempt judgement in relation to the assets of Imelda and her son Bongbong. Although on a different matter, this judgement awarded $353.6 million to human rights victims, which was arguably the largest contempt award ever affirmed by an appellate court.

In 1995, some 10,000 Filipinos won a US class-action lawsuit filed against the Marcos estate. The claims were filed by victims or their surviving relatives consequent on torture, execution, and disappearances.{{cite book|author=Brysk, Alison|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=p955OKtyCbIC|page=82}}|title=Human rights and private wrongs: constructing global civil society|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-415-94477-9|page=82}}{{cite news|last=Hranjski|first=Hrvoje|date=September 12, 2006|title=No hero's resting place as Imelda Marcos finds site for husband's grave|work=The Scotsman|location=UK|url=http://news.scotsman.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=2809885|access-date=November 19, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105131654/http://news.scotsman.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=2809885|archive-date=January 5, 2008}}

The Swiss government, initially reluctant to respond to allegations that stolen funds were held in Swiss accounts,{{cite book|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=NhIfiWyK9gEC|page=99}}|title=Corruption and anti-corruption|publisher=Asia-Pacific Press|year=2001|isbn=978-0-7315-3660-3|editor1=Larmour, Peter|pages=99–110|editor2=Wolanin, Nick}} returned $684 million of Marcos' holdings.{{cite web|title=Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative: Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (Switzerland)|url=http://star.worldbank.org/corruption-cases/node/18497|publisher=World Bank|access-date=March 2, 2016|archive-date=April 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415070921/http://star.worldbank.org/corruption-cases/node/18497|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=Marcos victims seek accounting of funds|work=INQ7.net|publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer, GMA News|url=http://www.inq7.net/brk/2004/jul/18/brkpol_1-1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040911032835/http://www.inq7.net/brk/2004/jul/18/brkpol_1-1.htm|archive-date=September 11, 2004}}{{cite news|date=July 4, 2004|title=Hunt for tyrant's millions leads to former model's home|work=Sydney Morning Herald|location=Australia|url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/03/1088488200806.html|access-date=October 20, 2008}}

Corazon Aquino repealed many of the repressive laws enacted during Marcos's dictatorship. She restored the right of habeas corpus, repealed anti-labor laws and freed hundreds of political prisoners.{{Rp|page=361}}

From 1989 to 1996, a series of suits were brought before US courts against Marcos and his daughter Imee, alleging that they bore responsibility for executions, torture, and disappearances. A jury in the Ninth Circuit Court awarded US$2 billion to the plaintiffs and to a class composed of human rights victims and their families.{{cite book|author=Stephens, Beth|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=isF30B-VCH0C|page=13}}|title=International human rights litigation in U.S. courts|publisher=BRILL|year=2008|isbn=978-1-57105-353-4|page=13}} On June 12, 2008, in Republic of Philippines v. Pimentel the US Supreme Court ruled 7–2 that, "The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is reversed, and the case is remanded with instructions to order the District Court to dismiss the interpleader action." The court dismissed the interpleader lawsuit filed to determine the rights of 9,500 Filipino human rights victims (1972–1986) to recover US$35 million, part of a US$2 billion judgment in US courts against the Marcos estate, because the Philippines government is an indispensable party, protected by sovereign immunity. The Philippines government claimed ownership of the funds transferred by Marcos in 1972 to Arelma S.A., which invested the money with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., in New York.{{cite web|title=jurist.law.pitt.edu, Supreme Court rules in Marcos assets|url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/06/supreme-court-rules-in-marcos-assets.php|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090103180040/http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/06/supreme-court-rules-in-marcos-assets.php|archive-date=January 3, 2009}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/07pdf/06-1204.pdf|title=supremecourt.gov, Republic of Philippines et al. v. Pimentel, June 12, 2008, No. 06–1204}}{{cite news|date=June 12, 2008|title=Court ruling hinders Marcos victims seeking funds|work=USA Today|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-06-12-902506041_x.htm}} In July 2017, the Philippine Court of Appeals rejected the petition seeking to enforce the United States court decision.{{cite news|title=CA rejects Marcos victims' claims for $2B damages|work=GMA News|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/618333/ca-rejects-marcos-victims-claims-for-2b-damages/story/}}

In 2013, Philippine Congress passed Republic Act 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.{{Cite web|last=Gavilan|first=Jodesz|date=May 10, 2021|title=11,103 victims of human rights violations under Martial Law to get compensation|url=https://www.rappler.com/nation/human-rights-victims-claims-board-final-list-eligible-claimants-released|access-date=July 6, 2021|website=Rappler}} The law created the Human Rights Violations Claims Board and provided reparations to victims of summary execution, torture, enforced disappearances, and other human rights violations.{{Cite web|last=Subingsubing|first=Krixia|date=October 19, 2020|title=Marcos victims push for second claims board|url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1349577/marcos-victims-push-for-second-claims-board|access-date=July 6, 2021|website=Inquirer}} Compensation came from P10 billion of stolen wealth seized by the government from the Marcoses.{{Cite web|last=Agoncillo|first=Jodee A.|date=May 9, 2018|title=Final list of Marcos victims qualified for funds released|url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/988689/final-list-of-marcos-victims-qualified-for-funds-released|access-date=July 6, 2021|website=Inquirer}} A total of 11,103 victims received compensation in 2018. A bill filed in Congress in 2020 proposed to compensate tens of thousands of people still not officially recognized as victims of state-sponsored violence.

Marcos left a legacy of debt, hardship, and repression.{{cite news|url=https://newslab.philstar.com/31-years-of-amnesia/golden-era|title=Debt, Deprivation and the Spoils of Dictatorship|last=Diola |first=Camille|work=Philstar|access-date=July 16, 2022}}

{{Main|Human rights abuses of the Marcos dictatorship}}

The Marcos regime committed human rights abuses against a long list of opponents. These included student activists such as Edgar Jopson and Rigoberto Tiglao,{{cite news|last=Quimpo |first=Susan |title=I saw martial law up close and personal |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/723654/i-saw-martial-law-up-close-and-personal |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=September 20, 2015}} farmers such as Bernabe Buscayno,{{Cite web|date=October 4, 2015|title=So Why Samar?|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6vw6rFaabA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/H6vw6rFaabA| archive-date=December 11, 2021|url-status=live|publisher=Philippine Commission on Human Rights with the help of Swiss Embassy Manila}}{{cbignore}} journalists such as Satur Ocampo,{{cite speech |last=Teodoro |first=Luis |title=Forgetting, Or Not Knowing: Media and Martial Law |event=Memory, Truth-telling and the Pursuit of Justice: A Conference on the Legacies of the Marcos Dictatorship |date=September 20, 1999 |location=Ateneo de Manila University |url=http://www.luisteodoro.com/forgetting-or-not-knowing-media-and-martial-law/ |access-date=July 22, 2017}}{{cite news |date=August 29, 2016 |title=Writers, journalists as freedom heroes |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/810571/writers-journalists-as-freedom-heroes |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer}} legal political opponents such as Ninoy Aquino,{{cite news|last=Claudio |first=Lisandro |title=Ninoy networked with everyone, Reds included |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/198820/news/specialreports/ninoy-networked-with-everyone-reds-included |work=GMANews|date=August 18, 2010}} fellow candidates such as Alex Boncayao, and priests and nuns. Victims were commonly accused of supporting communist rebels{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/02/world/nuns-and-priests-working-with-communists-divide-church.html|title=Nuns and Priests Working With Communists Divide Church |first=Fox |last=Butterfield |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 2, 1986}} or other leftists, or of joining or sympathizing with the CPP, NPA, or MNLF.{{cite book|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=kpsDPvaCOCAC|page=139}}|title=The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change|first1=Thomas |last1=Risse-Kappen |first2=Stephen C. |last2=Ropp |first3=Kathryn |last3=Sikkink |date=August 5, 1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|via=Google Books|isbn=9780521658829}} Victims were rounded up without an arrest warrant and indefinitely detained without charge. In a keynote speech at the University of the East, journalist Raissa Robles described how anyone could be arrested (or abducted) with ease through Arrest Search and Seizure Orders (ASSO),{{cite news|last=Robles |first=Raissa |title=Why we should worry about martial law |url=http://news.abs-cbn.com/blogs/opinions/02/18/17/opinion-why-we-should-worry-about-martial-law |publisher=ABS-CBN News |date=February 19, 2017}} which allowed the military or police to detain anyon,e according to Rappler research.{{cite news|last=Francisco |first=Katerina |title=Look Back: The Philippine Constabulary under Marcos|url=http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/146867-look-back-philippine-constabulary-marcos |work=Rappler |date=September 21, 2016}}{{cite web |last=Robles |first=Alan |title=What Martial Law was like |url=http://www.hotmanila.ph/content/ironfist/what-martial-law-was |website=Hot Manila |date=March 27, 2000 |access-date=July 20, 2017 |archive-date=January 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101211757/http://hotmanila.ph/content/ironfist/what-martial-law-was |url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.raissarobles.com/about-us/|title=– About me|first=Raissa|last=Robles|website=www.raissarobles.com|date=July 22, 2011}}

