University of San Carlos Publications

THE MYTHS OF THE NEW FILIPINO: PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA DURING THE
EARLY YEARS OF MARTIAL LAW
Author(s): Joseph P. McCallus
Source: Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Vol. 17, No. 2 (June 1989), pp. 129-148
Published by: University of San Carlos Publications
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29791974 .
Accessed: 10/06/2014 15:20

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

University of San Carlos Publications is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Philippine Quarterly of Culture & Society
17(1989): 129-148

THE MYTHS OF THE NEW FILIPINO:

PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA
DURING THE EARLY YEARS OF MARTIAL LAW

Joseph P. McCallus

The 1972 implementation of martial law in thePhilippines was swift,

dire, and effective. Firearms were confiscated. Curfews were enforced.
Universities were closed. The media were censored. Opposition leaders
were incarcerated. The doors of the legislative buildings were, quite
literally, padlocked. But despite the imposed personal restrictions on a
free society and the destruction of a succesfully operating democratic

apparatus, the general reaction of the Philippine public was calm

acquiescence. Today, the government
with of Ferdinand E. Marcos a

jaded monument to the hyperbole, it is somewhat difficult to understand

why many Filipinos initially accepted their president's call to reform

through authoritarian rule.
Martial law continued for nine years. Numerous arguments have
attempted to determine its success. Certain is that government
intimidation, the fear of a social the improved economy,
breakdown, the
threat of Muslim and Communist
insurrection, and a regimented media all
contributed to the early acceptance of martial law. But what has not been

given extensive attention are the actual rhetorical strategies used in the
Marcos takeover.
Virtually ignored has been the design of the Marcos
propaganda message that persuaded a vibrant political culture to submit
to the whims of an autocratic and decadent regime. What, then, were the
rhetorical methods used to create a
relatively stable and accepted
dictatorship in a country once termed the "showcase of democracy" in the
Orient?
The following paragraphs examine the propaganda efforts of the
Philippine government during the firstyears of martial law (1972-1973).
The propaganda is considered as a deliberate campaign having specific
structural components carefully arranged to introduce, justify, or
reinforcepolitical activities. Critical to the orchestration was the use of
cultural myths, and this rhetorical tactic is the focal point of the
examination. Because the campaign was massive, this treatment can only
be considered an overview. The content studied herein is limited to the
more conspicuous examples found in the primary propaganda vehicles:
thepolitical writings and public speeches of PresidentMarcos, newspapers

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
130 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

supportive 01 the government, and widely distributed publications such as

authorized biographies. It is hoped, however, that the discussion is one
pregnant with ideas thatwill contribute to the understanding of a lightly
treated area of political language and persuasion.

MYTH AND THE RHETORIC OF REBIRTH

An article titled"Propagating the Ideas of theNew Society" by Fred

J. Elizalde appeared in theBulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars shortly
after the creation of martial law.1 In this piece Elizalde, a wealthy
publisher, calls for a two step communications campaign to bring

about a new positive outlook on thepart of society towards thenew Filipino

nation and its government... [step] 1. the stage of uprooting or breaking

away from old settings, habits and commitments; and [step] 2. the
induction of themobilized persons into some relatively stable new patterns
of group membership and organizational commitment. In short,
mobilization of the people ? the firststage? is followed by reintegration
? the second? some form of
by unifying, self-dignifyingand reintegrative
ideology. In this lattercase, perhaps the chief battle against Communism
will be on thegrounds of nationalism 2

To legitimate martial law Elizalde proposes a rhetorical strategy, epic

indesign: a new Filipino order arising from thebattle between nationalism
and Communism. Elizaldcsuggests that, first, "The weaknesses of the old
society must be exposed... Many of the 'settings, habits, and
commitments' of the old society were... beset by an eternal decay, a cancer
which would not only lead to theirdownfall but to the collapse of the
overall system as well." This recognition of the "cancer" would lead into
"reintegration," which necessitated "a comprehensive refutation of

