Political Economy Of The Philippines Under Marcos Administration

Political Economy of the Philippines under Marcos Administration

Submitted to:

Submitted by:

Prof. Ma. Editha B. Enumerabellon

James Ryan S. Penalosa

POLITICAL SCIENCE 85 - A

AB Political Science III

“Millions stashed in a frozen Swiss bank account. Dozens of crates of prized possessions shipped across oceans. A man dying in exile in Hawaii. These statements might bring to mind thoughts of James Bond or the latest action film, but in reality they pertain to the life of a real man: Ferdinand Marcos.”

"There are many things we do not want about the world. Let us not just mourn them. Let us change them." – Marcos, F. "I have only ever dreamt of a small house with a picket fence by the sea. But how can I stop what I am doing? It becomes a romance not only to a president and a husband but a romance of principles and commitment. A romance for humanity. This is perhaps what makes me so controversial. I am beyond logic and rationality." – Marcos, I.

"My economic theory is that money was made round to go round. Money was made to encircle man so that he would blossom with many flowers. The whole trouble is, the center is money. All the heads of people thinking about money. All the hands of people reaching out for money. All their poor little bodies working for money. They are running in all directions for money." -- November 1985, Imelda to Sandra Burton, in Impossible Dream

“It is easier to run a revolution than a government.” – Marcos, F.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I.

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………….3

A. What is Corruption?..............................................................................................3 II.

CORRUPTION IN THE PHILIPPINE ILLUSTRATION…………………………7

III.

THE RISE OF MARCOS A. Who is Ferdinand Marcos?.................................................................................16

IV.

MARCOS’ PHILIPPINE POLITICAL ECONOMY : THE SUCESSES & FAILURES A. The Philippines Under Marcos Regime………………………………………...23 B. Economic Transformations During Marcos Administration…………………...26 1. The Economic Acceleration………………………………………………...26 2. The Foreign Borrowing & Infrastructure Development……………………27 3. The Tourism Rate in the Philippines………………………………………..27 4. The international Remittances of Overseas Filipino Workers……………...28 5. The Unforeseen Pitfalls……………………………………………………..28 6. The Attempt………………………………………………………………...28

V.

DEFINITION OF TERMS…………………………………………………………29

VI.

APPENDICES……………………………………………………………………...31

VII.

CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………..41

VIII.

BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………..46

I.

Introduction

What is Corruption?

It is really ticklish to combat entities that are present ever since civilizations came into existence. In all parts of the world, different countries, states & nation-states, aside from poverty, economic degenerations and rigid social stratification suffered common cancer – corruption. There are a lot of economists who draw lines regarding this “cancer” in many fields, but the focal point of this paper would deal in the government scale.

There are several citations below regarding this prevalent culture of demagogueries and manipulation. Corruption invades not only the political aspects of certain country but also includes the economic affairs – the vague checks and balances among officials and the rise of “mysterious” & “promising projects” of those people [mainly politicians] which is undeniably germane to the conditions & needs of the people, the colossal debts of a country to a lending institutions abroad; the welfare of the people resulting to poverty, unemployment, crimes, etc.. This cancer invades the ‘social tissues’ of the ‘political anatomy’ making things and phenomena deteriorate. With the culture of corruption, many people [most especially those who are in the grass root level of the society] suffered from major set-backs – lacking of job opportunities, poor recognition of health benefits, improvident educational facilities, and all that. In the other hand, politicking, passing allegations, exhibiting issues and living in a high horse of life are some of the many things the people [who maneuvers the machinery of the institution that is ought to realize the needs, clamors and consensual validations] do for their satisfaction & comfort.

Before setting up issues and points, many political analysts, in cooperation of economist in different parts of the globe tried to define the word and the act of corruption.

“There is increasing recognition that corruption has substantial, adverse effects on economic growth. But if the costs of corruption are so high, why don't countries strive to improve their institutions and root out corruption? Why do many countries appear to be stuck in a vicious circle of widespread corruption and low economic growth, often accompanied by ever-changing governments through revolutions and coups?” (Mauro, 2002).

Corruption is prevalently characterized as the exploitation of communal power for clandestine advantage. The operation frequently consists of paying bribes to public officials by private recipients as “reward” for the exploitation. Conversely, not all acts of corruption upshots in the imbursement of bribes. A powerful minister can situate a new investment venture in his home town inappropriate for that particular motion or he could manipulate the permissions of big business loans to his associates and links and still not take any direct bribe.

Corruption, according to Rose-Ackerman (1996, p. 365), “occurs when officials use their positions of public trust for private gain.” It is “an extralegal institution used by individuals or groups to gain influence over the bureaucracy” (Leff, 1964, p. 8). That is, corruption engages transactions, typically between private parties and public officials, designed to manipulate the apparatus of government. It may be of the permission-seeking type (quotas, licenses, permits,

passports, and visas), the enforcement avoiding type (tax evasion, illegal pollution) or the competition-harassing type.

Corruption is closely associated with bribery that has been recognized since the 15 century B.C. as “a gift that perverts judgment” (Noonan, 1984, p. 12). Most of the literature on corruption and bribery is implicitly applied to lower level public officers (e.g. Mocan, 2008). What Rose-Ackerman (1996, 1997) names “grand corruption” or kleptocracy, together with far above the ground level treatment of policies and projects. We shall perceive that grand corruption is analogous to rent-seeking at the uppermost levels of administration and may be advantageously looked upon as fraction of the similar “third-best” theory of government (Dixit, 1996), also known as political economy.

This study and research don’t want to give typecast amongst the ‘drivers’ of the government, instead, to look upon certain ideas what are some forms of corruption and how it seriously & significantly affect different scales and aspects of the society.

In the Philippines, where the poems of Filipinos inspired by literature; the information & news inspired by the mass media as ‘watch dogs’ of the government; and the recording of the timelines & events inspired by history can never contradict or deny the harsh tutelage of the Marcos administration. Along with the harshness of the Martial Law on September 21, 1972, rampant corruption cannot just be covered with the silhouettes of denial & biases.

Our family was really a ‘Marcosian’ – we admire his ideals, we are inspired by his words, promises and reforms to really bring the Philippines into a new & great society all over Southeast Asia and of the whole world. But along with that are personal gains and questionable wealth sprung into details.

My aim personally, is to exhibit the ‘notable corruption’ that this former president made in the entire country and how it made an impact to the society during his rule, the things and measures he performed to retain in the power in the middle of corruption and under the table and illegitimate means. The best way of knowing Marcos as a president the former Philippines is not pointing his good means [although he has a lot of good points], rather the awful and dark side of his administration that is visible in all angles of criticism.

The desire is not to deprive the spirit of being political economist touch of the subject matter. This study aims to go into the ‘two sides of the coin’ of Marcos’ Political Economy – as I am conducting my study, there are a lot of ‘benefits’ of projects that former President Marcos established and many benefitted; in some sources, they see no development and in fact, the economy got worse under his dictatorship. Confusing, yet challenging. This research papers would like to present political, sociological, economical and environmental factors under the former president’s administration.