A 1976 Amnesty International report listed 88 government torturers, including members of the Philippine Constabulary and the Philippine Army, which was under the direct control of Major General Ramos and Defense Minister Enrile.{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/204000/asa350191977en.pdf|title=Report of an Amnesty International Mission to the Republic of the Philippines 22 November – 5 December 1975|date=September 1976|publisher=Amnesty International Publications}}{{cite news|url=http://www.manilatimes.net/why-not-ask-ramos-and-enrile-about-martial-law-abuses/247486/ |title=Why not ask Ramos and Enrile about Martial Law |date=February 28, 2016 |access-date=June 29, 2017|work=The Manila Times}} According to Rigoberto Tiglao, nearly all of the human rights abuses were committed by Philippine Constabulary units, especially through its national network of "Constabulary Security Units", whose heads reported directly to Ramos. The most dreaded of these was the Manila-based 5th Constabulary Security Unit (CSU), which featured dreaded torturer Lt. Rodolfo Aguinaldo, which was credited with capturing most of the Communist Party leaders including Sison and the Manila-Rizal Regional Committee he headed;{{cite web|url=http://www.manilatimes.net/ramos-apologize-martial-law-abuses/296752/|title=It is Ramos who should apologize over Martial Law 'abuses' |website=The Manila Times |date=November 15, 2016}} the Metrocom Intelligence and Security Group (MISG) under the command of Col. Rolando Abadilla; and the Intelligence Service (ISAFP).

The various estimates of the scale of abuses include:

Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP){{cite news|last1=Magsaysay|first1=Jing|title=Karinyo militar|agency=The Correspondents|publisher=ABS-CBN News|date=1999}}

• 2,668 incidents of arrests
• 398 disappearances
• 1,338 salvagings
• 128 frustrated salvagings
• 1,499 killed or wounded in massacres

Amnesty International{{cite web|last1=Tiongson|first1=Lito|title=Batas militar: A documentary about martial law in the Philippines|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG2Mx7Y5vzc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/SG2Mx7Y5vzc| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|date=1997|publisher=Foundation for World Wide People Power}}{{cbignore}}

• 70,000 imprisoned
• 34,000 tortured
• 3,240 documented as killed

Historian Alfred McCoy gives a figure of 3,257 recorded extrajudicial killings by the military from 1975 to 1985, 35,000 tortured and 70,000 incarcerated.{{cite news|last1=Reyes|first1=Rachel|title=3,257: Fact checking the Marcos killings, 1975–1985|url=http://www.manilatimes.net/3257-fact-checking-the-marcos-killings-1975-1985/255735/|work=The Manila Times |date=April 12, 2016}}

Bulatlat newspaper

• 120,000 victims of arbitrary arrest and detention
• 1,500 extrajudicial execution of activists under martial law

Human rights group Karapatan{{cite news |last=Oliveros |first=Benjie |date=September 17, 2006 |title=The Specter of Martial Law |url=http://www.bulatlat.com/news/6-32/6-32-specter.htm |access-date=November 19, 2007 |work=Bulatalat}}

• 759 involuntarily disappeared with their bodies never found.

Susan Quimpo, co-author of Subversive Lives{{cite news |date=September 23, 2014 |title=NTG: 'Subversive Lives,' libro tungkol sa pinagdaanan ng Pamilya Quimpo noong Martial Law |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DFD5TmBVAk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902204056/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DFD5TmBVAk&gl=US&hl=en |archive-date=September 2, 2020 |publisher=GMA News}}

• 80,000 was a low figure for the number of persons incarcerated

In addition to these, up to 10,000 Moro Muslims were killed in massacres by the Philippine Army, Philippine Constabulary, and the Ilaga pro-government paramilitary group.{{cite news|last1=Mariveles|first1=Julius D.|title=Mindanao: A memory of massacres|url=https://pcij.org/blog/2015/02/13/mindanao-a-memory-of-massacres|publisher=Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism|date=February 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207182211/https://pcij.org/blog/2015/02/13/mindanao-a-memory-of-massacres|archive-date=February 7, 2016}}

{{Expand section|date=July 2017}}

{{See also|List of torture methods used by the Marcos dictatorship}}

Victims were often taken to military "safehouses"{{cite news |last1=Pasion |first1=Patty |title=A Martial Law victim's story of healing |url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/146881-martial-law-hilda-narciso-human-rights |work=Rappler |date=September 21, 2016}} where abductees were tortured,{{cite news|last1=Cardinoza|first1=Gabriel|title=Most unsafe in military safe house|url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/639751/most-unsafe-in-military-safe-house|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=September 22, 2014}} often blindfolded.{{cite news|last1=Sorio|first1=Christopher|title=Detention and torture by Marcos military|url=http://philippinereporter.com/2011/09/09/detention-and-torture-by-marcos-military/|publisher=Philippine Reporter|date=September 9, 2011|access-date=July 22, 2017|archive-date=October 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010145623/http://philippinereporter.com/2011/09/09/detention-and-torture-by-marcos-military/|url-status=dead}} In a document titled "Open Letter to the Filipino People", martial law martyr Edgar "Edjop" Jopson described them: "Safehouses usually have their windows always shut tight. They are usually covered with high walls. One would usually detect [safehouses] through the traffic of motorcycles and cars, going in and out of the house at irregular hours. Burly men, armed with pistols tucked in their waists or in clutch bags, usually drive these vehicles."{{cite news|last=Pimentel |first=Benjamin |title=Atenista who exposed the Marcos torture machine|url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/115284/atenista-who-exposed-the-marcos-torture-machine |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=December 9, 2014}}

Various forms of torture were used by the military, typically in combination.{{cite web|last1=Chua|first1=Michael Charleston|title=TORTYUR: Human Rights Violations During The Marcos Regime, published in 'For Democracy & Human Rights, Rekindling Lessons from Martial Law & People Power Revolt'|url=https://www.academia.edu/7968581|publisher=Center for Youth Advocacy and Networking, Friedrich Ebert Foundation|date=2012}}

{{See also|Extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances in the Philippines}}

Summary executions were common. Bodies were often recovered bearing signs of torture and mutilation.{{cite news|last1=Pimentel|first1=Benjamin|title=To young Filipinos who never knew martial law and dictatorship |url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/49932/to-young-filipinos-who-never-knew-martial-law-and-dictatorship |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=September 12, 2012}} Such cases were referred to as "salvaging" a term widely believed to be derived from the Spanish word salvaje, meaning savage.{{cite web|last1=Ela|first1=Nathan|title=On Salvaging |url=http://main.tfdp.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=30 |website=Task Force Detainees of the Philippines|access-date=July 19, 2017}} Mutilated remains were often dumped on roadsides in order to instill fear and to intimidate opponents.

