The Golden Age of the Philippines: The Development of Economy Throughout Ferdinand

Marcos’ regime and its Comparison to the Current Economy

Members:
Enriquez Alexandre Jeff
Pakingan Chester
Notado Edzel
Cabanlig Erick
Sarañana John
Fortu Marc Gabriel
Fernandez Tanaki

Submitted to:
Marina Gamo

Submitted by:
Group 4
Introduction

The Golden Age of the Philippines has been a hot topic for debate for quite a long time but has
recently had a surge due to last year’s election results. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is currently the
president of the Philippines and the subject of his relation to his father, a former president, is an
issue brought up by the people. Some argue that during 1972 of Marcos’ 2nd term during which
Martial Law was implemented, the GDP of the Philippines did increase up to 8.9, although that
is true, it was only during between 1973 and 1976. Afterwards the Philippines was then followed
with rising external debt due to Marcos’ borrowing of funds for infrastructure building. The
purpose of this study is to shed light on what occurred during Ferdinand Marcos’s Martial Law
and how the economy of the Philippines changed throughout its course till the present under the
ongoing presidency of his son ‘Bong Bong’ Marcos Jr.. The current issues in the Philippines is
commonly from the citizen’s criticism about the present government issues such as corruption
and the insufficiency of the elected members of the government, newly elected ‘BongBong’
Marcos was compared to his father Ferdinand Marcos during the 2022 presidential elections and
this leads to a comparison that ‘Bong Bong’ will be as ‘good’ like his father if he will be the
president. In a comprehensive analysis by Sony Africa (2023) Bong Bong Marcos is likely to
face a worse economic downfall of the country due to corruption and soaring struggle with no
solutions. During Ferdinand Marcos’s regime the economic performance was not the best,
according to Seno-Alday (2022) the martial rule did not turn the country into a golden age but
rather into a declining country with debt and disappointing economic development. Philippines is
still a third world country and a lower- middle income society wherein still facing multiple
problems with economic growth and maintenance (World Bank Classification, 2020) and this is
still a matter that can not be solved immediately by the present administration where the majority
of the citizen elected in the high hopes to return the said glory in from the past. And so the
researchers decided to compare the two administrations in terms of the economical standard,
what is the common reasoning that the Golden age is considered ‘Golden’ and lastly how does
the sudden implementation of martial law created an impact to people during Ferdinand’s
regime.

Arguments
1. To compare the Economy of during Ferdinand Marcos Martial law and the Present
Economy under Bong Bong Marcos
2. To determine how martial law affected the livelihood of the Filipino Citizens during the
implementation
3. To analyze the myths surrounding the Golden Age and give clarity to the events

Discussion
1. The researchers seek to find out if there is a similarity and difference between the two
regimes, reportedly the Philippines is currently in debt of 14.15 Trillion Pesos (Bureau of
the Treasury, 2023)

https://www.treasury.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/NG-Debt-Press-Release-June-
2023.pdf
2.
 ARTICLE SUMMARY SYNTHESIS
How Did the ● GDP hit 8.9% in the year 1973 a year Through the article we can
Declaration of after Martial Law was implemented. conclude that the
Martial Law in ● After 1976 GDP dropped due to Philippines conjured
1972 Impact Marcos’ borrowing of funds for foreign debt due to the
the Economy? infrastructure building. borrowing of funds by
● The Philippines conjured external debt Marcos. The debt reached
in which they could no longer pay. a point in 1983 where the
● Inflation dropped from 14.4% in 1972 Philippines admitted it was
to 4.8% in the same year. unable to pay. We can
● By 1984 inflation hit an all time high connect the issue of
of 62.8% borrowing funds to the rise
of inflation as this led to
the decrease of value of
Peso, it went from P10 to
P14 per USD in 1983.
The Economic ● By the end of Marcos regime in 1985, It is stated that by 1985
Legacy of poverty incidence was estimated to be poverty was at an
Marcos 44.2%. estimated 44.2%. We can
● In 1974 Ferdinand Marcos appointed correlate this increase of
Roberto Benedicto to chief of poverty to the sugar
National Sugar Trading Corp. market incident with
● Benedicto gambled on sugar prices Benedicto Roberto. During
and hoarded large stocks of sugar, 1974, with the
later on the sugar market crashed. This appointment of Roberto
led to unemployment and debt and Benedicto to chief of
famine. National Sugar Trading
● An estimated 350,000 children Corp. Benedicto hoarded
suffered from malnutrition. sugar in hopes of future
● Infant deaths shot up by 67% from sugar prices rising, this
1984 to 1985. backfired when the sugar
● The economic legacy consists of market crashed. This
corruption and cronyism, resulted in unemployment,
unsustainable debt, heightened debt, and famine. We can
poverty, and economic bust. deduce that this was one of
the reasons an estimated
350,000 Filipino children
suffered from malnutrition.
ANALYSIS
Breaking down the
article, we can conclude
that one of the factors
that led to the downfall
of the Philippines’
economy was the
borrowing of funds by
Ferdinand Marcos. It
caused a rising debt that
couldn’t be paid
resulting in the decrease
of value of currency and
the rise of poverty and
unemployment.
Due to Roberto
Benedicto’s gamble of
sugar prices,
unemployment rose as
farmers had to shoulder
the selling of
underpriced sugar.
Unemployment led to
poverty and poverty led
to the lack of basic
necessities such as food.
This resulted in children
being malnourished and
even the death of
infants.