'Fred J. Elizalde, Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, July 1973, 60-61; no informa?
tion is given as towhen and where the article (presumably) firstappeared. Little is done on
the rhetoric of theMarcos propaganda, but there are many accounts of themartial law
media. See Primitivo Mijares The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos
(San Francisco: Union Square Publications, 1976),David A. Rosenberg,Marcos andMartial
Law in thePhilippines, ed. Rosenberg (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1979), John Lent,
"The Philippine Press underMartial Law," Index on Censorship, (Spring, 1974), Rosalinda
Pineda-Ofreneo, The Manipulated Press: A History of Philippine Journalism since 1945,
2nd edition (Metro-Manila: Solar Publishing Corp., 1986). This is but a very brief overview
of the existing scholarship. Tom Walsh put togethera bibliography of material on martial
law during the firstfew years and is an invaluable source for his period:Martial Law in the
Philippines: A Research Guide and Working Bibliography, Southeast Asia Working Paper
#4(UniversityofHawaii, 1973).
2-Elizalde

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE MYTHS OF THE NEW FILIPINO 131

Marxism-Leninism (hereafter referred to as Chinese Communist

Imperialism) and the presentation of alternative ideas and values."3 These
alternatives could be found

in the front against Chinese Communist Imperialism and its dummy

organizations. The key here would be Filipino nationalism as a positive
aspect of thenew society.The new societywill be 'classless": theonly class
is theNew Filipino. Chinese Communism espouses class hatred in order to
divide the Filipino nation and instillantagonism and anarchy. Therefore
the trueFilipino is he who works, for example, for land reform and the
? ?
removal of agrarian conflict. The Traitor the modern Makapili is he
who attempts to disrupt land reform and thereby create class antagonisms
which would favorChinese Communist Imperialism.4

The idea of creating a new order by using positive and negative cultural
stereotypes
?
heroes, traitors, victims, ideologies, etc. ? as

argumentative instruments is hardly original. Elizalde calls (knowingly or

not) for the rhetorical employment of culturalmyths to perform a political

task. Cultural myths are collective
representations: ideas, beliefs,
sentiments, ceremonies, personalities, symbols, and legends that establish
audience identity. They are characterized by idealized concepts and
superhuman protagonists, many times presented with a unique connection
to time. Often myths resolve contradictions, solve problems, or address

important questions of the culture. Myths are ways in which an audience

identifiestruth,and throughmyths a society can explain itself. In political
rhetoric the function of myths is to endorse a particular doctrine.
While the use of myths is a core concept in rhetorical analysis and
especially important inpropaganda studies, two points are emphasized in
this discussion. The first is that historical myths can be used to place
present and future circumstances in a frame of reference conducive to the

speaker's purpose; the speaker can create a symbolic environment that

fictionalizes reality on the basis of certain myths. The second is that myths
in communication can be used to form a narrative structure, a script, and
that this structure builds an identifiable public drama.
Myths are used by a speaker to affect the way an audience perceives a

particular situation. One of the primary functions of historical myths in

rhetoric is to act as a model for the present and future. Serving as models
for reality, they view the past according to the needs of the speaker's
condition. Therefore, they describe the present on the basis of that

3 Ibid.
4Ibid.

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 132 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

superimposed visualization. In this way a myth establishes an assumed

connection between past and present; the audience sees the world through
the lens of historical imagery. This is, of course, an aesthetic version of
reality: truth becomes a vision of the speaker's interpretation of time and
circumstance.5
Historical myths can then justify, support, and propagate political
activities. Hitler's incorporation of ancient Teutonic images into the
Nazi iconography is a good example. For effective control on a large scale
and over an extended period of time, the use of myths or any other
rhetorical device needs careful coordination. propagandaSuccessful
campaigns often demonstrate this coordination by building a narrative
structure. Using the Nazi example once more, Hitler, by marshalling the
myths of nationalism, anti-German scapegoats, and the acquisition of
power by the National Socialist Party, created a very definite plot
structure based on the idea of cultural rebirth.6 According to its
propaganda, the rise of Nazism was the rebirth of Aryan racial
supremacy, and the German people were led to believe that they were

taking part not in the creation of

dictatorship, a
but rather a great
historical drama, one that resurrected the promises of the heroic past and
blended them with the opportunities of the present and future.
Rebirth was also the themeof thenarrative told byMarcos in 1972 and
1973. The purpose of this essay is to explore the hypothesis that the
propaganda of theMarcos government the first year of martial
during law
attempted to win political legitimacy through a rhetorical celebration of
various Philippine myths such as traditional values, enemies to the people,