Anyone could be "salvaged": communists, suspects, innocent civilians and priests included. TFDP documented 1,473 "salvage" cases from 1980 to 1984 alone.{{cite book|title=Pumipiglas: Political Detention and Military Atrocities in the Philippines 1981–1982 |year=1986 |publisher=Task Force Detainees of the Philippines |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=CkbMtAEACAAJ}}}}

Victims included Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila student Liliosa Hilao,{{cite web|url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/718061/liliosa-hilao-first-martial-law-detainee-killed|title=Liliosa Hilao: First Martial Law detainee killed |last1=Pedroso |first1=Kate |last2=Medina |first2=Marielle |date=September 1, 2015 |work=inquirer.net}} Archimedes Trajano, Juan Escandor, and 16-year-old Luis Manuel "Boyet" Mijares, whose body was found with burn marks, all his nails removed, 33 ice pick wounds, skull crushed, eyeballs gouged out, and genitals mutilated before he was dropped from a helicopter.{{cite news|last=Cepeda |first=Cody |title=44 years too long: The martial-law victims, 'desaparecidos' and the families left behind|url=http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/44-years-too-long-the-martial-law-victims-desaparecidos-and-the-families-left-behind/|work=BusinessMirror|date=September 16, 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Zamora|first1=Fe|title=Family secret: How Primitivo Mijares disappeared|url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/872907/family-secret-how-primitivo-mijares-disappeared|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=February 19, 2017}}

Enforced disappearances, also known as "desaparecidos" or "the disappeared" – people who suddenly went missing, sometimes without a trace and whose bodies were never recovered.{{cite news|last1=Panti|first1=Llanesca|title=No grave, no justice for martial law victims|url=http://www.manilatimes.net/no-grave-no-justice-martial-law-victims/294444/|work=The Manila Times |date=November 2, 2016}}

Victims include Primitivo "Tibo" Mijares, Emmanuel Alvarez, Albert Enriquez, Ma. Leticia Ladlad, Hermon Lagman, Mariano Lopez, Rodelo Manaog, Manuel Ontong, Florencio Pesquesa, Arnulfo Resus, Rosaleo Romano, Carlos Tayag, Emmanuel Yap,{{cite journal|title=Souvenir issue: Annual celebration in honor of martyrs and heroes|journal=Bantayog Ng Mga Bayani|date=December 7, 1999|issue=Souvenir Issue|pages=16–29|publisher=Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation}} Jan Quimpo, Rizalina Ilagan, Christina Catalla, Jessica Sales and Ramon Jasul.{{cite news|title=And many disappeared in the prime of youth|url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/718800/and-many-disappeared-in-the-prime-of-youth|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=September 3, 2015}}

While the numbers of political detainees went down, the number of people killed rose and spiked in 1981, the year martial law was officially lifted by Marcos according to Task Force Detainees of the Philippines. According to Senator Jose W. Diokno, "As torture (cases) declined, a more terrible tactic emerged; unofficial executions" – suspected dissidents were simply arrested and vanished.

Murder victims include:

• Senator Ninoy Aquino, August 21, 1983, who was assassinated on the tarmac of Manila International Airport
• NPA commander Alex Boncayao,{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/politics/legal-and-political-magazines/alex-boncayao-brigade-abb|title=Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) – Dictionary definition of Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) – Encyclopedia.com: FREE online dictionary|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}
• Macli-ing Dulag,
• Fr. Tulio Favali,
• Liliosa Hilao,
• Evelio Javier,
• Edgar Jopson,
• Emmanuel "Eman" Lacaba.

{{Expand section|date=October 2017}}

File:1986 rally against the Marcos Dictatorship in which protesters hold up images of Escalante Massacre victims.jpg

It is hard to judge the full extent of massacres and atrocities that happened during the Marcos regime due to heavy press censorship at the time.{{cite news|last1=Tan|first1=Michael L.|title=War, peace and valor|url=http://opinion.inquirer.net/73439/war-peace-and-valor|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=April 9, 2014}} Civilian massacres include the following:

{{Expand section|date=October 2017}}

Thousands of Moros were killed during the Marcos regime. They formed insurgent groups and separatist movements such as the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which became more radical with time.{{cite news|last=Tan |first=Michael L. |title=Muslims, martial law |url=http://opinion.inquirer.net/61357/muslims-martial-law |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=September 17, 2013}} The Marcos regime killed hundreds of Moros before imposing martial law.{{cite news|last1=Mawallil|first1=Amir|title=Before Martial Law, there was the Tacub Massacre|url=http://news.abs-cbn.com/blogs/opinions/10/06/16/opinion-before-martial-law-there-was-the-tacub-massacre|date=October 7, 2016|ref=ABS-CBN News}} The number of Moro victims killed by the Army, Philippine Constabulary, and the Ilaga (a government-sanctioned{{cite news|title=Vera Files Fact Sheet: Palimbang massacre and Marcos' other transgressions against the Bangsamoro|url=http://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-sheet-palimbang-massacre-and-marcos-other-tr|publisher=Vera Files|date=September 24, 2017}} terrorist cult notorious for cannibalism and land grabbing that served as members of the CHDF) reached as high as 10,000 lives.{{cite thesis|title=The Liberation Movements in Mindanao: Root Causes and Prospects for Peace|first= Marjanie Salic |last=Macasalong}}

{{Main|Historical distortion regarding Ferdinand Marcos}}

Marcos family members deny any human rights violations.{{cite news |title=Vera Files Fact Check: Bongbong Marcos falsely claims martial law horrors fabricated |url=https://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-check-bongbong-marcos-falsely-claims-martial |publisher=Vera Files |date=January 17, 2020}}

Bongbong Marcos describes stories of human rights abuses as "self-serving statements by politicians, self-aggrandizement narratives, pompous declarations, and political posturing and propaganda."{{cite news|last1=Tan|first1=Kimberly Jane|title=Martial Law in the eyes of the late strongman Marcos' son|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/275044/martial-law-in-the-eyes-of-the-late-strongman-marcos-son/story/|publisher=GMA News|date=September 21, 2012}}{{cite news|last1=Quimpo|first1=Susan|title=Enrile's memoir gives me sleepless nights|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/opinion/content/278235/enrile-s-memoir-gives-me-sleepless-nights/story/|publisher=GMA News|date=October 14, 2012}}

Imee called the allegations political accusations. According to her, "If what is demanded is an admission of guilt, I don't think that's possible. Why would we admit to something we did not do?"{{cite news |last1=Gonzales |first1=Cathrine |title=Imee says HR abuses during father's rule are just 'political accusations' |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1043463/imee-says-hr-abuses-during-fathers-rule-are-just-political-accusations |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=October 16, 2018}}

{{Main|Unexplained wealth of the Marcos family|Marcos mansions|Marcos jewels}}

{{See also|Presidential Commission on Good Government}}In 2012, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled all Marcos assets beyond legally declared earnings/salary to be ill-gotten wealth{{cite court |litigants=Imelda Romualdez-Marcos, vs. Republic of the Philippines |opinion=G.R. No. 189505 |court=Supreme Court of the Philippines |date=April 25, 2012 |url=http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2012/april2012/189434.htm}} and such wealth to have been forfeited to the government or human rights victims.{{cite news|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/54454/marcoses-lose-us-appeal|title=Marcoses lose US appeal}}