Of all the topics available under this field, this is the best visage that really interests me and the dictatorship, corruption and machinations of Marcos administration is still embedded in the hearts and minds of the Filipinos that still dot the entire country and of the whole world. Of

all the corrupt and controversial presidents that administered in the Philippines, Marcos really tilted the country and the world upside down – his dictatorial procedures, political lordism, rigid authority, hunger for power, scheming dealings in economics and political race. In other words, his deeds that left a mark and scar [or inspiration to some] in the Philippine history and the people who are still alive today, in actual fact, made Marcos well-known. At the end of the day, whether we adore or despise Marcos, it’s still our ideology and belief that made us both rational & radical beings… it’s a matter of loving, hating and respecting each other’s paradigms.

II.

Corruption in the Philippine Illustration

“The Philippines is a rich country, with bountiful land, water and human resources. But the Filipino people are poor and groveling in poverty, working, if possible, in great hardship, raising their families in misery, sleeping in squalor and suffering state police oppression. The elite of these murderous police were trained by the CIA!

For centuries, the social wealth created by the Filipino toiling people has been unjustly appropriated, first by foreign colonizers and then by foreign capital and their local agents, always through a combination of force and deceit, and with the collaboration and help of the P. I. elite.

Those local elite are the rulers of the country now. They compromised in World War Two with the Japanese, but McArthur forgave them after they pointed up the bribes for him. In the Philippine

Islands

only

money

(http://www.philippinecorruption.net/).

and

bullets

talk.

Nothing

else

matters.”

Corruption has been scrutinized as a “cultural and psychological phenomenon in a country marked by incompatible legal and cultural norms” (Tapales 1995:407). The previous highlights “rationality and universal principles of action” as against and in conflict with “reliance and obligation toward kinship, friendship and primary groups” (Bautista 1982). This clash is drawn attention into use of the defense of a gift giving way of life to give explanation for inducement and extortion, or the Filipino look upon for the other (pakikipagkapwa-tao) to validate giving reimbursement to ill-equipped but personally known beneficiaries. This is a existent setback, but it can be magnified. For case in point, both culture and law in the same way characterize cases of dishonesty and righteousness. One’s nearest and dearest may exclude a bureaucrat who prefers to stay within the law.

The circumstances may, however, leave them unaided, provided they do not conciliate their bureaucratic function. Another case is when an official involve him or herself in a pronouncement concerning “nearest and dearest”, even if they take part in a ballot against that person’s concentration, that official (under the Republic Act 3019) can still be charged with corruption. For an official likewise positioned, but who curvatures over backwards to make sure their kin gets an esteemed government bond fits into place in a so called “favor corruption”. This is, without a doubt, the archetypal divergence between culture and law.

The thought of cultural recognition of corruption also requires to be reviewed in the luminosity of a filament of public outlook census where Filipinos deprecate it as a foremost crisis. The media, church pastoral letters and other culturally valued resources likewise condemn this.

Definitely, the long list of laws ratified in opposition to them marked that graft and corruption are not royally impositions but are much loved by Filipinos themselves.

Being part of the third world country, basing the World Systems theory in the fields of Sociology and the classification of many lending institution & political geography, Philippines has numerous cases of corruption may it be in the local office to the national offices. This wordy illustration includes the present situation of the Philippines and tracing back the devastating condition of ‘household management’ in the country brought by corruption. The aim is really to go into the adverse effects of corruption even in the Pre & Post – Marcos era. With the aid of historians and journalists cited in this study, this part would also include the historical facts regarding this corruption and how it really affected & trembled the country into pieces of futility. “The prevailing graft and corruption in the Philippines should be blamed on World War II hero, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, he of the ‘I shall Return’ fame. After the conquest of Japan, the revered General gave the impetus and necessary assistance to the Japanese economy and industry to restart and reach the success of what it is enjoying now. However, MacArthur did one better. This act changed the face of Japan. After the surrender of Japan, Gen Douglas MacArthur removed the power and influence of the ruling daimyos and influential hatamotos by distributing

their

landholdings

to

the

peasantry.

In the Philippines, the opposite happened. The hacienderos amassed more wealth by getting compensated by the War Damage Commission created by the General to compensate for the real and mostly imagined losses during the war through their political influence and machinations. The ordinary Juan Dela Cruz meanwhile could not collect backpay because they lacked grease money and or connections to pursue their claims. The hacienderos obtained more guns and so were able to build some virtual armies. The moneyed hacienderos knew that in order to perpetuate their influence and power, they had to hold political positions in the government. When in office, most of them resort to evil, most foul but seemingly legal ways, to commit graft and corruption from the lowest rank to the highest position if not by themselves but by

their

kin

and

cronies.

It is true that MacArthur could not have done to the Philippine Hacienderos what he did to the ruling elite daimyos and the hatamotos of postwar Japan due to the different political situations of the two countries. Beside, the former was in the side of the victorious while the latter was the defeated one. But at least, the General could have been more strict and stringent on granting reward to the war damage claims of the hacienderos. He could have confiscated from the hacienderos the weapons accumulated during the war and could have restricted their buying of army surplus armament. Thus the power and influence of the hacienderos who are actually holdover Spanish time encomenderos have been enhanced . F. Sionil Jose a famous writer , has said “ colonialism is not dead but only took a different form “. The friars and Spanish officials were only replaced by the mestizos and encomederos aka hacienderos and the new moneyed class. Rizal family was not a true haciendero. They had a land to till which paid for Jose Rizal schooling in the Philipines and abroad but the land was only under lease from the

corrupt Dominican friars who subjected his family to hardship, imprisonment and arbitrary increase in rent. Corruption in the ruling class that been decried and fought wrote against in his Noli and Fili books and eventually died for by our national hero Jose Rizal, is still a social cancer pestering the Philippines. Rizal expressed some apprehension when he said “ What good is

independence

if

the

slaves

of

today

are

the

tyrants

of

tomorrow

“

Putting the blame on someone for the sorry present state of things, persons or countries, is frowned upon by most as a counterproductive exercise and rather too late for a solution to be found. What is there to be done then? What then is the solution to the problem? Firstly, acknowledge that there is a problem. Secondly, know what the problem is and what the root cause is. The root cause of the graft and corruption in the Philippines is the inappropriate and disproportional concentration of wealth and power on the hands of the hacienderos just like the pre World War II Japan’s daimyos and hatamotos. Their power and influence come from their ownership of lots of land. The Philippine government can out Macarthur by LAND APPROPRIATION through a TRUE LAND REFORM despite the opposition of the landed legislators ( as the likes of Claro M. Recto and Lorenzo Tanada who torpedoed the Land Reform Act in their times ). A true land reform entails provisions of helping any struggling new land owner farmer by way of easy to repay loan, availability of cheap fertilizers, and a provision of prohibiting of selling and or buying appropriated land in an unassailable form which cannot be skirted and fooled with by unprincipled

politicians

and

businessmen.

