The Marcos Regime

According to my research, there were claims that the Marcos dictatorship was our country’s
golden age of economic prosperity. They cite the dictatorship’s infrastructure feats like the North
Luzon Expressway, Maharlika Highway, Kidney Center, Heart Center, Lung Center, Cultural
Center of the Philippines, and Light Rail Transit, among others. There were also claims that
corruption during the Marcos regime was not as bad as it is now. Lastly, there were claims that
Marcos Sr. dismantled the oligarch families. He dispossessed several oligarch families from
their businesses. While the actual historical data talks about the opposite of what is claimed to
be true. Some of the claims may be true, but there are still two sides to the story that is being
told by many sources. When we talk about the Marcos regime, some truthful claims are just
sugar-coated by people. Firstly there were facts that some of the claimed actions that the former
president has done were true but, it was not all that. Just like the claims about the golden age,
in which was stated that it was the golden age of our country. It may be but the sources say
otherwise because It was stated in our historical data that the infrastructures or other
accomplishments were because of the debts that we have been forced to pay for over more
than 40 years, in which Incidents of massive corruption-tainted these debts. And with corruption
being stated, some books stated that crimes did not disappear, in other words. Criminal gangs
were divested of the means to commit crimes, but the monopolization over the commission of
crimes was handed over to the police and military forces who went on to commit massive
incidents of illegal arrests and detention, horrible cases of torture, and horrific killings. Lastly is
about the claim that had divested oligarch families, which is a fact but rather he used that
opportunity to either confiscate their businesses or co-opted them, and he installed himself as
the biggest oligarch.
 Can you identify instances of oppression that have happened in your
life?

It may sound like it is not an instance of oppression but, It was about the
sexism in our country that is currently happening. I was once told that I
should not be playing with toys for boys because as they say, we girls should
play with barbies or the kitchen. I think that this mentality of people is
hypocritical because it shows that many are stereotypical. So what if a girl
likes action figures, or a boy likes kitchen toys? I think everyone should freely
choose what they want in life with no judgment from other people.

How do you feel about the facts that you have uncovered about the
Marcos regime?

I feel that the facts about the Marcos regime are reliable facts that we should know to
avoid false truths we typically believe in due to many people claiming it is true. These
facts were stated by those who have experienced this regime, and I surely believe in
them because they are the ones who were largely impacted by this administration.

Why do you think so many people have such differing opinions on the
regime?

I think it is because two sides were happening when this administration started. Some people
were abused while there were the ones who lived comfortable life. I also think it's because of
those who were privileged enough to not be impacted by the corruption that was happening in
that era. Many people have different opinions because they all had different experiences, some
may have been happy, some may even be neutral about it, and for sure there are the ones who
were severely hurt and are angry about the said regime.

Citations:

1.
The Fall of the Dictatorship | GOVPH. Official Gazette of the Republic of the
Philippines. Published 2016. Accessed September 6, 2022.
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/featured/the-fall-of-the-dictatorship/

2.
Martial Law Museum. Martial Law Museum. Published 2022. Accessed
September 6, 2022.
https://martiallawmuseum.ph/magaral/martial-law-in-data/

3.
Was martial law good for the Philippine economy? | Human Rights Violations
Victims’ Memorial Commission. Hrvvmemcom.gov.ph. Published 2021.
Accessed September 6, 2022.
https://hrvvmemcom.gov.ph/was-martial-law-good-for-the-philippine-econo
my-2/

4.
Kurt Dela Peña. Marcos’ martial law: Golden age for corruption, abuses.
INQUIRER.net. Published September 2021. Accessed September 6, 2022.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1490968/marcos-martial-law-golden-age-for-c
orruption-abuses