5The idea of myth in rhetorichas been treated by many. This study has been nurtured
through scholarship such as James L. Kinneavy, A Theory ofDiscourse (Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1971), JohnWaite Bowers and Donovan J. Ochs, The Rhetoric of
Agitation and Control (Reading, Ma.: Addison-Wesley, 1971), Gilbert Morris Cuthbertson,
Political Myth and Epic (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1975).Work done
on myth and Nazi propaganda is quite relevant to theMarcos situation. See for example
Kenneth Burke, 'The Rhetoric ofHitler's 'Battle'," inThe Philosophy of LiteraryForm 2nd
edition (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1967): 191-220,Bill Kinser and Neil
Kleinman, The Dream That Was No More a Dream: the Search for Aesthetic Reality in
Germany, 1890-1945, (New York: Harper & Row, 1969), Michael Maguire, "Mythic
Rhetoric in Mein Kampf: A StructuralistCritique," Quarterly Journal of Speech, 63, (1977):
1-13, and Ian Kershaw, The Hitler Myth: Image and Reality in theThird Reich (Oxford: the
Clarendon Pi ess, 1987).
6Discussion of the rhetoricof rebirthcan be found inWilliam Rueckert's Kenneth Burke
and theDrama of Human Relations, 2nd edition (University of California Press, 1982)
96-106 and James F. Hoban's "Rhetorical Rituals of Rebirth," Quarterly Journal of Speech,
66, (1980): 275-288. For a broad consideration of rhetoricand ritualwithin political culture,
seeDavid I. KertzerRitual, Politics, and Power (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988).

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE MYTHS OF THE NEW FILIPINO 133

the strong leader, and most important, the heroes, ideas, and images of
the Philippine Revolution of 1896. The discourse was shaped into a
recognizable dramatic plot that championed Filipino social and political
rebirth. This narrative was comprised of three thematic parts, which
corresponded generally but not exactly with the major chronological
events of martial law.

One: the Imperiled Filipino. Preluding the declaration and throughout the
firstyear of martial law, the traditional or "true" Filipino (the heroic
self-image) was celebrated. Simultaneously, this idealized national persona
was as being ?
shown confronted by imperialistic and exploitative forces
? or destroy
the "false"Filipino which threatened to enslave the nation.
The Philippine environment was thus one existing on an inherent tension.

Two: the Cure. Following the above, the actual implementation of martial
law was given as the defeat of the "false" Filipinos. The foreign and
domestic diseases of the nation were cured and the country cleansed of their
threat. This was a revolutionary act of great historical significance, not
unlike theRevolution of 1896.

Three: theReborn Filipino. With martial law now inplace a new Filipino in
a new order was ritualized. This contrived national identity was based on
the idea that the unfulfilled promises of theFilipino patriots (Mabini,
Rizal, etc.) were now realized in the New Society, where growth and

opportunity were offered through an observance of personal and social

discipline.

These acts did not, of course, operate in isolation. Marcos used

Filipinism and nationalistic ardor before 1972, and the idea of purging or
defeating the enemies of thenation often appeared after theadvent of the
New Society. But what tied the persuasive form into a well-spun fabric was
the public ethos of the president. The image of Ferdinand Marcos
reflected the positive myths of the propaganda drive: Marcos was
portrayed as a traditional nationalist Filipino, he was a hero who
triumphantlywrestled with the "false" Filipinos, he was the fatherof the
reborn Philippine society.
Whether Elizalde had a personal bearing on the strategy and style of
the government's propaganda is not known at this time (and this
discussion is not an attempt to investigate his writing). But what is
apparent is that thought was given to creating a "new Filipino." The pur?
pose seems clear: Marcos obviously had to demonstrate that martial law
and theNew Society were morally, politically, and culturally correct.The
rhetorical situation that faced Marcos and his writers was extreme: martial
law restructuredthe entirepolitical and social system, in effect creating a
new country. For martial law to succeed, the people had to be persuaded to

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 134 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

accept and be comfortablewith thisnew identity. What thepropaganda of

1972-1973 shows, then, is an effort to create this acceptance through a
continuum of images composed to assist in the psychological transfer
from old identity to new. By using familiar Filipino myths to build a
self-awareness blending the ideals of the past with the current government
ideology,Marcos attempted to fictionalize the Philippine environment:
thenew Filipino saw his universe through the frame of theNew Society?
an optical experience of true Filipino traditions, heroism, and discipline.
In this symbolic world the citizen formed an identification between his
past and his present, and thisassociation helpedMarcos initiallyestablish
his long authoritarian command.