The government can enact this land reform but will surely face tough opposition from the

hacienderos among the legislators. This may lead the people to resort to PEOPLE DEMONSTRATION No. 3 to emphasize that they are fed up with half measures and watereddown land reform that favors and caters more to the rich and powerful rather than the poor, vulnerable and downtrodden.” (Faundo, V. 2009). Faundo tried to explain that corruption started ever since the Spanish era. He gave historical explanations and approaches to really define and find out in what instance does corruption started. Aguilar, J. , a journalist of Samar News formulated ‘costs of corruption’ in the Philippines in his article entitled, “Counting the Cost of Corruption in the Philippines”. In his article, he summed up this ‘cancerous entity’ into nine (9) factors: 1. Loss of Government Revenues – he [Aguilar] considered this one as the first victim of corruption and marked this factor as a devastating one.

2. Education – As every school opens ever year, the gap of number of classrooms, qualified teachers, and educational materials is immeasurable. This is supposed to be the main priority of the government in building a strong-standing Republic yet, this is taken for granted.

3.

Infrastructure – the main concern also of the journalist is regarding this aspect is also devastating.

4. Environment – In order to bring about welfare to the people, the governing agencies are ought to secure the health of its people in form of clean air, potable water and livable community, but unfortunately, this was neglected. There are several laws and acts passed in the congress and senate to maintain the balance of ecology but these written outputs cannot be put into actions. There are just mere decorations and compilations of hopelessness.

5. Government Debt & Poverty – The main reason for this factor has something to do with the financial deficit of the government, but still, the government borrows money to lending institutions adding up the financial liabilities of the country. Projects that are supposed to be for the poor and needy of this nation-state are not being pursued or not being given into action because of budget constraints.

6. Political Patronage – “Corruption doesn’t prosper without protection.” (Aguilar, J. 2004). A person in power does its best not to be ousted from this power, instead, he do manipulative ways and means to retain on such state – bribing in form of small or “simple gifts”.

In the other hand, election is compared as a sponge, which sucks up all the money, most of it from corruption. Election in the Philippines is not a matter of showing dedication in

serving the public [by doing such you win the hearts of the people] & charisma, rather patronage in politics.

The political candidates in the other hand cannot thoroughly explain where and how they obtain large sum of money in doing their campaign projects, considering that a public servant only earns thousands of Philippine Peso yet, his spending in a campaign would amount to millions of Philippine Peso.

7. Crime – in lieu with the machinations and manipulations from those who are in seat, desperation comes into picture – the aim for protection means transacting with criminal syndicates to achieve its goals, tolerating the criminal acts for as long as protection is being met.

The point of desperation to accumulate more money and power by means of killing, swindling, trafficking, smuggling and bribing.

The other group of people in the other hand, who is not part of the socialites commit heinous crimes out of influence of drugs, lack of job opportunities that made those people depressed and seek illegitimate ways in acquiring money and power to suffice their needs and wants for their family and their self.

8. High Costs of Doing Business – There are a lot of red tapes and exorbitant amount of money asked by some government sectors in acquisition of legal papers and licenses

without really seeing the nature of the business, the need, the length and the consumption & usage of these legal documents.

Aside from the higher house, the subordinate part of the government, mainly the different agencies do also technical corruptions, bribery and the like in order also to gain money and benefits to make their own pockets full.

9. Loss of Investor Confidence – Trust is the hardest things to make up once it is broken. It is quite a challenge, a ticklish thing to and a very discouraging issue and reality to face. Philippines, being a corrupt country that relies mostly on foreign firms discourage foreign investors to do business in the country.

The point is, all businesses firm even local firms aims to have more gains than loses. And one thing they are worried to make more losses is because of corruption. Being labeled a corrupt country doesn’t bring any goodwill to all of us [well, it is, really].

Aguliar presented the chain reactions of political corruption and how it really affects various factors present in this society. Corruption can be the agent to turn the country into pieces.

III.

The Rise of Marcos

a. Who is Ferdinand Marcos?

Sixth President of the Philippine Republic. Scholar, soldier, lawyer and politician who served as President of the Philippines from 1966 to 1986, Ferdinand E. Marcos was born on September 11, 1917 in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, the eldest son of Mariano Marcos and Josefa Edralin, both teachers. He had to study in several elementary schools as his parents’ assignments changed constantly. From 1923 to 1929, he attended the Sarrat Central School, then the Shamrock Elementary School in Laoag and, finally, the Ermita Elementary School in Manila.

He went into the high school department of the University of the Philippines and in 1934, enrolled in a liberal arts course at the same university. While still a student, he was commissioned as third lieutenant (apprentice officer) in the Philippine Constabulary Reserve after having been an ROTC battalion commander, with the rank of cadet major, and team captain of the UP rifle and pistol team. He later took up law at the university.

In 1935, Assemblyman Julio Nalundasan, a political rival of his father, was shot dead. Suspicion for the crime fell on the Marcoses. Ferdinand Marcos was arrested on a charge of conspiracy to murder, was tried, and found guilty in 1939. He argued his case on appeal to the Supreme Court, luckily winning an acquittal a year later.

At the UP College of Law, he joined the Upsilon Sigma Phi Fraternity, which specialized in political heckling of Manuel Quezon’s Commonwealth government. In the summer of 1939, he received his bachelor of law degree, cum laude. He would have been class valedictorian and magna cum laude had not imprisonment for the Nalundasan murder case prevented him from attending several weeks of classes. He appraised for the bar examination while in prison. He bailed himself out in order to take the examination, where he emerged topnotch in November of the same year. He became a trial lawyer in Manila.

During World War II, he served as an officer in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Captured by the Japanese, he survived the Death March from Bataan to Capas, Tarlac, and escaped. His subsequent claims of being an important leader in the Filipino guerilla resistance movement was a central factor in his later political success.

Marcos was a technical assistant to President Manuel Roxas (1946-47); member of the House of Representatives (1949-59); member of the Senate (1959-65); and Senate President (1963-65). In 1965, Marcos, who had been a prominent member of the Liberal Party founded by Roxas, broke with it after failing to get the party’s nomination for President.

He then ran as the Nacionalista Party candidate for President against the LP’s standard bearer, reelectionist President Diosdado Macapagal. Marcos won and was inaugurated as President on December 30, 1965.

In 1969, he was reelected, the first Philippine president to serve a second term.

During his first term, he made progress in agriculture, industry and education. However, his administration was troubled by increasing student demonstrations and violent urban guerilla activities.

On September 21, 1972, Marcos imposed martial law. Holding that communists and other subversive forces had precipitated the crisis, he acted swiftly. He jailed opposition politicians and made the armed forces an arm of the regime. Apart from political leaders, notably Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., whom he had arrested and held in detention for almost eight years, Marcos also met some opposition from church leaders and others. In the provinces, the New People’s Army and Muslim separatists undertook guerilla activities intended to bring down the central government. In 1973, Marcos promulgated a new constitution that established a parliamentary government, with him as Prime Minister. He announced the end of martial law on January 17, 1981. In April, various constitutional changes were approved by plebiscite, resulting in the reversion of the government to the presidential system. Marcos won election for the new post of President, but against only one token opposition, on June 16. He began a new six-year term as President on June 30, 1981. Marcos’ wife Imelda Romualdez, a former beauty queen, became a powerful figure in her own right after her husband instituted martial law in 1972. She held the posts of governor of Metropolitan Manila (1975-1986) and minister of Human settlements and Ecology (1979-1986).

