The truly revealing thing about the way Filipinos have turned the burial of former Presdident Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) into a massive circus is in how they hold on to the belief that the country’s evil’s are embodied in a single man. The underlying psychology here seems to be that if a single man can be put up as the “source” of “evil” in the Philippines, then it absolves Filipinos of the collective sins of their society.
But the truth is a bit less peachier than that. The fact is, the Philippines is a haven for criminality. It is a country infamous for its citizens’ lack of respect for their own laws and where shortcutting, bulldozing through, and circumventing the law is seen to be more a mark of cleverness than behaviour befitting a person who should be locked up. The truth about Marcos is a lot more confronting when stripped of the emotionalism that has come to surround his legacy. The truth is that Marcos (as he is painted today) mirrors the Filipino character.
| SUPPORT INDEPENDENT SOCIAL COMMENTARY! Subscribe to our Substack community GRP Insider to receive by email our in-depth free weekly newsletter. Opt into a paid subscription and you'll get premium insider briefs and insights from us. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter, GRP Insider! Learn more |
In former President Marcos, Filipinos found not only a scapegoat for the wretchedness they are renowned for today but a modern-day messiah — a man who absolves Filipinos of their sins by taking accountability for all these on their behalf. In the Filipino mind, Marcos being the Philippines’ “Supreme Evil One” is a convenient bogeyman whose size easily dwarfs the evil in the ordinary Filipino.
This narrative is consistent with the general template of most belief systems Filipinos latch on to — that some kind of Satan embodies and originates the world’s evils and that those who are subject to those “evils” are mere victims and are not to be blamed for the persistence of those evils.
That narrative, to its credit, has worked spectacularly in the Philippines. Filipinos are convinced that the wretchedness of their country has nothing to do with their collective character and their collective failures and is entirely to blame on a single evil man — Ferdinand Marcos. So to even suggest to the average Filipino indoctrinated to this notion that there is something about the inherent character of the Filipino that contributes more to her society’s backwardness than any one person is regarded as an outright heresy against the Filipino gospel.
And so this is why the impending burial of Marcos at the LNMB has become an explosive issue — because his burial there throws into question an entire philosophy that several generations of Filipinos have been raised to adhere to.
Seen from a different, perhaps an outsider’s, perspective, the re-branding of Marcos from “pure evil” to just another Filipino president is nothing short of a massive paradigm shift in Philippine society. Looking at the bigger picture, one can see that there is nothing about Marcos (other than the exceptional length of his rule) that makes him fundamentally different from any other Philippine president. Indeed, deep in their little hearts, every Filipino knows that all Filipino politicians are fundamentally the same. They lie, they steal, they issue empty promises, they serve their family and friends first before anyone else, and they all owe their patrons big time.
And in that simple notion, that Marcos is just another Filipino president, lies the elegant simplicity of the Supreme Court decision to allow his burial at the LNMB. Because to say that Marcos is ineligible for burial in a site to which Filipino presidents are entitled to be buried constitutes a level of hypocrisy that has long-term ramifications on the Philippines’ constituted “democracy”. How, after all, can we look one another in the eye and say, hand on heart, that there has ever been any president significantly better than President Marcos to begin with?
In short, Marcos was nothing special. He was just another Filipino president. No more, no less. Filipinos need to come to terms with the reality that he was made to stand out by nothing more than a small clique of oligarchs who are very familiar with their compatriots’ penchant for latching on to biblical belief systems that are not substantiated by any coherent logical bases. This familiarity with the sucker nature of Filipinos’ minds is what keeps them in power. To get rich, one only needs to come up with a mediocre product, and 100 million suckers willing to buy it for a dollar. Ferdinand Marcos branded as “The Evil One” was one such product that generations of Filipinos happily lapped up.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
yes. pres. marcos sr was just another president. he became president at the wrong time – the end of laurel-langley act (preferential trade between PH and USA), the danger of communism in southeast asia.
Amen for burying the President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
It is better to be branded as a Marcos Apologist than a Vengeant Noytard Yellow Zombie.
Yes Marcos was just another president like all the others but there is one big difference. The others did not have to kill many innocent victims to illegally extend their term of office. Do we have the moral justification to ask the relatives of these victims to forgive what Marcos did? And the billions so far recovered by the government proves the enormity of the amount stolen which all of us has to pay.
Aw Come on!
You know fully well that innocents were also killed during the terms of other presidents, especially Cory, even BS’s terms is riddled with lots of people dying, Luneta, Mamasapano, SAF 44….
You keep talking about the billions in debt left by FEM, but fail to see the trillions of annual budget during Pnoy’s stint…… where did it go?
Get real, indio.
“And in that simple notion, that Marcos is just another Filipino president, lies the elegant simplicity of the Supreme Court decision to allow his burial at the LNMB. Because to say that Marcos is ineligible for burial in a site to which Filipino presidents are entitled to be buried constitutes a level of hypocrisy that has long-term ramifications on the Philippines’ constituted “democracy”.”
Bravo Sir!