According to the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCOG), the Marcos family and their cronies looted so much wealth from the Philippines that investigators have not determined precisely how many billions were stolen.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/31/world/hunt-for-marcos-s-billions-yields-more-dead-ends-than-hard-cash.html?src=pm&pagewanted=1&pagewanted=all|title=Hunt for Marcos's Billions Yields More Dead Ends Than Hard Cash|author=Mydans, Seth|work=The New York Times|date=March 31, 1991}} PCOG estimated that Marcos stole around $5 billion to $10 billion,{{cite web|url=https://thediplomat.com/2013/01/end-of-30-year-hunt-for-marcos-billions/|title=End of 30-Year Hunt for Marcos Billions?|author=Hunt, Luke |publisher=The Diplomat, Asian Beat section|date=January 8, 2013}}{{cite magazine|url=http://inthesetimes.com/article/1566/marcos_missing_millions|title=Marcos' Missing Millions|author=Komisar, Lucy|magazine=In These Times|date=August 2, 2002}}{{cite book|author1=Ezrow, Natasha M. |author2=Franz, Erica|title=Dictators and Dictatorships: Understanding Authoritarian Regimes and Their Leaders|publisher=Continuum Publishing|year=2011|isbn=978-1-4411-7396-6|page=135|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=hOzp3xgL1FwC|page=135}}}}{{cite book|author1=Henry, James S. |author2=Bradley, Bill|chapter=Philippine Money Flies|title=The Blood Bankers: Tales from the Global Underground Economy|publisher=Basic Books|year=2005|isbn=978-1-56025-715-8|page=43|chapter-url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=BzOKgoNfw1AC}}}} while earning an annual salary equivalent to US$13,500.{{cite news |author=Nick Davies |date=May 7, 2016 |title=The $10bn question: what happened to the Marcos millions? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/07/10bn-dollar-question-marcos-millions-nick-davies |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508114514/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/07/10bn-dollar-question-marcos-millions-nick-davies |archive-date=May 8, 2016 |access-date=September 16, 2016 |work=The Guardian}}

Among the sources of the Marcos wealth are alleged to be diverted foreign aid, military aid (including to Marcos for sending Filipino troops to Vietnam) and kickbacks from public works contracts.{{cite news |work=ABS-CBN News |url=http://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/07/09/15/time-taking-its-toll-martial-law-victims |title=Time taking its toll on martial law victims |first=Gerry |last=Lirio}}

In 1990, Imelda Marcos was acquitted of charges that she raided the Philippine treasury by a US jury. She was acquitted because the jury deemed that US did not have jurisdiction.{{cite news |last=Glaberson |first=William |title=The Marcos Verdict; The 'Wrong' Court |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/03/nyregion/the-marcos-verdict-the-wrong-court.html |work=The New York Times |date=July 3, 1990}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/03/nyregion/marcos-verdict-marcos-cleared-all-charges-racketeering-fraud-case.html|title=The Marcos Verdict; Marcos Is Cleared of All Charges In Racketeering and Fraud Case|first=Craig|last=Wolff|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 3, 1990}} In 1993, she was convicted of graft in Manila for entering into three unfavourable lease contracts between a government-run transportation agency and another government-run hospital.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/24/world/marcos-convicted-of-graft-in-manila.html|title=Marcos Convicted of Graft in Manila|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 24, 1993}} In 1998, the Philippine Supreme Court overturned her conviction.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/187295.stm|title=Imelda Marcos acquitted|website=news.bbc.co.uk}} In 2008, Philippine trial court judge Silvino Pampilo acquitted Imelda of 32 counts of illegal money transfer{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/world/asia/11phils.html|title=Imelda Marcos Acquitted, Again|work=The New York Times|date=March 11, 2008}} from the 1993 graft conviction.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/24/world/marcos-convicted-of-graft-in-manila.html|title=Marcos Convicted of Graft in Manila|date=September 24, 1993|work=The New York Times}} In 2010, she was ordered to repay the Philippine government almost $280,000 for funds taken in 1983.{{cite web |author= |date=January 24, 2013 |title=Imelda Marcos Fast Facts |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/24/world/asia/imelda-marcos-fast-facts/ |publisher=CNN}} In 2012, a US Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit upheld a contempt judgement against Imelda and Bongbong for violating an injunction barring them from dissipating their assets, and awarded $353.6 million to human rights victims.{{cite news|url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/54454/marcoses-lose-us-appeal|title=Marcoses lose US appeal|author=Gil Cabacungan|date=October 29, 2012|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer}} As of October 2015, she faced 10 graft charges, and 25 civil cases,{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323494504578343254294114668|title=Hunt for Marcos Riches Winds Down|first=Rhea|last=Sandique-Carlos|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=March 7, 2013|access-date=November 9, 2018}}{{cite news|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/734042/imelda-marcos-allowed-to-travel-to-singapore-despite-graft-cases|title=Imelda Marcos allowed to travel to Singapore despite graft cases|first=Marc Jayson|last=Cayabyab}} down from 900 in the 1990s, as most cases were dismissed for lack of evidence.{{cite news|title=Imelda Marcos and her road to vindication|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/188960/news/nation/imelda-marcos-and-her-road-to-vindication|access-date=August 25, 2013|work=GMA News|date=April 10, 2010}}{{Update after|2018|11|9}}

In the 2004 Global Corruption Report, Marcos appeared in the list of the world's most corrupt leaders, behind Suharto.{{cite web|title=Global Corruption Report|url=http://www.transparency.org/content/download/4459/26786/file/Introduction_to_political_corruption.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704093500/http://www.transparency.org/content/download/4459/26786/file/Introduction_to_political_corruption.pdf|archive-date=July 4, 2007|access-date=August 6, 2009|publisher=Transparency International}} One of Marcos's former Ministers of industry, Vicente Paterno,{{cite book|url=http://raissarobles.com/2014/11/29/just-before-dying-vicente-paterno-called-dictator-ferdinand-marcos-a-thief/|title=On My Terms|last=Paterno|first=Vicente|publisher=Anvil|date=2014}} noted that while the amount stolen by Marcos's regime probably fell short of Suharto, Marcos invested outside the Philippines, whereas Suharto mostly invested at home.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' (ICIJ) exposé of offshore leaks accused Imee of hiding wealth in tax havens in the British Virgin Islands.{{cite news|title=Secret Files Expose Offshore's Global Impact|url=http://www.icij.org/offshore/secret-files-expose-offshores-global-impact |access-date=April 4, 2013|work=ICIJ}}{{Cite web|url=http://pcij.org/stories/bir-chief-ready-to-investigate-pinoys-with-offshore-accounts/|title=BIR chief ready to investigate Pinoys with offshore accounts|access-date=October 22, 2013|archive-date=December 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151204112407/http://pcij.org/stories/bir-chief-ready-to-investigate-pinoys-with-offshore-accounts/|url-status=dead}}

In 2014, Imelda's former secretary Vilma Bautista was sentenced to prison for conspiring to sell a Monet, Sisley, and other masterpieces.{{cite news |title=Imelda Marcos' ex-secretary sentenced over stolen masterpieces |url=http://usa.inquirer.net/8530/imelda-marcos-ex-secretary-sentenced-theft-masterpieces |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=December 6, 2017}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/14/nyregion/aide-to-imelda-marcos-is-sentenced-in-sale-of-masterpieces.html |title=Former Marcos Aide Sentenced in Art Sale |first=James C. Jr. |last=Mckinley |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 13, 2014}}

On May 9, 2016, ICIJ released the Panama Papers.{{cite web |url=https://panamapapers.icij.org/blog/20160509-offshore-database-release.html |title=ICIJ releases database revealing thousands of secret offshore companies |last=Guevara |first=Marina Walker |work=icij.org |date=May 9, 2016}} Imee and Irene{{cite web|url=https://offshoreleaks.icij.org/search?c=PHL&cat=2&e=&q=marcos&utf8=%E2%9C%93|title=Search results for marcos|work=icij.org}} were named, along grandsons Fernando Manotoc, Matthew Joseph Manotoc, and Ferdinand Richard Manotoc, his son-in-law Gregorio Maria Araneta III,{{cite web|url=https://offshoreleaks.icij.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=araneta&c=PHL&e=&commit=Search |title=Search results for araneta |work=icij.org}} including his son-in-law Tommy Manotoc's relatives Ricardo Gabriel Manotoc and Teodoro Kalaw Manotoc.{{cite web|url=https://offshoreleaks.icij.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=kalaw&c=PHL&e=&commit=Search |title=Search results for kalaw |work=icij.org}}

