Notes 8

• Tumultuous years in the Philippines

  1970-1972
• This was the period of Martial law
• Period of Japanese occupation in the Philippines

  1941-1945
• Period of liberation when the Japanese surrendered, revival of hope among Filipinos that democracy had returned

  1945
• Growing threat of insurgency perpetrated by Huks in Central Luzon who fought against the Japanese but were subsequently fighting for the ownership of land in defense of the Japanese peasants
• After the World War II, the Philippines was ushered into the third Republic, a new chapter in the history of the nation
• Filipinos were singing "Americans don't leave us" in the midst of devastation and lack of provisions left by the war
• Manuel Roxas


  President after the war in 1946, died of heart attack in 1948
• Elpidio Quirino


  Vice-president who took over and won the presidency in 1949
• Ramon Magsaysay


  Charismatic president who beat Quirino in 1953, died in a plane crash in 1956
• Carlos Garcia


  Vice-president who replaced Magsaysay and won the presidency in 1957, lost re-election in 1961
• Diosdado Macapagal


  Became president in 1961, besieged by an emerging president in the making (Ferdinand Marcos)
• Ferdinand Marcos


  Congressman, senator, wooed by the Narcolista Party as their standard bearer in 1965
• Marcos had strategized his plan for the presidency on a series of public relations stunts
• Biographical book and companion movie about Marcos' war exploits

  • For Every Tear a Victory: The Story of Ferdinand E. Marcos
  • Iginuhit ng Tadhana
• Macapagal's book Macapagal the Incorruptible countered Marcos' biography
• Macapagal was involved in the Stonehill scandal in 1962
• Between 1965 and 1969, Marcos' first term, the government addressed the rice shortage and he embarked on building infrastructure projects
• Marcos easily won a second term in 1969, the first president to do so
• Constitutional change continued as a carryover of the previous administrations, with arguments for a parliamentary government
• Marcos and his allies were able to win considerable seats in the 1970 constitutional convention to influence the debates into abolishing the presidential system and adopting a parliamentary one
• Interests group had already been pressing that Marcos should be driven out of power
• Grenade attack at a Liberal Party rally in Plaza Miranda, Manila


  August 12, 1971
• The communists had re-organized under the leadership of Jose Ma. Sison and co-founded its military arm, the New People's Army under Bernabe Buscayno
• During the first quarter of 1972, there were student demonstrations demanding Marcos' resignation, called the First Quarter Storm
• Marcos issued Proclamation 1081, placing the Philippines under martial law


  September 21, 1972
• Arrests were effected among suspected communists, critics and members of the Liberal Party
• Media institutions were taken over by government forces and turned over to government control, as well as private companies belonging to Marcos' enemies or his family
• Marcos had succeeded in perpetuating himself in power and stifling the democratic processes
• Marcos introduced the New Society with its jingle Bagong Lipunan, its slogan "Sa Ikauunland ng Bayan Disiplina ang Kailangan"
• Years of experience under Marcos' regime proved to be a lie of the promises it hoped to attain
• After the World War II, the Philippines again entered into its dark years
• Pres. Ferdinand Marcos lifted martial law


  1980
• Marcos still ruled with an iron fist but the economy fell badly
• Irresponsible government spending came without check and accountability
• External debt rose from 2.3 billion dollars in 1970 to more than 17.2 billion dollars in 1980
• Though Marcos was able to build a lot of projects, the regime plunged the economy in the state of dishonest spending
• Ninoy suffered heart attack in US while in detention due to charges of rebellion against Marcos


  1980
• With his condition, Ninoy was able to secure temporary freedom and become reunited with his family in the Philippines
• Ninoy decided to fly back to the country under the name, Martial Bonifacio, Martial after the term Martial Law and Bonifacio, after the term Camp Bonifacio where he was first detained