I still find it funny how nobody’s noticed that Ramon Magsaysay – who named the Libingan ng mga Bayani – is still buried in Manila North Cemetery.
true, and nobody respect him then & now & I do believe he’s the best president in our country after Duterte. He was known as the People’s President & during his presidency (1953-57), he’d allowed ordinary citizens to go inside the Malacanang Palace during weekends.
mr. eric x, i was wonderin what makes you believe that ramon magsaysay is second best president and duterte the best president of all philippine presidents so far?!
the presidency is, as far as i know, is more than just allowing ordinary citizens to go inside malacañan during weekends!
here: http://www.filipiknow.net/reasons-why-ramon-magsaysay-was-the-best-president-ever/
And don’t forget that FM is also a human being & make some mistakes. And strange though some of us are doing an imperfect way to be a human like stealing money, spreading hate speeches, using/selling illegal drugs, killing people, rapes women, etc., etc. Oh the humanity!!!
If you strip away the BULLSHIT conjecture in this article and look at what Ferdinand Marcos and his wife did while they ran the country it becomes apparent that the guy was a thief and a scumbag of the lowest order.
That is really alll there is TO it. To say he was ‘just another Preesident’ appears to be an attempt to absolve him of his wrong doings ,at best Or at worst,admit that every single President the country has had is just as big a thieving scumbag, which is true enough but Marcos is the only one to declare nation-wide Martial Law …….for over a decade.
In other words, what Benign0 said in the first place: the guy was just another Filipino president 🙂
I thought the article was pretty perceptive. Filipinos have taken a lot of ideas from Christianity and perverted them to fit their own messed-up worldview. One such would be the idea of redemption, which Filipinos take to mean they can do anything they like and Jesus will forgive them. I think Benign0 hits the nail on the head with the idea that Filipinos are endlessly looking for a scapegoat so that they themselves don’t have to take responsibility for their own failures.
No, son. You’re actually clueless. If you have the balls to enumerate about what the post-Marcos people did for 30 years, this “thief and a scumbag of the lowest order” turns out to be an amateur.
You’re just EMO over Marcos and your EGO us fucked. Nobody here cares about YOUR feelings.
enumurate mo nga. mga puro utang lang lahat. pwee mga bayaran kayo pro-marcoses. not a hero
Taxpayers to shoulder Marcos debt until 2025 – Ibon
More than 20 years have passed since the late president Ferdinand Marcos was ousted, but governments after him continue to honor questionable debts his regime incurred.
This was the lament of the militant think tank Ibon Foundation, which said Marcos’ debts will continue to haunt Filipino taxpayers for the next 19 years.
“As of 2005, the outstanding balance of of Marcos’s foreign debts stood at around $926.72 million or more than P48 billion (at $1:P52). Following the country’s loan schedule, taxpayers will pay for the foreign debts of Marcos until 2025, 39 years after he was ousted from office,” it said.
Ibon said 33 percent of the country’s total borrowings during Marcos’s term did not go to infrastructure development projects or social programs but was pocketed by Marcos and his cronies.
This amount translates to more than $8 billion, and the bulk of these may have come from foreign loans, it added.
But the group stressed that the Marcos debts are clearly illegitimate and onerous loans that benefited the private interests of Marcos and his cronies.
Of these, it said the largest and most glaring is the notorious Bataan Nuclear Plant with $1.8 billion dollars in interest repayments alone since 1986, and $110.8 million more to go.
“The Filipino people continue to bear these debts at the cost of being denied the right to access basic social services,” it said.
On the other hand, Ibon scored the Arroyo regime for claiming to implement “fiscal reforms” to address its deficit and debt woes, without resolving the debt problem.
It said the basic problem is that the national debt is bloated with illegitimate loans such as the Marcos debts.
“Instead of implementing anti-people measures to deal with its deficit problems such as new and higher taxes, the government should instead reform its debt management policies, starting with a review of the debts incurred by Marcos to determine which of these are illegitimate and therefore not the obligation of the Filipino people,” it said.
And you love to overrate that stuff? Walang masama sa utang kung gagamitin ito para sa mga projects na makakatulong. Alam mo ba ang ibig sabihin ng sovereign debt?
You love to overrate the Marcos debt but if you REALLY try to enumerate about what the post-Marcos people have for 30 years, it’s just peanuts compared to the TRILLIONS of debt that we have. And you call it as “Daang Matuwid”.
I just want remind you that the IBON Foundation is also founded by anti-Marcos activists. Stop calling anyone who disagrees with you being pro-Marcos loyalist because only EMO losers. In other words, you’re an actual TROLL. 🙂
in other words, i am willing to accept any claim(s)without any doubt, but, where is/are the proof(s) of his conviction(s)?!
btw, if we are to believe you, something is not right with this statement:
“…Marcos is the only one to declare nation-wide Martial Law …….for over a decade.”
The Aquino Cojuangco political propaganda machine. And the U.S./C.I.A., demonized the late Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Sr. that we cannot even recognize him as a human being, like us, anymore.
Marcos Sr. had his strength and weaknesses. They portrayed him as the ultimate personification of “evil”…
The Aquinos did the constant demonizing, to put themselves on pedestals; as heroes and saints. They put their faces on our currency. They named airports, stadiums, buildings, etc…on themselves ! They are the ultimate narcissists !
When the Truth seeped into the “collective consciousness” of most Filipinos. The YellowTard Hordes of Aquino; his “hakot demonstrators” , went for an “over drive” …
At least most of the Filipinos, on a long YellowTard “hibernation”; have waken up !
They do not buy what Aquino and his YellowTard Hordes are selling anymore !
The qualities of a great man are “vision, integrity, courage, understanding, the power of articulation, and profundity of character.
Hey peeps…Please see link below…
http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2016/11/18/Marcos-burial-at-Libingan-ng-mga-Bayani.html