On September 3, 2017, then President Rodrigo Duterte said the Marcos family was ready to transfer their wealth to the government.{{cite news |work=CNN Philippines |url=http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/09/03/president-rodrigo-duterte-marcos-settle-family-wealth.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903011355/http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/09/03/president-rodrigo-duterte-marcos-settle-family-wealth.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 3, 2017 |title=Duterte: Marcoses offer settlement on family wealth}} In January 2018, a draft House Bill proposing a settlement and immunity for the Marcoses was received by the Duterte government in July 2017.{{cite news |last1=Bacungan |first1=VJ |title=Marcos loyalist proposes deal with gov't on Marcos wealth |url=http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/01/01/ferdinand-marcos-oliver-lozano-deal-wealth.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104213945/http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/01/01/ferdinand-marcos-oliver-lozano-deal-wealth.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |work=CNN Philippines |date=January 2, 2018}}{{cite web |title=Facebook Gallery: Draft Bill on Compromise Deal Between Marcos and Duterte Government |url=https://www.facebook.com/aleckspabico/posts/10156047759436214 |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/172552851213/10156047759436214 |archive-date=February 26, 2022 |publisher=Friends of Alecks Pabico}}{{cbignore}}

{{Excerpt|Overseas landholdings of the Marcos family}}

File:Marcos in Washington 1983.jpg{{Excerpt|Monopolies in the Philippines (1965–1986)}}

{{Main|Edifice complex}}

File:Dagupan Bus Aircon at NLEX 1999 - Flickr.jpg segment of North Luzon Expressway, one of Marcos's infrastructure projects]]

Marcos projected himself to the public as building vast construction projects, and his record upholds that reputation.{{rp|page=128}} A 2011 study Marcos was the president who spent the most on infrastructure in terms of annual spending.{{cite journal|url=http://www.econ.upd.edu.ph/dp/index.php/dp/article/viewFile/679/144 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408140742/http://www.econ.upd.edu.ph/dp/index.php/dp/article/viewFile/679/144 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 8, 2016 |title=The Economic Legacy of Marcos |last=Sicat|first=Gerardo P. |journal=Discussion Paper|publisher=University of the Philippines School of Economics|date=November 2011}} Most of these projects were paid for with foreign currency loans{{cite news |author=Eduardo C. Tadem |date=November 24, 2016 |title=The Marcos debt |url=http://opinion.inquirer.net/99481/the-marcos-debt |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer}} at great cost to taxpayers.{{rp|page=89}}

Projects included hospitals{{cite web |last=Arillo |first=Cecilio |date=November 13, 2015 |title=Marcos's unmatched legacy: Hospitals, schools and other infrastructures |url=http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/marcoss-unmatched-legacy-hospitals-schools-and-other-infrastructures/ |website=BusinessMirror}} such as the Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center, and Kidney Center, transportation infrastructure like San Juanico Bridge (formerly Marcos Bridge), Pan-Philippine Highway, North Luzon Expressway, South Luzon Expressway,{{cite web|url=http://www.pncc.ph/projects_slex.htm|title=PNCC::dot::Ph|website=www.pncc.ph}} and Manila Light Rail Transit (LRT). Cultural and heritage sites including the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Nayong Pilipino, Philippine International Convention Center and the ill-fated Manila Film Center were built as well.

This focus on infrastructure eventually earned the label "edifice complex".{{cite book|title=The Edifice Complex: How the Rich and Powerful Shape the World|last=Sudjic|first=Deyan|publisher=The Penguin Press HC|date=November 3, 2015|isbn=978-1-59420-068-7|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=dkMWqPgjvFIC|page=139}}}}{{cite news|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/274389/lifestyle/healthandwellness/masagana-99-nutribun-and-imelda-s-edifice-complex-of-hospitals|title=Masagana 99, Nutribun, and Imelda's 'edifice complex' of hospitals|date=September 20, 2012|last1=Lapeña|first1=Carmela G.|last2=Arquiza|first2=Yasmin D.|work=GMA News}}

Marcos' spending on construction has been claimed to be intended to position Imelda Marcos as a patron of the arts.{{Cite book |title=Kasaysayan, The Story of the Filipino People Volume 9:A Nation Reborn. |publisher=Asia Publishing Company Limited |year=1998 |editor-last=Magno |editor-first=Alexander R. |location=Hong Kong |chapter=Life Under Marcos}}{{rp|page=169}} This effort was so large that by 1977–1980, projects in the "conspicuous capital outlays" category had ballooned from a negligible amount to 20% of the Philippines' capital outlays.{{Cite book |last=Romero |first=Jose V. |title=Philippine Political Economy Volume 2: The Marcos Years (1965–1986) |publisher=Central Book Supply |year=2008 |isbn=978-971-691-889-2 |location=Quezon City, Philippines |oclc=302100329 |author-link=Jose V. Romero Jr.}}{{rp|pages="88–89"}}

These projects were typically constructed on a rush basis,{{rp|page=169}} often compromising structural safety.{{Cite news |last=Afinidad-Bernardo |first=Deni Rose M. |title=Edifice complex: 31 years of amnesia |url=https://newslab.philstar.com/31-years-of-amnesia/building-spree |access-date=April 18, 2019 |work=The Philippine Star}}

The most controversial projects included

• Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Complex, a 77-hectare{{Cite web|url=http://www.pea.gov.ph/13-bay-city/24-cultural-center-of-the-philippines|title=Cultural Center of the Philippines|website=PEA |access-date=April 18, 2019|archive-date=January 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121071019/http://www.pea.gov.ph/13-bay-city/24-cultural-center-of-the-philippines|url-status=dead}} reclaimed property in Pasay. He appointed a seven-member board of trustees, who elected Imelda as its chair. The budget grew from P15 million to P63 million.{{Cite news|url=https://business.inquirer.net/236962/imelda-marcos-edifice-complex|title=Imelda Marcos and her 'edifice complex'|last=de Villa|first=Kathleen |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|access-date=April 18, 2019}}
• The San Juanico Bridge is part of the Pan-Philippine Highway and links the provinces of Leyte and Samar. At {{convert|2.16|km}} in length, it is the Philippines longest bridge over water.{{Cite news|url=https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1006186|title=San Juanico, Eastern Visayas' iconic bridge, to be lit up by end of 2018 |author=TIEZA |date=March 22, 2018 |work=Philippine Information Agency|access-date=April 19, 2019}} Construction began in 1969. It was inaugurated on July 2, 1973, in time for Imelda Marcos's birthday. The $22 million construction cost was acquired through Japanese Official Development Assistance loans.{{Cite web|url=https://pcij.org/stories/7-in-10-oda-projects-fail-to-deliver-touted-benefits/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012170044/http://pcij.org/stories/7-in-10-oda-projects-fail-to-deliver-touted-benefits/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 12, 2009|title=7 in 10 ODA projects fail to deliver touted benefits |work=Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism |last=Lingin|first=Roel R. |access-date=April 19, 2019}}
• The Manila Film Center began construction in January 1981 and cost $25 million.{{Cite web|last=Manahan |first=Tats |url=http://rogue.ph/enduring-nightmare-manila-film-center/ |title=The enduring nightmare of the Manila Film Center |website=rogue.ph |date=November 2015|access-date=April 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122092239/http://rogue.ph/enduring-nightmare-manila-film-center/ |archive-date=November 22, 2018}} To meet the January 1982 deadline for the Manila International Film Festival, 4,000 workers were employed to work three 24-hour nonstop shifts. The lobby was constructed in 72 hours by 1,000 workers. A scaffolding collapsed on November 17, 1981, killing multiple workers. Rescuers and ambulances were kept away for 9 hours after the incident.