THE TRUE FILIPINO AND THE FALSE FILIPINO

Before engaging in such a traumatic break from the Philippine socio?

political norm, the Marcos government had to provide a political
rationale. A situation had to be created thatwould justifymartial law as
well as unify the people under some type of common code. To this end,
antinomic rhetorical devices were arranged so that a sense of both national
assuredness and anxiety were elicited; an ennobling attitude of racial well
being on one hand and a threat to that security on the other. This leitmotif
pronounced that Philippine society, although inherently grand and
dignified, was now sick and enfeebled. In fact, according toMarcos, it
was dying; only a cure quickly executed could save theFilipino people.
Why such a paradoxical proposition? First, a common axiom is that
effective propaganda must build order and instigate instability at the same
time. The Philippine environment encourages such a paradox. Like nearly
all Filipino nationalists (and like many leaders of former colonies),
Marcos used the colonial past as the ultimate cause
of the country's ill

begotten predicament and, consequently, asa major premise for his

arguments. To use Philippine history, however, is to bring to bear
elements of the national identity.To speak of Filipino identityis to speak
of diametrics. Modern Philippine history begins with heroic revolutiona?
ries struggling against foreign occupation ? Rizal, Bonifacio, Mabini.
This idea of independence and the revolutionaryhero, later augmented by
theguerillas of theSecond World War, stands at the core of the national
imagination. But the successive occupations by the Spanish, the
Americans, and the Japanese also created a negative character: the
sympathizer,often symbolized by the ilustrado land owners; people who
were in league with the foreignersby offering apotheoses to theirway of
life.This collusion produced a confusion within Filipino identity,and the

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE MYTHS OF THE NEW FILIPINO 135

national angst ismarked by a muddled concept of self: ethno esteem built

by revolution and independence tempered by inferiority relative to
outsiders, especially to Westerners. The cultural genuflection to things
Western is what Philippine nationalists such as Claro M. Recto and
Renato Constantino have called the "colonial mentality."
This sense of national inadequacy, uncertainty, and lack of a coherent
identity created rhetorical opportunities not lost on Marcos. From the
beginning of his tenureMarcos built his political platformwith strongpro
Asian themes coupled with Filipino patriotic sentiments to create an
elevated notion of national awareness, a manifesto of the "true Filipino."
In his 1965 inaugural address, titled "Mandate for Greatness," Marcos
emphasized a reunion with theFilipino values demonstrated by the 1896
revolutionaries who created the "first Asian Republic," and that "the
Filipino race... can be a leader race!" The same year he celebrated

Philippine Independence Day with a speech entitled "The Heritage of

Greatness," and a few months later addressed the United States Congress
with "An Asian Message to America." Other speeches in the 1960s
included "Building a New Asian Society" and "The Epic of Nation
Building." His state of the nation address in 1969 proclaimed a "New
Filipinism" which was a "revolution against the sterile and self-defeating
7
traditions of the race...[and] ultimately, a call to greatness."
The Marcos clamor for culture reached itsphilosophical peak with his
1971 diagnosis of the country's social and political condition, Today's
Revolution: Democracy. The work contains a strong undercurrent of
national idealism in its call for a Philippine style of democracy and
? one built on a movement
value system away from self-centered
orientation to one where personal well-being was directly connected to the
good of others. This concept of collective sacrifice to the state (termed
disciplina) sounded a thinlydisguised but thoroughlyunheeded warning of
upcoming events.8
But Today's Revolution: Democracy not only outlined Filipino socio?
political ideals; it also delineated the country's weakness. In fact, the idea
of the new Philippines was largely defined by the description of the

7 Ferdinand E. Marcos "The New

Filipinism: theTurning Point," State-of-the-Nation
Message toCongress (Manila: Bureau of Printing, January 27, 1969). See A President's Call
toGreatness, Vol. 1,No. 1 (Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1968) for a collection of his speeches
of thatperiod.
8 In fact,Marcos stated quite plainly thatas president he "would not hesitate to
proclaim
martial law if the situation demanded it. "Today's Revolution: Democracy (Manila: 1971)
123.