In 1983, Marcos’ health was beginning to fail, and opposition to his rule was growing.

Hoping to present an alternative to both Marcos and the increasingly powerful New People’s Army, Senator Aquino, after three years of exile in Boston, Massachusetts, returned to Manila on August 21, 1983 only to be shot dead as he stepped off the plane.

An independent commission, the Agrava Fact-Finding Board, appointed by Marcos, concluded in 1984 that high-ranking military officials were responsible for Aquino’s assassination. To reassert his mandate, Marcos called for a so-called “snap” presidential election to be held in February 1986. But a formidable political opponent soon emerged in Aquino’s widow, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, who became the presidential candidate of the united opposition. It was widely asserted that Marcos managed to defeat Aquino and retain the presidency in the election of February 7, 1986 through massive voting frauds on the part of his supporters. Widely discredited abroad by his dubious electoral victory, Marcos held fast to his presidency as the military split between supporters of his and of Aquino’s legitimate right to the presidency, as dramatized by the now historic four-day “People Power” revolution at EDSA.

A tense standoff that ensued between the two sides ended only when Marcos left the country post-hastens on February 25, 1986 and went into exile in Hawaii.

Marcos died of cardiac arrest on September 28, 1989 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He left behind his wife, Imelda and their three children: Maria Imelda Josefa Trinidad (Imee), Ferdinand, Jr. (Bongbong), and Irene Victoria. (Peterson, J. 1998).

Born in 1917 to a Mariano Marcos, a politician, and Josefa Edralin, a teacher, Marcos crossed the world in the south Asian islands of the Philippines. During that period, the islands had been ruled by the American government for no more than two decades in view of the fact that the Spanish-American War and the political configuration were still being established. Subsequent after his father, Marcos registered to study at the University of the Philippines to study law after completing his foundational schooling, but his finishing year at the university was broken up. The court summoned him to be undertaken for a murder which he had carried out three years previously. The injured party was the political opponent of his father, who had defeated his father in a political race. A strapping case affirmed that Marcos had shot the man the day after the race as the man celebrated in his home. Marcos was found culpable, yet he pleads the set of circumstances to a higher court, the Philippine Supreme Court. He came to a decision to put his comprehension of the law to a test by representing himself in court, and while being in custody for six months wrote his own 830 page petition. After defending his side, the case was reversed, acquitting him to come back to court the next day in order to be certified as he had passed the bar exam. He became a trial lawyer in Manila, until commencing his service as an officer in the Philippine armed forces during World War II.

Marcos materialized from the war asserting to have led a revolutionary unit against the Japanese and to have been highly ornamented by the American forces for his good turn, all of which proved to be fabrications. In fact, he had spent much of the time during the war tormenting in hospitals and causing commotion which approximately led to his capital punishment at the finale of the war. The close of the war also acted as the closing stages of America’s rule over the Philippines, setting up the country as self-governing. At that instant, Marcos readdressed his vocation to politics, becoming the subordinate to the first president of the

new republic, Manuel Roxas. More than a few years later, in 1949, Marcos won a seat in the House of Representatives, becoming the youngest affiliate. He quickly began establishing himself as a affiliate of the Philippine cream of the crops, using his private persuades for immense and virtually on the spot self achievement. Marcos happened as expected in keep hold of his seat for two reelections, and suspended from entering the 1961 presidential candidacy under the understanding that the following election he would be given the spot. Backstabbed, Marcos was deprived of his cast iron presidential recommendation and straight away substituted parties in the subsequent election, astonishingly wining by a complete success. Promising enhanced living conditions and land reorganization under his management, Marcos’ true private main concern of self gain sooner or later became unmistakable. President Marcos promoted good dealings with America, by heartening the growth of American military bases on the Philippine archipelago.

These apparently altruistic acts in point of fact allowed for billions of dollars to make their way into the economy of the Philippines, and for his wife, Imelda, to head up cachet projects which constructed pleasing to the eye hotels and museums. The economy flourished, and Marcos was elected again for another term in the year 1969. Marcos’ second term demonstrated to be less effortless and suave than his first, as the communist party began causing upset and citizens began to frown on the American presence in the Philippines and Marcos’ support of American’s postured towards Vietnam.

As the law states, Marcos period in office was limited to two terms, yet at the end of his second term he announced publicly the

Martial law to carry on his rule, asserting that

Communist rebel groups were causing distress on the entire archipelagic terrains of the

Philippines. This act melted Congress and the constitution, establishing Marcos as the solitary decisive authority.

He became a tyrant, putting off freedom of speech and suppressing any political faction that is against his rule right away. By the succeeding years, Marcos and his wife collected huge quantities of money and riches, sucking them from the Philippine economy in the course of controlled industry monopolies and banking.

He instructs and orders for military forces to be augmented, making it triple in size between 1971 and 1983. Coercion amplified as living principles misshapen and turbulence among the people grew. In the point of 1981, Marcos effort to recuperate his people’s support by coming the martial law into an end and accomplishing a manipulated election in which he won by a landslide, but this only results in bigger disagreement. Endeavoring to put on favor again in 1986, Marcos holds another election, but this time the deception flickered revolts & uprisings.

Ferdinand Marcos and his family are enforced to sprint in casting out to Hawaii, bringing with them innumerable expensive special possessions, jewels and gold, all pilfered from Marcos’ people. The retaining government of the Philippines retrieved several millions from the president’s Swiss bank accounts, but only after noteworthy examination, analysis and aid from the Swiss government.

The former president remained in exile in Hawaii, notwithstanding gossips of premeditated attempts to recuperate command & administration in the Philippines by means of incursion. By the year 1987 former President Marcos was impeached by an American federal

panel of judges for fraud and obstruction of justice, but he passed away in Honolulu the subsequent year before his trial was held.

Even though the former president’s life may seem like an out of the ordinary account of voyage, Marcos’ actions warranted gruesome results. The kingdom Marcos claimed to regulated and administer was torn into pieces and was left in the middle of economic disaster, filled with individuals [who has his compatriots] who were starved of their freedoms and ample living principles. Ferdinand Marcos’ life is a legend of obliteration; egoistical and self-seeking desires which injured the olden times of the Filipino nation.

IV.

Marcos ‘ Philippine Political Economy : The Successes & Failures

A. The Philippines under Marcos Regime

By the great year of 1965, Marcos triumph the presidential election, running as the nominee of the Nacionalista party in a bi-party electoral system. A few months earlier, he had been president of the opposing Liberal Party.

Upon acquiring the domination in the Philippine governmental seat, he employed political whereabouts and rent reassignments to an unparalleled scale to merge bureaucratic, military, and “cream of the crop” political support, and was able to wane the judicial branch by means of reappointment timing.