Marcos's signature agricultural program, Masagana 99, launched on May 21, 1973,{{Cite news |url=http://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/10/26/16/farmers-oppose-revival-of-marcos-masagana-99 |title=Farmers oppose revival of Marcos' 'Masagana 99' |last=Magsaysay |first=Bettina |work=ABS-CBN News |date=October 27, 2016|access-date=September 19, 2017}}{{cite web |title=Presidential Decree No. 27, s. 1972 |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1972/10/21/presidential-decree-no-27/ |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|access-date=June 2, 2020 |date=October 21, 1972}} to address a rice shortage.{{Cite news |last1=Reyes |first1=Miguel Paolo P. |last2=Ariate | first2=Joel F. Jr. |last3=Del Mundo |first3=Lara Vinda |title='Success' of Masagana 99 all in Imee's head – UP researchers |publisher=Vera Files |url=https://www.verafiles.org/articles/success-masagana-99-all-imees-head-researchers |url-status=live |access-date=May 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200524143622/https://www.verafiles.org/articles/success-masagana-99-all-imees-head-researchers |archive-date=May 24, 2020}} Its goal was to raise yield from 40 to 99 cavans (4.4 tons) per hectare.{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=Kenneth|date=1989|title=Palay, Policy, and Public Administration: The 'Masagana 99' Program Revisited|journal=Philippine Journal of Public Administration|volume=XXXIII|issue=1|pages=69–71}} The program pushed farmers to use high-yield seeds, fertilizer, and herbicides. Initial success came from encouraging farmers to plant "Miracle Rice" (IR8),{{Cite news |last=Rowlatt |first=Justin |date=December 1, 2016 |title=IR8: The miracle rice which saved millions of lives |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-38156350 |access-date=December 5, 2016 |work=BBC News}} which funded by the Rockefeller and Ford foundations, and the UP College of Agriculture through IRRI,{{Cite book |url=http://books.irri.org/9711040638_content.pdf |title=An Adventure in Applied Science: A History of the International Rice Research Institute |last=Chandler |first=Robert Flint |publisher=International Rice Research Institute |year=1982 |isbn=9789711040635}}{{rp|page=7}} which had been under development since 1962.{{Cite web |url=http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe50s/crops_17.html |title=The Development of "Miracle Rice" Varieties |last=Ganzel |first=Bill |date=2007 |website=Wessels Living History Farm |publisher=Ganzel Group |access-date=September 19, 2017 |archive-date=June 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605030808/http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe50s/crops_17.html |url-status=dead}} This increased rice production from 3.7 to 7.7 million tons in two decades and made the Philippines a rice exporter for the first time in the 20th century.{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/13472/en |title=Rice paddies |publisher=FAO Fisheries & Aquaculture |access-date=March 20, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090121004605/http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/13472/en|archive-date=January 21, 2009}}{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900147,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070904234658/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900147,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 4, 2007 |title=Agronomy: Rice of the Gods |magazine=Time |date=June 14, 1968 |access-date=February 27, 2017}} The required switch to IR8 required more fertilizers and pesticides, helping multinationals, but not small, peasant farmers who often remained in poverty.{{cite book|author=Nadeau, Kathleen M.|title=Liberation theology in the Philippines: faith in a revolution|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group| year=2002| isbn=978-0-275-97198-4| page=21 | url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=kAINJWo4IJ4C|page=21}}}}

Although Masagana 99 showed promising results, the years from 1965 to 1986 showed a complete paradox of events. The income per capita rose, the economy was growing, yet people were impoverished. The American economist James K. Boyce refers to his as an example of "immiserizing growth", when economic growth, and political and social conditions, are such that the rich get absolutely richer and the poor become absolutely poorer.{{Cite news|url=https://www.manilatimes.net/marcos-green-revolution/246377/|title=Marcos' Green Revolution|date=February 22, 2016|work=The Manila Times|access-date=April 19, 2019}}{{better source needed|date=June 2020}} The World Bank reported that crops (rice, corn, coconut, sugar), livestock and poultry and fisheries grew at an average rate of 6.8%, 3% and 4.5%, respectively from 1970 to 1980, and while the forestry sector declined by an annual average rate of 4.4% through the 1970s.{{cite report|url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPHILIPPINES/Resources/Habito-word.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090127005901/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPHILIPPINES/Resources/Habito-word.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 27, 2009|title=Philippine Agriculture over the Years: Performance, Policies and Pitfalls|author1=Cielito F. Habito |author2=Roehlano M. Briones|publisher=World Bank|access-date=July 22, 2017}}

{{Further|Deforestation in the Philippines}}

The Marcos administration marked a period of intense logging,{{cite book |last1=Colin |first1=Kahl |last2=Kahl |first2=Colin H. |title=States, Scarcity, and Civil Strife in the Developing World |year=2006 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-12406-3 |page=85 |url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=ltWfu4quplgC|page=85}} |access-date=January 22, 2021}} with commercial logging accounting for 5% of GDP product in the first half of the 1970s. This was the result of Japanese construction demand.{{cite book |last1=Dauvergne |first1=Peter |title=Shadows in the Forest: Japan and the Politics of Timber in Southeast Asia |year=1997 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-54087-2 |pages=134–135 |url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=wyXMKFa7kCcC|page=134}}}}{{cite book |work=The Japan Environmental Council |title=The State of the Environment in Asia: 2002/2003 |date=December 6, 2012 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-4-431-67945-5 |url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=ZPGPBAAAQBAJ|page=107}} |pages=106–107 |access-date=January 22, 2021}} Timber products became a top export, but little attention was paid to deforestation's environmental impacts.{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/03/23/marcos-graft-staggering/|title=Marcos Graft Staggering – Investigators Trace Billions In Holdings|last=Crewdson|first=John|date=March 23, 1986|work=Chicago Tribune}}{{cite book|author=Boyce, James K.|title=The political economy of the environment|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|year=2002|isbn=978-1-84376-108-2|pages=43–44|url={{Google books|plainurl=y|id=izGVtg8KE-YC|page=43}}}}

In the early 1980s, forestry collapsed because most accessible forests had been depleted – of 12 million hectares of forestland, about 7 million had been harvested. The rate of forest destruction was about {{convert|300000|ha}} per year during the 1960s and 1970s, such that by 1981, the Food and Agriculture Organization classified 2 million hectares of Philippine forests "severely degraded and incapable of regeneration".{{Cite news |work=GMA News|last=Panela |first=Shaira |date=September 21, 2012 |title=Greener on the other side: Deforestation in the wake of Martial Law |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/275014/scitech/science/greener-on-the-other-side-deforestation-in-the-wake-of-martial-law/ |url-status=live |access-date=June 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190110133740/https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/science/275014/greener-on-the-other-side-deforestation-in-the-wake-of-martial-law/story/ |archive-date=January 10, 2019}}

In 1979, Marcos added 11 heavy industrialization projects{{cite news |title=A range of 11 big industrial projects is in the works|work =Christian Science Monitor|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0919/091972.html|date=September 19, 1980}} to the economic agenda. The priority projects were:

• aluminum smelter
• copper smelter{{cite web|url=http://www.pasar.com.ph/content/our-story/our-story/|title=Our Story |work=PASAR}}
• integrated petrochemical complex{{cite web|url=http://www.pnoc.com.ph/aboutpnoc.php?sectionid=ac587724-1514-11df-a7de-92d1637a39b1&menuid=b9077b2f-154e-11df-93b0-42bae035655c|title=Philippine National Oil Company|website=PNOC|access-date=September 11, 2016|archive-date=February 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203121327/http://www.pnoc.com.ph/aboutpnoc.php?sectionid=ac587724-1514-11df-a7de-92d1637a39b1&menuid=b9077b2f-154e-11df-93b0-42bae035655c|url-status=dead}}
• integrated pulp and paper plant
• integrated steel mill
• phosphatic fertilizer plant
• alcogas industry
• cement industry expansion
• coconut industry integration
• diesel engine manufacturing
• nuclear power plant