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
136 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

enemies to this national ideal, or by what has been called the "devil
function."9 These forces were sometimes the Muslim secessionist
movement and rather vague references to outside interventionists.
However, the predominant threats were those from "imperialistic"
Communism and the financial oligarchy (the traditionalPhilippine family
elite); forces from the political left and the right. These presentations
created stereotypes of what can be referred to as the "false Filipino."
Communism, according toMarcos, assailed the Filipino because of its
violent design for conquest. Communists were foreign invaders bent on
subjugating the Filipino to an alien ideology. For despite their calls to
Philippine reform, theywere really agents of theChinese and theSoviets.
Accordingly, theiracquisition of power would simply follow thehistorical
trendof humiliation at thehands of a foreignpower. Marcos described the
imperialistic threat metaphorically, often using medical terms. He had
stated that Communism caused the Philippine government to be "ill...

paralyzed by this great disease, and we must meet this ailment

These groups, "Maoist" and "Moscow-oriented," were
vigorously."10
"openly contemptuous of the weakness of liberal democracies... [they]
hope to dramatize to the world the impotence of the government when
confronted with revolutionary terrorism."
The Communist cancer had to be cauterized by a healthy, virile
Filipino government. But theFilipino had still another peril to face: the
traditional elite. For while thePhilippine Communists were simply tools
of foreign powers, the oligarchy were Filipinos with well-known and
respected names. Whereas the Communists desired a violent overthrow of
thedemocratic system, the oligarchy attempted to strangle thePhilippine
financial and moral infrastructure. Again Marcos used the sickness
12
metaphor calling the oligarch "the disease of our democracy." The
elitist economic monopoly was also parlayed into a figure bordering on the
diabolical: with his unlimited wealth and closely guarded family power,
theoligarch? the trickster,theFilipino Judas, the trulyevil force? had
the ability to, as Marcos proclaimed, "deliver us to thedevil" (unlike the
Communists who "would deliver us to their foreign masters").13 These

9Burke, "The Rhetoric ofHitler's 'Battle'," 194-198.

10Ferdinand E. Marcos, State-of-the-NationAddress, January 24, 1966, published inA
President's Call to Greatness, Vol. 1, No. 1,24.
^ 29.
Marcos, Today's Revolution: Democracy
12Ibid. 74.
13Marcos, "To Fulfill A Dream," A Dialogue With My People: Selected Speeches of
Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sept. 1972-Sept. 1973 selected and edited by Francisco S. Tatad
(Manila: Dept. of Publicinformation, 1973), 105.

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE MYTHS OF THE NEW FILIPINO 137

familieswere depicted as being above the law, and thus able to actually
control all segments of Philippine society. In order to return the country to

good health, theoligarchs had to be sterilized througha strippingaway of

their power.
The president's long-standing nationalist views capsuled in Today's
Revolution: Democracy set up the foundation for martial law. By
presenting a Philippine world as one whose inherent greatness was
threatenedand salvation possible only throughstrong leadership under the
code of disciplina, Marcos established an environment built entirely on
public tension. Consequently, in September 1972, after a period of
Communist activity, student demonstrations, and acts of terrorism, many
Filipinos saw themselvesat the crossroads of doom. The "false" Filipino
was everywhere throughout the land: imperialism was once again raising
its insidious head; economic malaise and widespread poverty caused
by thenation's elite familieswas eroding themoral strengthof the culture.
To save thePhilippine nation, said thegovernment, thesemaladies had to
be corrected throughpolitical surgery.

A REVOLUTIONARY CURE

Nationalism and the anxiety caused by various enemies to the state

intensifiedthe sensitivityof theaudience and thus helped built a rhetorical
foundation for martial law. But because the execution of Proclamation
1081was such a severe action itneeded equally exceptional rhetoric. To
explain martial law to the Filipino people the persuasive entreaties
repeatedly used the idea of purification carried by highly emotive and
melodramatic images of cleansing, of curing, and of heroic struggle.
Purification was often couched within a larger concept: "revolution" as a

political panacea. For the Marcos revolution, as the messages

pronounced, was one inextricablyattached to themyth of thePhilippine
Revolution of 1896.
Martial law was enacted to cure and cleanse the country of the "false
Filipino." This was revolutionary. Revolution as an act of national
catharsis is crucial to understanding the propaganda of martial law;
indeed, it can be considered the central rhetoricalmechanism. This is not
surprising for the idea of revolution had been a mainstay of theMarcos
message throughouthis career. A 1966 speech shows thatMarcos equated
the concepts of revolution and political idealism and placed themwithin
thecontext of intergenerationallinkage.