Marcos immensely lingered the bureaucracy, much of which became functionally superfluous, to form an outsized cluster of public servants reliant on him for benefaction and their source of revenue. Ferdinand Marcos also lengthened both the range and function of the armed forces, permitting it to slot in an extensive series of trade and industry doings, individually profiting leaders and bureaucrats devoted to Ferdinand Marcos.

The president also approved economic dominations to neighboring elite whom he chosen as local political influential, that made them dependent on Marcos for their prosperity and way of life.

By the first phase of his administration, it was the point in time for six out of nine Supreme Court justices positions to be reappointed. It has been bickered that that he [Marcos] had deferred running for president to bring into line the good phase of time of his presidential power with the reappointments, and he allotted justices faithful to himself. The scheme of judicial branch from then on constantly administrate in goodwill of his administration rulings & diktats in opposition to antagonists.

It was on the year 1969, in the segment of presidential election; Marcos used enormous quantities of the government resources to safe votes by manner of backing, vote buying, and prearranged aggression and deceptions. The constitution narrowed Marcos’ presidential power to two terms; furthermore, by the year 1972, a year ahead of the closing stages of Marcos’ subsequent term, Marcos stated and declared martial law. He quoted the must for dictatorial rule

to look after economic intensification and thwart communist uprisings, and was extensively shored up both in the entire country and in abroad.

In the midst of martial law, Marcos pushed back then refurbished the constitution, censored the mass media; depriving the right of being the watch dogs of the government, and brought into play cruelty and tyranny in contrast political opposition. He publicly owned and corners the market of growing fractions of manufacturing and added bigger expenditure on patronage.

All the way through that time, the US and global institutes such as the World Bank and IMF bigheartedly sustained the Marcos administration with assistance and finances. Marcos in return, did not failed to exchange unadulterated commitment to the Philippine-US coalition with significant US aid, due to US Cold War interests of having military bases deliberately located in the Philippines. It is often disputed that a huge percentage Marcos’ patronage was financed by US aid. The World Bank and IMF looked upon Marcos as imitating tactics of Lee Kwan Yew’s victorious dictatorial administration in Singapore, making the Philippines a “special focus” area to target funding.

Ferdinand Marcos came into view from this crooked milieu. He realized the political deal from his father's prewar crusades for the National Assembly. His first political existence was as a defendant changed with assassinating his father's rival, and his wartime experience included noteworthy black marketeering and deceits. It's not shocking that he brought the cruelty-oriented viewpoint of the local politician to the national echelon.

The former president, obviously, took dishonesty to unparalleled altitudes in a manner of methodical marauding of the Philippine financial system. The Marcos family and key associate’s accumulated fabulous riches from bribe-taking and rewards from chum monopolies. These group of socialites also sidetracked administrative dealings & loans into their own ‘royal receptacle’, made riches from proceeds from exorbitant-priced commodities and building ventures, and unswervingly glided from the public ditch.

B. Economic Transformations during Marcos Administration

1. The Economic Acceleration

With the desire of the administration to accelerate economic growth and development, President Marcos executed a numerous of economic agenda and goals. These programs assisted the country to take pleasure in the interlude of economic expansion from the mid-1970s until the near the beginning of 1980s. In the fields of agriculture, the farmers were given technological and monetary support and other inducements such as "price support". With the incentives agreed to the farmers, the country's farming sector nurtured & grew. Consequently, the country became self-reliant in rice by the year 1976 and even became one of top exporters of rice. The economy during the decade was robust, with budgetary and trade surpluses. The Gross National Product rose from P55 billion in 1972 to P193 billion in 1980.

2. The Foreign Borrowing & Infrastructure Developments

To help finance a number of economic development projects, such as infrastructure, the government engaged in borrowing money. Foreign capital was requested to put in certain industrial projects. They were offered inducements plus tax exemption privileges and the dispensation of bringing out their profits in overseas legal tenders. One of the mainly significant economic programs in the 1980s was the Kilusang Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran (Movement for Livelihood and Progress). This program was ongoing in September 1981. Its aspiration was to prop up the trade and industry expansion of the barangays by heartening the barangay residents to employ in their own source of revenue projects. The government's hard work resulted in the augmentation of the nation's economic intensification rate to standard of six percent to seven percent from 1970 to 1980. The rate was only less than 5 percent in the preceding decade.

3. The Tourism Rate in the Philippines

The Gross National Product increased from P55 billion in 1972 to P193 billion in 1980. Tourism rose, causative to the economy's escalation. The number of tourists visiting the Philippine rose to one million by 1980 from less than 200,000 in preceding years. The country earned 26 billion pesos. A large fraction of the tourist group consists of Filipino balikbayans (returnees) under the Ministry of Tourism's Balikbayan Program which was launched in 1973.

4. The International Remittances of Overseas Filipino Workers

Another chief resource of economic growth of the country was the transfer of funds of abroad Filipino workers. Thousands of Filipino workers found employment in the Middle East, Singapore and Hong Kong. These overseas Filipino workers not only helped relieve the country's joblessness crisis but also produced much-needed foreign exchange for the Philippines. A big share of the annual earning of the country was owed to the payment of twelve-monthly in gain on loans.

5. The Unforeseen Pitfalls

The Philippine economy underwent a grand decline after the Aquino killing in August 21, 1983. The wave of anti-Marcos demonstrations in the country that followed discouraged and alarmed the tourists. The political quandaries also hindered the entry of foreign investments, and foreign banks stopped giving way loans to the Philippine government.

6. The Attempt

In the pursuit to launch a national economic recovery program, Marcos discussed with foreign creditors including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for a reorganizing and reshuffling of the country's foreign debts – to give the Philippines to have a longer time allotment for the country to pay its debts. Marcos ordered a cut in government spending and used a piece of the savings to finance the Sariling Sikap (Self-Reliance), a livelihood program Marcos created in the year 1984.

On the other hand, the economy came into contact with downbeat economic growth beginning in 1984 and persisted to decline in spite of the government's recuperation efforts. The recovery program's breakdown was caused by out of control graft and corruption within the government and by Marcos' lack of trustworthiness. Marcos himself abstracted large sums of government money to the Kilusang Bagong Lipunans campaign funds.

DEFINITION OF TERMS



Economic degenerations – the fall and weakening of the economy



Ticklish - difficult



Cancer / Cancerous entity – a destructive unit in politics – may it be an action or phenomena (i.e. corruption).



Demagogueries - A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace.



Mysterious – unexplainable projects of the administration



Promising projects – projects that shows potential and benefits



Germane – relevant projects that can really meet the needs of the majority.



Social tissues - political, economic or social aspects that the cancer invades; the target of the cancer to weaken.



Political anatomy – the integral part of the dealings of the government, with its economy and relations.



Grass root level of the society – group of people who belong in the lower class of the society, including the ordinary fellows.



Setbacks – the impediments and the hindering forces of development in attaining political stability and economic development.



Consensual validation – the rule of the majority is being honored, followed and respected.



Clandestine – secretive nature. Under the table transactions.



Kleptocracy – grand corruption.



Tutelage – mode of protection and ruling.



Marcosian – a person or group of people who is an advocate of former president, Ferdinand Marcos.



Notable corruption – the corruption of the former administration that was made known and shook the entire Philippines.



