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“Is Marcos a Hero? Why or Why Not?”
Being a hero, as defined by the dictionary, is a person of distinguished courage
or ability admired for his or her brave deeds and noble qualities. Another definition
would be a man who, in any course of action, or in connection with any pursuit, role, or
enterprise, exhibits extraordinary bravery, firmness, strength or greatness of soul. Thus,
a hero is the one that we would want our citizens to emulate as a role model. So, would
be Ferdinand A. Marcos fall under these two common definitions of a hero?
Late President Ferdinand A. Marcos, the 10th President of the Philippines whose
dictatorial presidency from 1965 to 1986 involved rampant killings, torture, enforced
disappearances, and arbitrary arrests. With the infamous Martial Law that he imposed
on the nation, it suppresses increasing civil strife and threat of a communist takeover
following a series of bombings in Manila. It has been a traumatic and still-open wound of
tens of thousands of Filipinos and their families who have suffered at the year of Marcos
regime. Under his administration, Activists and suspected communist rebels and their
supporters were routinely rounded up by the military and police, many of whom were
never heard from again. A government commission estimated that more than 3,000
people have been killed by the Marcos government and thousands of others were
tortured. And because of these happenings it started the People Power Revolution to
oust late President Ferdinand A. Marcos.
The 10th President of the Philippines is one of the most intelligent presidents in
our country were the Philippines was viewed as one of the great models of Third World
political and economic success. Our country was famous under in his administration but
the temptation of power is too strong; he was not able to resist it; he was unable to
resist the temptation of power until he declared martial law; he won over the soldiers
with gifts, the populace with cheap, subsidized food, and all the men with the sweets of
rest, while the functions of the Senate, the Representatives and the Laws were
concentrated upon himself. He was virtually unopposed, for in the dead of night, in the
underground or in exile, the most audacious of spirits, young and old, had fallen. And
the lords of the provinces, the more ready they were, by corruption, to be slaves and
minions, the more aggrandized they were by power. The provincial leaders do not care
because they too have access to pelf and rewarded types of wealth and
aggrandizement. For having a great power, they have become greedy on their own
wealth.
Now the question of, is he a hero? The answer is Late President Ferdinand A.
Marcos is not a hero. No president shall be hero for it is their duty to serve. No president
should also serve their own political agendas at the expense of their citizens. He stole
billions of pesos and his Martial Law regime caused deaths and tortures of many
innocent civilians. He cheated, manipulated and lied to prolong his power, prolong his
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theft and luxury. He is someone we can draw lessons from, about power, corruption,
gross negligence of human rights etc. Then we should learn the lessons and make sure
that it will never happen again.
Under the dictatorship, the stunted republic and its poor citizens were the result,
and until today we have a rebellion. The consequences still felt by the people were
Marcos' nightmare of the republic. In the form of forgetting, those who have lost sons
and brothers and comrades choose to mourn in silence.
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References:
Overholt, W. (1986). The Rise and Fall of Ferdinand Marcos. Asian Survey, 26(11), 1137-
1163. doi:10.2307/2644313
Monje, J. (2017). " Hindi Bayani/not a hero": the linguistic landscape of protest in
Manila. Social Inclusion, 5(4), 14-28.
