10TH President Of The Philippines

Ferdinand Marcos (1917-1989)

The convention never completed its work, however. Claiming anarchy was near, Marcos declared martial law in 1972, thereby suspending the 1935 constitution, dissolving Congress, and assuming total power. Marcos suppressed the political opposition, arresting leaders such as Benigno ('Ninoy') Aquino, Jr., and ended a long tradition of a free press. A new constitution promulgated in January 1973 gave Marcos absolute power, and elections were indefinitely postponed. Marcos ruled by decree, cloaking his dictatorial decisions in the rhetoric of law.

In 1980 Marcos permitted Aquino, the Liberal Party opposition leader, to go into exile in the United States. He also permitted Radio Veritas, a Catholic-run radio network, to make broadcasts critical of his regime.

The Catholic hierarchy, led by Jaime Cardinal Sin, the archbishop of Manila, became vocal in its opposition to Marcos.

In 1981 Marcos officially lifted martial law, but retained sweeping emergency powers, in order to validate his power through a sham presidential election.

On February 22 two of Marcos’s key military supporters publicly turned against him. Secretary of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile and Deputy Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos staged a military mutiny, seizing two vital military installations in suburban Manila.

Despite these events, Marcos insisted on being inaugurated president in a private but purely symbolic ceremony on February 25. The next day the Marcoses and their family and close associates fled the Philippines for Hawaii on two aircraft supplied by the U.S. Air Force. Aquino became president. 

Ferdinand Marcos had the intellect, the leadership skills, and the opportunity to be the for the economy, the society, and the political institutions of his country. The lost opportunity of economic growth and social prosperity stunted an entire generation and left the Philippines far less competitive than many of its neighbors in Southeast Asia, where economic growth during the same period was spectacular.

During his first term he had made progress in agriculture, industry, and education