Political lordism – way of recognizing political figure, befriending them and ask for aids and subsidies in form of money or cash bond; a sort of idolatry to political figure.



Paradigms – personal model, outlook, the side of people whether, anti Marcos or pro Marcos.



Republic Act of the Philippines 3019 - ANTI-GRAFT AND CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT



Kin – refers to family members, relatives, loved-ones.



Favor corruption – an act that was tolerated by a certain administration because this act was done by his or her kin.



World Systems theory – focuses more on classifying countries – whether a core country, semi – industrialized country, balanced type of country, or an agricultural intensive country, reflecting their status in the world scale.



Cream of the crop – referred to a person or group of people who belong to the socialite class.



Special focus – an act done to pay attention in the developments and impacts of the country.



Royal receptacle – simply refers to personal pockets of those who are the cream of the crop of the society, especially those who belong to the kin of the administration & loyalists.



Unforeseen pitfalls – the unexpected results or events [particularly down falls & undesirable phenomena] took place in pursuance of economic development.

APPENDICES I. About the Author: Full name is Venancio Del Pilar Faundo. Went to Hagonoy Elementary School, to San Jose Seminary for high school. Graduated with Bachelor of Science in Electrical engineering from Mapua

in

1965

and

passed

board

the

same

year.

Taught in Hagonoy Institue HighSchool and worked at US Naval Base in Design Div from 1967 till immigration to Canada in1976. Retired from Bombardier Aerospace in 2006.

Married to Winnie Pedagat and have three children. Hobby is bowling, golf and mahjong. Present residence is Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.

II.

Full Article of: Counting the Cost of Corruption in the Philippines can also be found @ http://www.samarnews.com/Insight/insight5.htm

By JUN S. AGUILAR - March 12, 2004.

Among the very first lessons in business is that "THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH". Somebody is bound to pay, Always. Especially when it comes to corruption. So how does corruption get to us? Let's count the ways.

1. Loss of Government Revenue

The first victim of corruption is government revenue. In a developing economy like the Philippines, this can be extremely debilitating. The continuing budgetary deficit of the government results into cutbacks in expenditures for much needed social services.

2. Education

The gap of classrooms in public elementary schools is estimated to be about 40,000 this coming school year. The case is even more pathetic, as the lack of qualified teachers further confound the problems. While student population keeps on growing year after year, these gaps in classroom, books and teachers is widening. What do these lead to? Poor quality education of the future citizens of the Republic further undermining their prospects of contributing to nation building. THAT IS A VERY HIGH PRICE TO PAY FOR CORRUPTION.

3. Infrastructure

With tightening sources of funding for infrastructure development, government has to resort to partnership with the private sector. A public good like roads, bridges, ports and airports will necessarily be charging user fees to be able to earn profit and recover capital. Nothing wrong with because he who benefits should share the cost. But a lot of these projects require performance undertaking from the government to be financeable to lenders. This results into the contingent liabilities of the national government burgeoning the levels no one wants to even find out. Remember the NAIA III Terminal? An edifice that can't be operated until now. The MACAPAGAL BOULEVARD which can easily enter the Guiness Book as the world's most expensive boulevard? THE SMOKEY MOUNTAIN PROJECT where almost a billion of OFW's money was invested and has not been repaid until now? Last count in 2003, it stood to over P500 Billion. That’s about over 30,000 pesos per household. THAT IS NO LOOSE CHANGE TO PAY FOR CORRUPTION.

4. Environment

Because government resources are constrained, environment protection programs are neglected. We passed the Clean Air Act and yet we cannot put our acts together in ensuring clean air. The law is toothless because the government has no money to invest in monitoring equipment. Even garbage it cannot collect. Remember the PAYATAS TRAGEDY? Meanwhile, to be able to generate power and run our heavy industries, less desirable Plants are allowed to be established. ASK THE PEOPLE from CALACA, BATANGAS, PAGBILAO QUEZON, and SUAL

PANGASINAN, all sites of COAL FIRED POWER PLANTS that contribute to withdrawals from our deposit of breathable air, potable water and liveable communities. The resource balance of our children's future is rapidly depleting, A COST OF CORRUPTION THAT WE MAY NEVER BE ABLE TO ACCOUNT FOR.

5. Government Debt and Poverty

Again due to budget deficit, government keeps on accumulating debt, which at end of 2003 stood at over 2.4 trillion pesos. That’s over 30,000 pesos for every Filipino man, woman and child. At an average interest cost of 10% per year for both short and long term loans, that is equivalent to a staggering P240 Billion in interest payment alone every year. That’s the amount of money taken away from the mouth of the poor, who account to more than half of the Philippine population. TURNING OUR BACKS FROM OUR MARGINALIZED CITIZEN IS A STEEP PRICE TO PAY FOR CORRUPTION.

6. Political Patronage

Corruption doesn’t prosper without protection. Those who practice realize that to keep themselves in their lucrative posts, somebody politically powerful should be able to stop any attempts to cut him from illicit money flow. In return, he lavishes his patrons with gifts. Gifts in no small terms, which further corrupt him and his patron. His patron, in order to accumulate more gifts has to increase his influence. To increase his influence, he needs to milk his corrupt benefactors. And it goes on deeper and deeper.

Elections are like a sponge, it sucks up all the money, most of it from corruption. Election in the Philippines are nothing but patronage politics. How else does one explain the millions

spent in a campaign in exchange for a few measly thousand pesos in the salary of a public servant? There is only one explanation I have, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH, SOMEONE IS BOUND TO PAY FOR IT.

How do campaign contributors expect to recover their investments? In the form of political protection to allow them to continue with their illegal activities. In the form of rigged government contracts. In the form of economic rents taxpayers eventually pay for.

7. Crime

Corruption corrupts and the deeper one gets into the mire, the more desperate one becomes in defending the well from where he draws his booty. He will be prepared to use trick, treat and threats to keep his business. And since corruption, like stale food attract flies and worms, criminal syndicates are not very far from them. So do their violent means of doing business.

The problem with the proliferation of illegal drugs can be linked solidly to corruption. How else do drug lords and pushers do their business under the noses of law enforcers and local government officials except that they pay-off this public servants or work in cahoots with them. Remember Mayor Mitra of Quezon Province? He was caught red handed transporting a ton of shabu using the town ambulance.

This social ill has led to the commission of many a heinous crime is prospering and multiplying in every Barangay of this country because of corruption. RAPES, MURDERS, and KIDNAPPING FOR RANSOM ARE TOO MUCH TO PAY FOR CORRUPTION.

8. High Cost of Doing Business

It is sometimes beyond our imagination for a businessman to spend three full days in the crowded city hall of a highly urbanized city trying to get a business license. And he was just going to buy and sell eggs. How much more if he wants to operate a industrial project. If there are 20 government offices he needs to go through for various permits, licenses, certificates, approvals and signatures, he needs an entire army of fixers to handle them. Precious hours are lost among senior officers of the firm who have to wine and dine to the whims and caprices of government officials. Remember the stinking IMPSA and PIATCO deals?

