NAME: Russel S.

Santos DATE: October 6, 2022

BSBA- MM1B Prof. Mr. Rommel Bonus

READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

Lesson 8
Ang Bansa sa Ilalim ng Diktadura (1972-1986)

In lesson 8 “Ang Bansa sa Ilalim ng Diktadura noong (1972-1986), there was book
or references that shows similar to this lesson. Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses
and the Making of American Policy, this book by Raymond Bonner discuss about th
United States policy towards to the Philippines after Marcos declared martial law in
1972.
After reading, the book is slightly disappointing when it comes to serious
discussion of about the US strategic interest in the Philippine bases in the light of Soviet-
American rivalry in the Pacific, the Vietnamese invasion of Kampuchea or the Soviet
presence in Cam Ranh Bay. In addition, the author which is Bonner neglects the fact that
in the early years of martial law Marcos had a genuinely reformist appeal. Furthermore,
there is limited appreciation of the dilemmas that policymakers face when dealing with
friendly authoritarian leaders in countries where the US has significant security interests.
Landé's book is a compilation of essays by former government officials and academics
that covers a considerably broader variety of topics. William Overholt's essay on Marcos'
collapse and President Aquino's issues is by far the most insightful. Overholt believes
that Aquino has a window of opportunity to assemble a civilian political base and
implement necessary economic reforms, but he warns that the window is narrow and she
has yet to act decisively. Lastly, Bonner is a formidably energetic journalist, as well as a
remarkably biased and muddled one. He has spared no effort, including some that clearly
should have been spared, to prove that the entire period of Marcos’s “constitutional
authoritarianism,” dating from his 1972 invocation of martial law to his 1986 overthrow,
was the fault of the U.S.