Ferdinand Marcos' cult of personality

Ferdinand Marcos developed a cult of personality as a way of remaining President of the Philippines for 21 years,[2][3] drawing comparisons to other authoritarian leaders such as Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler,[4] but also to more contemporary dictators such as Sukarno in Indonesia, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and the Kim dynasty of North Korea.[5](pp114)

The Bust of Ferdinand Marcos which began construction along Marcos Highway in Northern Luzon, before it was destroyed in 2002.[1]

The propaganda techniques used, either by himself or by others, to mythologize Ferdinand Marcos, begin with local political machinations in Ilocos Norte while Ferdinand was still the young son of politician Mariano Marcos,[6] and persist today in the efforts to revise the way Marcos is portrayed in Philippine history.[7]

These propaganda narratives and techniques include: using red scare tactics such as red-tagging to portray activists as communists and to aggrandize the threat represented by the Communist Party of the Philippines;[8][9](p"43") using martial law to take control of mass media and silence criticism;[10] the use of foreign-funded government development projects and construction projects as propaganda tools;[11] creating an entire propaganda framework around a “new society” in which he would rule under a system of “constitutional authoritarianism”;[12][7][13] the perpetuation of hagiographical books and films;[14][15] the perpetuation of propaganda narratives about Marcos’ activities during World War II, which have since been proven false by historical documents;[16][17] the creation of myths and stories around himself and his family;[18][19] and portrayals of himself in coinage and even a Mount Rushmore type monument;[1] among others."

After Ferdinand Marcos’ death, propaganda efforts have been made to whitewash his place in Philippine history,[20][21] an act of historical negationism[22] commonly referred to using the more popular term “historical revisionism.”[23]

Terminology

While the widely-used term for a supporter of Ferdinand Marcos or the other members of the Marcos family is "Marcos loyalist,"[24] the term "cult of personality" refers not to people specifically, but in a broader sense to the mechanism, including the techniques and structures, used to create a heroic or idealized image of a ruler.[25] The term "Marcos revisionism"[26] or "Marcos historical revisionism"[27][28] have been used to refer to the Marcos family's propaganda after their return to Philippine politics, if it is intended to revise or reframe the historical facts of Marcos' life and rule.[29][23]

Early political career

Clentelism

As with most Philippine politicians of his era Ferdinand Marcos achieved success largely by taking advantage of the client-patron relationships which dominated Philippine politics after Philippine independence.[30](p96)

Once he achieved government authority, he used it to reward his supporters[30](pp96,76) while limiting the power of other social groups and institutions.[30](p76) He styled himself as the Ilocos region’s ticket to political prominence. In his first campaign, running for congressman of his family’s already-established bailiwick, Ilocos Norte, "This is only a first step. Elect me a congressman now, and I pledge you an Ilocano president in 20 years."[31][32]

On a more personal level, Marcos established relationships with the graduate officers and junior officers of the Philippine Military Academy early on.[30](p96) When he became president, Marcos appointed mostly Ilocano commanders to head the armed forces, such that 18 out of 22 generals of the Philippine Constubulary came from the Ilocos region and House Speaker Jose B. Laurel was alarmed enough to file a 1968 bill calling for the equal represneation of all regions in the armed forces.[30](p96)[33]

He also established a small group of supporters in the business sector, whom he would later enable to establish monopolies in key economic sectors, wresting control from the political families which held them prior.[30](p96)

Early hagiographical media
See also: 1965 Philippine presidential election

A notable propaganda technique used by both candidates in the 1965 Philippine Presidential Election was the use of hagiographies, so much so that it was dubbed a “battle of books and film.” Marcos was the first to use this tactic with the book “For Every Tear a Victory: The Story of Ferdinand E. Marcos,” which was followed by a film adaptation “Iginuhit ng Tadhana (Destined).” Diosdado Macapagal countered with the propaganda film “Daigdig ng Mga Api (World of the Oppressed),” but it was Marcos who won the election.[34]

During the Martial Law era

Ideologies of "Bagong Lipunan" and "Constitutional Authoritarianism"

Among Marcos' rationalizations for the declaration of martial law were the linked ideologies of the "bagong lipunan" ("new society")[35](p"66") and of "constitutional authoritarianism."[12]

Marcos said that there was a need to "reform society"[35](p"66") by placing it under the control of a "benevolent dictator" in a "constitutional authority" which could guide the undisciplined populace through a period of chaos.[35](p"29")[36] He referred to this social engineering exercise as the "bagong lipunan" or "new society."[37](p13)

The Philippine education system underwent a major period of restructuring in after the declaration of Martial Law in 1972,[38] in which the teaching of civics and history was reoriented [38][39] so that it would reflect values which supported the Bagong Lipunan and its ideology of constitutional authoritarianism.[12][40](p414) In addition, it attempted to synchronize the educational curriculum with the administration’s economic strategy of labor export.[38]

The Marcos administration also produced an array of propaganda materials - including speeches, books, lectures, slogans, and numerous propaganda songs - to promote it.[37](p13)[41][12]

Control of Mass media

Marcos took control of the mass media to silence public criticism during what what considered the "dark days of martial law."[42] Upon declaring martial law, Marcos arrested journalists and took control of media outlets. This allowed him to have the final say on what passed as truth.[43] According to journalism professor Luis Teodoro, the martial law period savaged the Bill of Rights and institutions of liberal democracy, such as the press.[44] Challenges to the dictatorship in the media would come from the underground press[45] and, later on, from the above-ground mosquito press.[46]