Those companies whose code of conduct does not permit them to provide bribes and pseudo-bribes end up spending tons of money just to end up deciding to leave the country in exasperation.

On the other hand, many of those who stay to do business have gotten used to government people scratching their heads as they show up in their offices asking for all sorts of gifts for every known relatives of a mayor, congressman, senator, department secretary, bureau director or chief of police. What does the businessman do? He just passes on to his customers this extra cost incurred in doing business in the Philippines. Remember the Power Purchase Adjustment (PPA)? This is one bloody scheme that sucks us dry!!!

9. Loss of Investor Confidence

As Judge W.H. Heath said, if we cannot manage our money and assets, how can we be expected to manage other people’s money? Investors demand that there be a reasonable level of

assurance that they will get their investment back. That their investment will in fact make money. And that it will not be taken over by political forces.

It becomes extremely challenging to attract investors to do business in a country where a fugitive from the FBI and convicted pedophile gets elected in Congress. Or where tax evasion case with very clear outcomes is lost to technicalities.

Multilateral donors find it hard to give us loans and technical assistance grants when they know that a large portion of their money will be used to line up the stomachs of politicians. They will have to invest in additional personnel, incur additional costs just to watch us spend their money. Every time we submit receipts they spend thrice the time just verifying whether they are genuine or not. This is the only country in the world whose AUTHENTIC DOCUMENTS (as declared and sealed from Malacanang) has one year expiry date. Believe me it can be tiring to do these things.

When many in the International community considers your country as corrupt, it does not feel good. It does not buy you goodwill. Jeers and sneers YES. But respect? NO!!! Just look at how we PINOYS are treated in foreign airports. Who would forget Senate President DRILON being forced to remove his shoes in a US airport despite showing his Diplomatic Passport. I myself had a very disgusting experience in SCHIPOL airport in the Netherlands (CARLO BUTALID & GRACE CABACTULAN MAY NOT AGREE WITH ME) and at Charles de Gaulle in France. But can we blame them? Of course not. There's simply too much Pinoys who are going out of the country with spurious documents, escorted and facilitated by no less than BID personnel from NAIA. THAT IS WHAT WIDESPREAD CORRUPTION IS COSTING US.

We have only just begun counting the cost of corruption. It cost us the prostitution of our political institutions. We have now hoodlums in uniforms and hoodlums in robes. It costs us many lives and honor lost to crime. It costs us our self respect. And it costs us lost opportunities for a better future of our children.

If you ask me, THAT'S TOO MUCH TO PAY FOR FREE LUNCH!!!

III.

Six Acts of Defiance by Sen. Joker P. Arroyo

In 1972, Ferdinand Marcos contemptuously imposed martial law on the entire country and ordered the arrest and incarceration of Ninoy Aquino. The most expedient for Ninoy was simply to collaborate with the dictator as many leaders did. Marcos was just waiting. But Ninoy, the most prominent among the arrested oppositionists, flatly refused. So Marcos ordered him tried on false charges of rebellion, murder, and illegal possession of firearms before a military commission. That started Ninoy’s defiance and a war of attrition between the tormentor and tormented, a battle of wills all the way.

Act I Ninoy challenged the jurisdiction and independence of Military Commission No. 2, composed of generals and colonels appointed by Marcos. So he refused to participate in the trials – “Convict me if you must,” he told them, “but I will not dignify your illegal trials with my participation.” The Military Commission responded by having him dragged from his prison cell where he was held in solitary confinement to the Fort Bonifacio gymnasium, the venue of his trial.

Act II He went on hunger strike. On May 13, 1975, the 40th day of his protest fast, Ninoy’s condition became critical. Marcos would not have the blood of a political martyr on his hands. Ninoy was forcibly rushed to the V. Luna General Hospital to be medically revived. Marcos knew that anointing Ninoy as a hero would be sheer folly. History would later prove him right.

Act III

Military Commission No. 2 resumed its proceedings after Ninoy regained his health. He challenged the individual competence and impartiality of each and every member of the commission.

On November 25, 1977, two days before Ninoy’s birthday, the Commission, in a supreme act of sadism, sentenced him to die by musketry. The international outcry that followed prevented Marcos from confirming the death order.

Act IV

In 1978, Marcos allowed the election of the members of the Interim Batasan Pambansa. Ninoy led the opposition slate Laban, launching his campaign from solitary confinement. The unprecedented success of a noise barrage on the eve of the elections forced Marcos to proclaim all his KBL candidates as winners with only 25 percent of the votes canvassed.

In 1980, Ninoy was afflicted with a heart problem while in stockade. Believing that he would be rid of his most potent rival, Marcos allowed Ninoy to go to the United States for a heart bypass. After his operation, Ninoy energetically barnstormed the United States and other countries to denounce the Marcos regime.

Act V

In 1983, he felt that he had to go home; his place was in the Philippines. Despite the strong certainty of his being liquidated, Ninoy, in his fifth act of defiance, came home. He paid for the act with his own life. Filipinos responded by showing up by the millions at his wake and funeral.

Act VI In 1985 or two years after Ninoy’s death, Marcos called for snap elections. Ninoy’s widow took up what could be called his sixth act of defiance by running against Marcos. Marcos cheated as he did in the 1978 elections. The people responded resoundingly and trooped to EDSA, in a final defiance that jolted the world. * Sen. Joker P. Arroyo stood by Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino Jr throughout his incarceration and struggle until his assassination, as lawyer, fraternity brother and kindred spirit.

CONCLUSION

Corruption is ubiquitously present... in the interior our homes, simple sari-sari stores, markets, corporations, government… Exasperating, isn't it? Unvarying to the poorest of the poor are becoming victims of this acts. And the sad fact is, the ones doing this are their fellow Filipinos. Municipal Social Welfare and Development offices are built to help those who are really in need for free, but what are they doing - feeding their own pockets? Now let's talk about the higher government officials. Instead of focusing their time and attention to the real problems of their country, they're spending their whole time arguing each other for power. They always accuse their co-officials of corruption, but what are they doing? Are they really doing something to eliminate the main problem? I don't think so. They're just dragging their names for the next election! After the election, I'm sure, same thing would happen and the real problems of the country

would

be

neglected

again.

Going back to corruption, what can we do to eliminate, or at least, avoid it especially now that we cannot just trust these officials? The only thing we can do (if you or someone you know becomes a victim) is speak up, report these monsters immediately to the media. Why media? Because it is the only thing that these monsters are afraid of... getting busted in front of the camera! Let's not tolerate them. It's about time to put things in their right places. If you help a monster,

then

you

are

a

monster

too!

But the big questions are... Will we let ourselves be victims of corruption? Can we just let our hard-earned money be placed on the wrong hands?

Corruption transpires globally and in every single one chronological era. By the 18th century in a European country called England, the urban political machines of the 19th century America (Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall), the caciques of Hispanic & Latin rule and states, or the chaopho (godfathers) in the country nicknamed as, “Land of the Free”, Thailand . Conversely, in particular given the Asian trade and industrial crisis and ever-increasing and actually irrevocable globalization, crony capitalism must one way or another, give way to more free-thinking forms of authority and governance if budding economies are to budge onward.