Other industrialization projects during the Marcos administration included 17 hydroelectric{{cite web|url=http://www.snaboitiz.com/?page_id=4727|title=Magat|website=www.snaboitiz.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.firstgen.com.ph/our-business/our-power-plants/#Hydro|title=First Gen – Our Power Plants|website=www.firstgen.com.ph|access-date=September 11, 2016|archive-date=April 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419173029/http://www.firstgen.com.ph/our-business/our-power-plants/#Hydro|url-status=dead}} and geothermal power plants.{{cite web|url=http://www.energy.com.ph/edc-at-a-glance/who-we-are/|title=The Energy Development Corporation – Who We Are|website=www.energy.com.ph|date=March 2022}}{{Cite web|url=https://aboitizpower.com/generation/geothermal/apri/plants/|title=APRI Plants|access-date=April 3, 2021|archive-date=March 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307220911/https://aboitizpower.com/generation/geothermal/apri/plants/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |last=Arillo |first=Cecilio |date=October 30, 2015 |title=Marcos's unmatched legacy: Energy |url=http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/marcoss-unmatched-legacy-energy/ |website=BusinessMirror}} The commissioning of the Tongonan 1 and Palinpinon 1 geothermal plants in 1983 made the Philippines the world's second largest geothermal producers.{{cite web|url=http://lopezlink.ph/employee-news/milestones/7002-energy-development-corporation-milestones.html |title=Energy Development Corporation Milestones |website=lopezlink.ph}}

The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) is one of Marcos' six planned nuclear power plants.{{Cite web|url=https://wiseinternational.org/nuclear-monitor/397/bataan-plant-sequel|title=The Bataan plant – The sequel|website=World Information Service on Energy|access-date=April 19, 2019}} It stands in Morong, Bataan, atop Napot Point that overlooks the South China Sea. Construction completed in 1985.{{Cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1986/09/01/67989/index.htm|title=The $2.2 Billion Nuclear Fiasco |work=Fortune |date=September 1, 1986 |access-date=April 19, 2019}}

In 1974, National Power was negotiating with General Electric. However, Westinghouse energy company, hired Herminio Disini, a friend of Ferdinand Marcos to lobby for them. Westinghouse made a direct offer to supply a plant with two 620 MW reactors at a price of $500 million. The price estimate was raised to around $650 million because of such as fuel and transmission lines. Westinghouse won the deal. By March 1975, the price had increased to $1.1 billion.

Numerous issues regarding safety and usability have emerged. After the Three Mile Island incident, construction stopped. A safety inquiry revealed over 4,000 defects. The site was near the open sea and the then-dormant Mount Pinatubo, and was within 25 miles of three geological faults. The project was discontinued in 1986 following the Chernobyl disaster.

Costs passed $2.3 million; loans were paid off only in April 2017, although maintaining the plant costs P40 million a year.

Marcos emphasized educational infrastructure during his first presidential term. He was more willing than previous presidents to use foreign loans to fund construction projects allowing him to construct more roads and school buildings than any previous administration.{{rp|page=128}}

47 colleges and universities were established during Marcos's 21-year administration.{{cite web |last=Arillo |first=Cecilio |date=November 7, 2015 |title=Marcos's unmatched legacy: Education |url=http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/marcoss-unmatched-legacy-education/ |website=BusinessMirror}}

The Philippine education system underwent two major periods of restructuring under Marcos: first in 1972 with Bagong Lipunan (New Society) and again in 1981 when the Fourth Philippine Republic was established.{{cite journal |last=Maca |first=Mark |date=April 2018 |title=Education in the 'New Society' and the Philippine Labour Export Policy (1972–1986) |journal=Journal of International and Comparative Education |volume=7 |issue=1|pages=1–16 |doi=10.14425/jice.2018.7.1.1 |doi-access=free}} Maca, 2018.

Bagong Lipunan marked the first major restructuring of Philippine education since Americans arrived around 1900. It reoriented the teaching of civics and history{{Cite book |last=Abueva |first=Jose |title= Marcos and Martial Law in the Philippines |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=1979 |editor-last=Rosenberg |editor-first=David |location=Ithaca |pages=35–36 |chapter=Ideology and Practice in the 'New Society'}} so that it would reflect Bagong Lipunan's ideology of constitutional authoritarianism.{{Cite book |last=Ricklefs, M. C. |title=New History of Southeast Asia. |date=2010 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-01554-9 |oclc=965712524}}{{rp|page=414}} In addition, it attempted to synchronize the curriculum with the administration's economic strategy of labor export.

The second restructuring in 1981 failed as the administration was distracted by economic crises.

In 1975, Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 824, placing the four cities and thirteen municipalities near the Province of Manila under the administration of the Metro Manila Commission (MMC).{{cite web|website=The LawPhil Project|url=http://www.lawphil.net/statutes/presdecs/pd1975/pd_824_1975.html|title=Presidential Decree No. 824 November 7, 1975. Creating the Metropolitan Manila and the Metropolitan Manila Commission and for Other Purposes|date=November 7, 1975|publisher=Arellano Law Foundation|access-date=March 27, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312121648/http://lawphil.net/statutes/presdecs/pd1975/pd_824_1975.html|archive-date=March 12, 2016|url-status=live}}

The appointed head of the MMC was called a "governor".{{cite news|last=Cruz|first=Elfren|title=MMDA is NOT MMC|url=https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2015/10/31/1517031/mmda-not-mmc|access-date=July 31, 2018|work=Philstar.com|date=October 31, 2015}} Marcos appointed Imelda as governor in 1976.{{Cite news|last=Butterfield|first=Fox|date=February 24, 1976|title=Governorship of Manila Is Increasing Powers of Imelda Marcos|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/24/archives/governorship-of-manila-is-increasing-powers-of-imelda-marcos.html|access-date=June 11, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}

The governorship was the republic's second most powerful office. Metro Manila then accounted for around 20% of the country's population and at least 70% of GDP. Its budget is second to the national government.{{Better source needed|reason=Section "One author" tag has been addressed through the addition of other sources, but editor who put this tag on identified this reference as "partisan". Information is not uncommon so a better source may be desirable.|date=June 2020}} This increase in Imelda's political power led Carlos P. Romulo to describe her as the Philippines' "de facto vice president".

File:The Marcoses and the Johnsons dancing.jpg

File:Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos with the Nixons.jpg

All five American presidents from 1965 to 1985 maintained the US–Marcos relationship, mainly to protect and retain access to US military bases. However, the Philippines was just one of many US allies, while the US was the Philippines' only patron. Marcos worked to maintain close relations with the US. He relied on this connection to sustain his regime.{{cite journal|last=Kessler|first=Richard J.|date=1986|title=Marcos and the Americans|journal=Foreign Policy|issue=63|pages=40–57|doi=10.2307/1148755|issn=0015-7228|jstor=1148755}}

Marcos strengthened his ties to the US government by actions such as sending two engineer battalions to the US in the Vietnam War. After South Vietnam fell, President Ford sought better security assistance from allies, such as the Philippines, while President Carter wanted to retain US military bases in the Philippines to guard the West's oil supply line from the Middle East.

To obtain additional aid, Marcos often leveraged threats that caught US attention. To secure aid for his campaign, Marcos threatened to search every visiting American naval vessel. The US responded by assisting his campaign indirectly, injecting millions into the government's banking system.{{cite journal|last1=Leifer|first1=Michael|last2=Thompson|first2=W. Scott|date=1977|title=Unequal Partners. Philippine and Thai Relations With the United States, 1965–75|journal=Pacific Affairs|volume=50|issue=1|pages=168|doi=10.2307/2756162|issn=0030-851X|jstor=2756162}}