Shutdown of media outlets and the attack on journalists

On the morning of September 23, 1972, Marcos' soldiers arrested journalists and raided and padlocked media outlets across the Philippines.[47] Joaquin Roces, Teodoro Locsin Sr., Maximo Soliven, Amando Doronila, and other members of the media were rounded up and detained in Camp Crame together with members of the political opposition.[48]

Marcos' order to take over newspapers, magazines, radio and television facilities under Letter of Instruction No. 1 was done with the express purpose of preventing the undermining of the people’s faith and confidence in the regime.[49][50]

During martial law, the dictator shut down 7 major English and 3 Filipino newspapers, 1 English-Filipino newspaper, 11 English weekly magazines, 1 Spanish daily, 4 Chinese newspapers, 3 business publications, 1 news service, 7 television stations, 66 community newspapers, and 292 radio stations around the country.[51] Journalists were jailed, tortured, killed, or "disappeared" by the dictatorship.[52][53]

The crony press and censorship

The dictatorship also exercised blanket censorship through Letter of Instruction No. 1 and the Department of Public Information's Order No. 1, issued on September 25, 1972.[54] Only news outlets owned by Marcos' cronies were allowed to resume operations, such as the Philippine Daily Express owned by crony Roberto Benedicto.[55]

Construction projects as propaganda
Main article: edifice complex

Marcos projected himself to the Philippine public as having spent a lot on construction projects.[34](p128) This focus on infrastructure, which critics saw as a propaganda technique, eventually earned the colloquial label "edifice complex".[56][57][11]

Most of these infrastructure projects and monuments were paid for using foreign currency loans[58][56] and at great taxpayer cost.[57][13](p89) This greatly increased the Philippines’ foreign deficit - from $360 million when Marcos became president, to around $28.3 billion when he was overthrown.[59]

Historical negationism after Marcos' death

After Ferdinand Marcos’ death in 1989, propaganda efforts have been made to whitewash his place in Philippine history,[20][21] an act of historical negationism[22] commonly referred to using the more popular term “historical revisionism.”[23]

See also

References
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  2. Root, Hilton L., Three Asian Dictators: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (January 16, 2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2716732
  3. Mark M. Turner (1990) Authoritarian rule and the dilemma of legitimacy: The case of President Marcos of the Philippines, The Pacific Review, 3:4, 349-362, DOI: 10.1080/09512749008718886
  4. https://usa.inquirer.net/13895/strongmen-hitler-stalin-marcos-character-study
  5. Raymond, Walter John (1992) Dictionary of Politics: Selected American and Foreign Political and Legal Terms. ISBN 9781556180088
  6. https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/news-feature/2016/07/04/1599425/file-no-60-family-affair
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  8. http://csreports.aspeninstitute.org/Dialogue-on-Diplomacy-and-Technology/2014/participants/details/262/Richard-Kessler
  9. John), Kessler, Richard J. (Richard (1989). Rebellion and repression in the Philippines. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300044065. OCLC 19266663.
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  11. Lico, Gerard (2003). Edifice Complex: Power, Myth, and Marcos State Architecture. University of Hawaii Press.
  12. Navera, G.S. (2019). "Metaphorizing Martial Law: Constitutional Authoritarianism in Marcos's Rhetoric (1972–1985)". Philippine Studies. 66 (4).
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  14. Curaming, Rommel A. Power and Knowledge in Southeast Asia: State and Scholars in Indonesia and the Philippines ISBN 9780429438196
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  16. https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/23/world/marcos-s-wartime-role-discredited-in-us-files.html
  17. https://verafiles.org/articles/file-no-60-debunking-marcos-war-myth
  18. https://newslab.philstar.com/31-years-of-amnesia/malakas-at-maganda
  19. Rafael, Vicente L. (April 1990). "Patronage and Pornography: Ideology and Spectatorship in the Early Marcos Years". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 32 (2): 282–304. doi:10.1017/S0010417500016492. ISSN 1475-2999.
  20. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/philippine-govt-faces-backlash-amid-claims-that-it-is-trying-to-whitewash-history-of
  21. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/09/world/asia/philippines-ferdinand-marcos-burial.html
  22. https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/opinion/historical-revsionism-a1576-20161003-lfrm2
  23. https://thelasallian.com/2016/05/01/martial-law-and-historical-revisionism-a-holistic-understanding/
  24. Galam, Roderick G. (2008). "Narrating the Dictator(ship) Social Memory, Marcos, and Ilokano Literature after the 1986 Revolution". Philippine Studies. 56 (2): 151–182. ISSN 0031-7837.
  25. Popan, Adrian Teodor (August 2015). "The ABC of sycophancy : structural conditions for the emergence of dictators' cults of personality". doi:10.15781/T2J960G15. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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  32. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-09-29-8901180123-story.html
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  39. Abueva, Jose (1979). "Ideology and Practice in the 'New Society'". In Rosenberg, David (ed.). Marcos and Martial Law in the Philippines. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 35–36.Jose Abueva, "Ideology and Practice in the 'New Society'", in Marcos and Martial Law in the Philippines, edited by David Rosenberg (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1979), pp.35-—36
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