[ANALYSIS] ● Inflation reached 21.4% in 1971,
Golden age? 34.2% in 1974, and 50.3% in 1984.
Inflation ● In 1983 the Philippines was in so
reached 50% much debt that it admitted they
during the couldn’t pay it, a so-called debt
Marcos regime moratorium.
● The Philippines borrowed emergency
funds from the IMF on the condition
that the value of peso go from P10 to
P14 per USD in 1983.
● Poverty and unemployment, the
disregard for human lives and rights,
the erosion of democratic institutions
and the corruption of both public and
private sectors occurred during the
supposed “Golden Age”.
● The myths of the Golden Age persist
to this day.
Martial Law in ● Poverty worsened over the course of
Data the Marcos era. Whereas about 4 out
of 10 families were poor before
Marcos took office, 6 out of 10
families were poor by the end of his
rule.
● The daily wages of Filipino
agricultural workers declined by about
30% in 1986.
● An increase in the prices of goods
during the Marcos era, the prices of
The malnutrition of
children can also be
connected to the infant
deaths that shot up to 67%
during 1984 and 1985.
The article suggests that
inflation kept increasing
from 1971 to 1984, the
highest reaching 50.3%.
By 1983 the Philippines
could no longer pay for all
the foreign debt it owed.
This caused the Philippines
to borrow even more funds
from the IMF on the
condition that the Peso
value lowers. The author
of the article argues that
the myths of the Golden
Age are still prevalent to
this day while data has
shown that the economy
kept spiraling downwards.
Poverty increased during
Marcos Era and one of the
reasons was the wages of
farmers drastically
decreasing in 1986. Even
further, the prices of
essential goods increased
making the daily lives of
Filipinos more costly.
Including the cutting down
of trees for timber export
We can deduce in this
article that the increase
of inflation is the fixed
exchange rate. The
principle of this is by
making the peso
artificially strong,
imports would in turn
become artificially
cheap. To achieve this,
the government had to
force exporters to
surrender their dollar
earnings to the
government. During
Ferdinand Marcos’
term, through
government spending
and the continuation of
fixed exchange rate, our
foreign currency
depleted. Which
resulted in the
borrowing of funds
from the IMF but in
turn lowered the value
of Peso.
Considering how
poverty increased,
wages for workers
decreased, and prices of
goods increased
significantly, one gets a
clearer picture of the
changes in lifestyle
experienced by the
ordinary Filipino.
Progressively earning
 basic commodities tripled by 1986.
● Exportation of timber led to a drastic
reduction in our forest cover. This led
to environmental impacts like
flooding.
● External debt went up to $28.26
billion in 1986.
led to less forests which
caused infrastructure
damage such as floods
during natural disasters. In
addition to the destruction
of homes causing more
poverty, it also added to
the growing debt of the
country.
less while all around
them, food and other
basic needs were
getting more and more
expensive, one can
imagine concretely the
real economic impact
that the supposed
Golden Age had
brought upon the
nation.

PH GOV’T ● Inflation in Sept. 2023 increased to
COMMITTED 6.1% from 5.3% in August .
TO ● The increase is due to higher food
SUPPORTIN inflation, which rose to 8.2% in
G August to 10% in Sept.
CONSUMERS ● DSWD launched the first digital Food
AND Stamp on Sept. 29.The program aims
FARMERS to address food poverty and
AS malnutrition among low-income
INFLATION Filipino households by providing
RISES IN monthly meal augmentation worth
SEPTEMBER PHP 3,000.
2023—NEDA ● DSWD also provided a PHP10,000
cash subsidy to 78,000 farmers listed
in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino
Program.
● Palay prices increased on September
18 to provide Filipino farmers with
higher income.
Inflation has stabilized in
current times compared to
the period of Ferdinand
Marcos’ regime. While
inflation is recorded at
6.1% in September 2023,
NEDA has taken measures
to ease the effects and in
the hopes of reducing
inflation. This is shown
through the collaboration
with DSWD to provide
assistance to poverty
driven Filipinos and
farmers. By increasing the
income of farmers it can
help reduce poverty.
Short-term measures are
used to ease the
negative effects of
inflation as seen with
the assistance of
poverty driven Filipinos
and Farmers. To ensure
the stabilization of
inflation, our long-term
food supply issues are
tackled by providing
support for our local
farmers to boost their
productivity and
resilience.

https://
worldmission
magazine.com/
archives/
february-
2022/martial-
law-not-
golden-age

Conclusion

The researchers collected data and articles related to how the former Marcos’s regime economy
developed during martial law and how it is relevant to the present administration. The articles
presented that during the former Marcos’s Martial Law was indeed impactful in negative ways
and the economy suffered along with the citizens, the said Golden Age is not an accurate alias
for the era that successfully worsened the Philippine economy and debt in a short period of time.
In terms of the inflation from the former and the present, the former was reported to be
relevantly higher and raises into almost 50% during that time while the present inflation inflation
rate this September 2023 is at 6.1% which is recorded as the highest inflation rate recorded since
November 1991 that immediately hiked up when the present administration was elected (NEDA,
2023). As the Philippine’s debt rises from 1983 until present the poverty rises along with it
could possibly be a constant to the denial of economic growth and result into an economic
downfall of the Philippines where education, income, and occupation is a primary measurement
of economic status (APA, 2015). The drastic changes happening in the economy are both
mirrored by the Father and Son regime where it is reported that living costs are more than it used
to be, price hikes, unemployment, and even dissatisfaction of Filipino citizens happens. In the
light off this study it is safe to conclude that Ferdinand Marcos’s regime and Martial Law is still
relevant up to the present and his son ‘Bong Bong’ Marcos as the present president slowly
reflects a same unsatisfactory performance that worsen the situation of the citizens while the
debt, inflation, and dissatisfaction consistently increases.
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