The Philippine state stayed behind as weak, and the constant power of well-established elites makes it thorny for the central government to endow with unified and fraud free local management. Splinter groups still contrive for their pieces of the government percentages, tax collections and customs collections are highly centralized, and the Philippines in the midst of bureaucracy’s long convention of corruption still untouchable & intact. In addition, the President and other national officials remain reliant on local politicians to deliver the votes on demand - all in all, a formula for continuous corruption.

In a nutshell, the predicaments are both structure and institution-based. Along with the rudiments for a feasible democratic system are an unwavering middle class, educational attainment and chances for social mobility, and open access to the political procedures. The omnipresent & rigid schism or division sandwiched between wealthy and underprivileged in the country remains a foremost hindrance to significant and momentous reform. And as long as civil service salaries stay very badly low, it will be enormously complex to eradicate (or even diminish) dishonesty in the fields of public administration.

Several groups sprung up and were established in the country, such as: National Citizens Movement for Free Elections, also known as NAMFREL; the CER, Consortium for Electoral Reform, the PCIIJ otherwise known as the, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, as well as Akbayan (Citizens' Action Party). One can look forward to that young professionals, people who are engaged in business & commerce, and the (at a snail's pace) emerging middle class are getting drained of politicking.

More significantly, however, the force for genuine reform must be derived and commence from an effective political will & leadership. Even though all results & upshots are unpredictable as far as I observe in the news and making this study, it appears obvious that an absolutely fresh vision will be necessary if corruption is to (lastly) control this cancer of this society.

With no recounts on the transgressions of the administration, the crony-related occurrences in addition to enveloping corruption now under examination & investigative efforts are fraction and package of the cancer thrashed out all through this research. The present catastrophe echoes a major predicament of the whole system. No matter what form the future decree may take, the nation's boss and intellectuals must gravely attend to the grounds of the tribulations and build up approaches & lines of attack to prevail over the deep-rooted tradition of corruption. By not doing this, the long-standing predictions for this nation state in the international economy will be much put at risk.

I have been reading about Ferdinand Marcos for quite sometime and for the benefit of the success of this research paper including Marcos’ rule over the Philippines. Allow me to quote the

last

thing

I

encountered

in

my

readings.

"Ferdinand Marcos had the intellect, the leadership skills, and the opportunity to be the greatest president of the Philippines in the 20th century. Instead, his impact was ruinous 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."

My question to you is, would the Philippines be as successful as other Asian countries China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, had they not been so corrupt during the Marcos regime? Or would the country

just

be

the

same?

Also, where do you think the Philippines would be if Marcos was never president?

I know that it has been years since Marcos was in power and that it’s time to move on. But my question is, what would the Philippines have been if it wasn't for the corruption of the Marcos regime?

Let’s face it we had lots of advantages that other Asian countries did not have: the people spoke better English than other Asian countries; Philippines was one of the few Asian countries that was not swayed by Communism; the country had the United States on its side as allies and for economic support.

Could there be possibilities that the Philippines be an Economic Powerhouse in Asia, if the different tides of events in the country didn’t happened at all?

President Marcos had a vision of a "New Society" or the "Bagong Lipunan". Projects were made to put the Philippines in the world map like the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Its first major event was hosting the Miss Universe pagent back in the 1970's. Also there was a drive towards a Filipino identity. Filipino languange or Tagalog was promoted. Government agencies/positions used Filipino names like Kabataang Barangay (the predecessor of Sangguniang Kabataan) including government sponsored events like Palarong Pambansa (National Games). The name of Congress was changed to Batasang Pambansa (National Assembly or Parliament). The name Barrio was changed to Barangay. Architects were encouraged to use Filipino designs hence the Coconut Palace in Manila was built and including other

Marcos

era

buildings.

Unfolding stages of the administration are quite good, then, unfortunately something happened while on the way to different phases of economic development and growth of the country and Marcos became corrupt. If Marcos only followed Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yews leadership style, the Philippines would have been in a far better state even until now. We should be aware that Singapore was ruled by Prime Minister Lee by means of dictatorship (in such a way that there is no press freedom and under martial law) hitherto Singapore grew as an built-up country. Marcos had his chance but he blew it. The former president had all the individualities of a grand leader but he basically took the road that is hard and long to travel (an opposite to Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken) that made his administration crumbled into

pieces.

Asking question like, if Marcos didn’t became the president of the Philippines, I guess the Philippines would be slightly better off today. The country would still have bi-political parties (Nacionalista and Liberal) alike to the US and corruption would probably be manageable. However I qualm the Muslim insurgency would have been avoided since Mindanao has always been neglected since the start of the Philippine Republic.

The Philippines was corrupt under the Marcos regime, but the corruption has continued under every regime since then.

The people of the Philippines need to change their way of thinking. The "come what may" attitude [ ‘bahala na si bathala’, ‘devil may care’] is a stumbling chunk in the road of success for all of us who comprises the Philippine archipelago, particularly, the Filipino people.

We need to try and work together for change in our beloved country, but I do know that it's easier said than done, especially with extreme poverty, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, flash floods, excessive pollution, typhoons, brownouts, kidnappings, traffic, and other problems that most of our compatriots encounter on a daily basis. Things are very slowly getting better in the Philippines, but it’s going to take many years to get out of the hole that corruption pushed them into.

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 Graeff, P. and G. Mehlkop. 2003. ‘‘The Impact of Economic Freedom on Corruption: Different Patterns for Rich and Poor Countries,’’ European Journal of Political Economy, 19(2):605–20.  Pangalangan, R.C. (ed.) 2002. Law and Newly Restored Democracies: The Philippines Experience in Restoring Political Participation and Accountability, IDE Asian Law Series No.

13.

Japan:

Institute

Of

Developing

Economies.

Available

online

at

(accessed on August 31, 2009).  Persson, T. and G. Tabellini. 2005. The Economic Effects of Constitutions (Munich Lectures).Cambridge: MIT Press.  “The

Wit

and

Wisdom

of

Imelda

Marcos.”

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the

Fortunes

of

a

Nation,”

People,

April

07,

25(14)

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20093327,00.html 1. What is corruption?  Leff, N. (1964). “Economic Development through Bureaucratic Corruption,” The American Behavioral Scientist, 8(3):8-14.  Noonan, Jr., J.T. (1984). Bribes: The Intellectual History of a Moral Idea. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.  Mocan, N. (2008). “What determines corruption? International Evidence from Microdata,”.

Economic

Inquiry.

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online

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Jan

16,

2008

 Dixit, A. (1996). The making of economic policy: A transaction-cost politics perspective. Cambridge: MIT Press.  Tapales, A (1995). Wounds of Corruption. 49 (2): 189.  Rose-Ackerman, S. (1996). “Democracy and “Grand” Corruption,” International Social Science Journal, 48(3): 365-380.  Rose-Ackerman, S. 1997 “The Political Economy of Corruption,” in K. A. Elliot ed. Corruption and the Global Economy. Washington D.C.: Peterson Institute for International

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