In another instance, when US military bases became an issue in the Philippines in1969, Marcos secretly assured the US he had no desire for an American withdrawal. He had received warnings from the Philippine embassy that US aid was at risk in Congress. Marcos returned to the implied threats. In one speech, he stated that the bases were a threat to regional peace and security, while reminding the US of its "solemn obligation" to continue aid.{{Cite book|title=Presidential Speeches |year=1979 |location=Manila |pages=275–277|chapter=Speech by Ferdinand E. Marcos before the UP Law Alumni Association}} In the last weeks of the Ford administration, Marcos rejected the US offer of $1 billion in mixed grants and loans as too small.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Marcos published various books during his term from 1970 to 1983, and a final offering was published posthumously, in 1990.{{cite web|title=Ferdinand Marcos|url=http://ilib.upd.edu.ph/servlet/action/IntegratedSearch|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212014057/http://ilib.upd.edu.ph/servlet/action/IntegratedSearch|archive-date=December 12, 2017|access-date=August 31, 2015|website=University of the Philippines Integrated Library System}} Apparently these books were written by ghostwriters,{{cite journal|last=Reyes|first=Miguel Paolo|title=Producing Ferdinand E. Marcos, the Scholarly Author|journal=Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints|date=June 2018 |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=173–218|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/697640|access-date=April 30, 2020|publisher=Ateneo de Manila University|doi=10.1353/phs.2018.0017|s2cid=149840669|url-access=subscription}} notably Adrian Cristobal.{{Cite web |title=Presidential Communications Reforms |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/featured/presidential-communications/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325001851/http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/featured/presidential-communications/ |archive-date=March 25, 2018 |access-date=June 19, 2020 |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines}}{{Cite book |last=Curaming |first=Rommel Argamosa |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=uV61DwAAQBAJ}} |title=Power and knowledge in Southeast Asia : state and scholars in Indonesia and the Philippines |isbn=978-0-429-79630-2 |location=Abingdon, Oxon |chapter=2. Genesis of Tadhana Project (Footnote 47) |date = October 10, 2019|oclc=1110656244}}

• National Discipline: the Key to Our Future (1970)
• Today's Revolution: Democracy (1971)
• Notes on the New Society of the Philippines (1973)
• Tadhana: the history of the Filipino People (1977, 1982)
• The democratic revolution in the Philippines (1977)
• Five years of the new society (1978)
• President Ferdinand E. Marcos on law, development and human rights (1978)
• President Ferdinand E. Marcos on agrarian reform (1979)
• An Ideology for Filipinos (1980)
• An introduction to the politics of transition (1980)
• Marcos's Notes for the Cancun Summit, 1981 (1981)
• Progress and Martial Law (1981)
• The New Philippine Republic: A Third World Approach to Democracy (1982)
• Toward a New Partnership: The Filipino Ideology (1983)
• A Trilogy on the Transformation of Philippine Society (1990)

• 55px Chief Commander of the Philippine Legion of Honor (September 11, 1972){{cite news|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/briefer-on-the-philippine-legion-of-honor/|title=Briefer on the Philippine Legion of Honor|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines}}
• Man of the Year 1965, Philippine Free Press (January 1, 1966){{cite web |work=The Philippine Free Press |title=Ferdinand E. Marcos, Man of the Year, 1965 |url=https://philippinesfreepress.wordpress.com/1966/01/11/ferdinand-e-marcos-man-of-the-year-1965/

|date=January 1, 1966}}

• 55px Knight Grand Cross of Rizal of the Order of the Knights of Rizal.{{Cite web|title=Our Story|url=https://www.knights-of-rizal.org/our-story/|website=Knights of Rizal|access-date=January 24, 2022|archive-date=June 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615010658/https://www.knights-of-rizal.org/our-story/|url-status=dead}}
• {{flag|Gabon}}: Grand Cross of the Order of the Equatorial Star
• {{flag|Japan}}: Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum (September 20, 1966){{cite news|url=https://www.stripes.com/news/marcos-arrives-for-japan-visit-1.18414|title=Marcos arrives for Japan visit|work=Stars and Stripes|date=September 30, 1966}}
• {{flag|Romania|1965}}: Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic (April 9, 1975){{cite news|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1975/05/05/presidents-week-in-review-april-7-april-13-1975/|title=President's Week in Review: April 7 – April 13, 1975|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|access-date=May 22, 2020|archive-date=June 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606152717/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1975/05/05/presidents-week-in-review-april-7-april-13-1975/|url-status=dead}}
• {{flag|Singapore}}: First Class (Honorary) of the Order of Temasek (January 15, 1974){{cite web |title=Prime Minister (PM) Lee Kuan Yew and Mrs Lee posing for photograph with President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and Mrs Imelda Marcos at state dinner at Malacanang Palace |url=https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/def3a639-1161-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad |website=National Archives of Singapore. |access-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803235742/https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/def3a639-1161-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |quote=the President conferring on PM Lee the Ancient Order of Sikatuna, rank of Rajah, and PM Lee giving him the Order of Temasek}}
• {{flag|Spain|1945}}:
• Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (December 22, 1969){{cite news|url=https://boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-1969-54275|title=Decree 3249/1969, 22 December|work=BOE|date=December 23, 1969}}
• Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit
• {{flag|Thailand}}: Knight of the Most Auspicious Order of the Rajamitrabhorn (January 15, 1968){{cite journal |last1=Redmon |first1=Larry J. |title=An Overview of the Orders, Decorations, and Medals of the Kingdom of Thailand |journal=The Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America |volume=51 |page=19 |url=http://www.omsa.org/files/jomsa_arch/Splits/2000/180108_JOMSA_Vol51_1_19.pdf |access-date=August 4, 2020}}
• {{flag|Indonesia}}: First Class (Adipurna) of the Star of the Republic of Indonesia (January 12, 1968){{Citation|title=Video Kunjungan Presiden Filipina Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. di Indonesia Tahun 1968| date=January 14, 2024 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO-SlHyHC4g|accessdate=February 15, 2024|language=id-ID}}
• Marcos and Imelda, were jointly credited in 1989 by Guinness World Records with the largest-ever theft from a government (an estimated 5 billion to 10 billion US dollars),{{cite book|title=The Guinness Book of World Records 1989|year=1988|page=[https://archive.org/details/1989guinnessbook00mcfa/page/400 400]|isbn=978-0-553-27926-9|publisher=Bantam|url=https://archive.org/details/1989guinnessbook00mcfa/page/400}} a record that remained unbroken as of 2022.

{{Portal|Hawaii|Politics|Law|Philippines|Switzerland|United States}}

• Bantayog ng mga Bayani
• Conjugal dictatorship
• Corruption in the Philippines
• Economic history of the Philippines (1965–1986)
• Ferdinand Marcos's cult of personality
• Kleptocracy
• Rolex 12
• List of films about martial law under Ferdinand Marcos
• List of South East Asian people by net worth

{{clear}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|editor=Aquino, Belinda|title=Cronies and Enemies: The Current Philippine Scene|publisher=Philippine Studies Program, Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, University of Hawaii|year=1982}}
• Bonner, Raymond (1987). Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy. Times Books, New York {{ISBN|978-0-8129-1326-2}}
• Salonga, Jovito (2001). Presidential Plunder: The Quest for Marcos Ill-gotten Wealth. Regina Pub. Co., Manila
• Seagrave, Sterling (1988): The Marcos Dynasty, HarperCollins
• Library of Congress Country Studies: Philippines. The Inheritance from Marcos

{{Sister project links|wikt=Marcos|n=No|s=Author:Ferdinand Marcos|b=No|v=No}}

• [https://martiallawmuseum.ph/ The Martial Law Memorial Museum]
• [https://martiallaw.ph/ Digital Museum of Martial Law in the Philippines]
• [https://iskomunidad.upd.edu.ph/index.php/Marcos_Regime_Research The Marcos Regime Research (MRR) program] by the University of the Philippines Third World Studies Center
• [https://www.martiallawchroniclesproject.com/ The Martial Law Chronicles Project]
• [https://hrvvmemcom.gov.ph/ The Philippine Martial Law Human Rights Violations Victims' Memorial Commission Freedom Memorial website]
• {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603204253/https://www.dnd.gov.ph/ferdinand-e-marcos.html|date=June 3, 2020|title=Ferdinand E. Marcos – Department of National Defense}}
• {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080804093918/http://www.op.gov.ph/museum/pres_marcos.asp|date=August 4, 2008|title=Philippine government website on the country's presidents}}
• {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040923032408/http://marcospresidentialcenter.com/|date=September 23, 2004 |title=Marcos Presidential Center}}
• {{IMDb name|1300894}}

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{{s-ttl|title=Nacionalista Party nominee for President of the Philippines|years= 1965, 1969}}

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{{s-ttl|title=Kilusang Bagong Lipunan nominee for President of the Philippines|years= 1981, 1986}}

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