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 138 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

Service above self... this is a motto for the revolutionary. Let it be so and let
the creativeminority be the revolutionaries that shall build a new system for
our country, a government which we can hand down to the next generation
with pride and without anxiety.14

Marcos wielded "revolution" as a semantic axe continuously

throughout the martial law period and into the 1980s. In Today's
Revolution: Democracy, Marcos speaks of the "necessity of a revolution,"
"Revolution as an instrument of individual and social change... [and] the
advancement of human freedom," and a "revolution from the center";
revolution inspired by his "fighting faith." A year later this call to
socio-political action would be carried out by the "September 21st
Movement," by all accounts a revolutionary nom de guerre. In his 1973
book, Notes on theNew Society of thePhilippines, Marcos writes of
a "revolution of the poor" and an "institutionalization of the [his]
revolution."15 In short, Marcos used the idea of revolution as the
rhetoricalengine for his political movement.
In many colonized countries the term revolution carries potent
symbolic strength, and, as noted, Marcos surely realized the idiosyncrasies
of his audience. His propaganda tapped this potency by joining the
execution of martial law to Philippine history, especially the Philippine
Revolution of 1896. Marcos repeatedly offered martial law as an event
thatmirrored ? ? the Philippine struggle for
morally and politically
independence. By cloaking martial law in metaphors of 1896, Marcos
assured the Filipino people that they were not living under a dictatorial
regime but rather within a dramatic, glorious moment in Philippine
history. The utter defeat of the Communists and the oligarchy was proof.
Martial lawwas then a historical redemption: the aspirations of the 1896
revolutionaries, so long thwarted by the false Filipinos, were being
realized, and realized by a revolutionary president. Indeed, the declaration
of martial law was a second coming, if you will, of the patriot.
This metaphor of revolution is found on several planes of communi?
cation, including thewritings ofMarcos. One of the president's favorite
rhetorical constructionswas the use of historical figures to not only firm
up the logic of his arguments but also to align his image with themythic

14Marcos, speech delivered toManila Rotarians, July7,1966.

15Marcos, Today's Revolution: Democracy. Tatad echoes the use of the termcalling for
a "new generation of ideas that has come to be identified with the September 21
constitutional revolution..." and "In this historical drama, words and ideas have had as
much effectas the actions and deeds thatmatched them.This has been enhanced by the fact
that the character of thepresidency during thisperiod has been determinedmainly by an idea
"Marcos, "To Fulfill a Dream," ix(see above, Footn. 13).
ofrevolution...

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE MYTHS OF THE NEW FILIPINO 139

past. Frequently mentioned was Apolinario Mabini. Mabini is commonly

known as the "brains of the revolution," and his evocation by the
president was presumably quite calculated. By channeling Mabini's
political and social ideologies into a contemporary setting, Marcos created
a symbolic and philosophical connection between the two periods. Mabini
called for an overthrow of the Spanish and the ilustrado class system; an
eradication of foreign and domestic influences in both the social and
political environments. Writes Marcos on the comparative effects of the
various revolutions:

[Mabini] called these the 'external' and 'internal' revolutions, for in his

view, as in ours, the moral education of the people... should be established

on a firm foundation, thus purging themselves of their vices. The
Revolution of 1896 was not merely a clash of arms leading to physical
liberation: itwas a cleansing experience: a moral act.16

Accordingly, theMarcos revolution in 1972 is justified because itnot

only rids the people of their foreign and home-grown enemies but it is

Filipino in concept and inspiration. It is faithful to our historical

aspirations and experience, rooted, as itwere, in the historical demands of
the Filipino people which gained full expression in the Revolution of
1896.17

Thus the promise ofMabini's revolution is fulfilledby the actions of

Ferdinand Marcos. passages The show the importance above placed on
historical for contemporary
material argumentation and the idea of moral
purification as an archetype within the propaganda strategem. Martial law
as symbolic purge was also seen in the sickness/cure motif. Isabelo
Crisostomo, in his 1973 book, Marcos the Revolutionary, described the
president as alarming the nation to a "defective political system [as a]
grave social cancergnawing at the vitals of the nation."18 To cure the
country, strong medicine was necessary. Crisostomo noted that

The goal that Ferdinand E. Marcos had set was entirely revolutionary, not
reformist. Complete transformation of society, any society, demanded

major surgery,not palliatives. For palliatives merely provide temporary

16Ibid., 65-66. It should also be pointed out that Rizal and Bonifacio have rival cult
followings in thePhilippines, and the use of Mabini may have been intended to eliminate
possible frictionbetween the two groups.
17Ibid.,64
18Isabelo T. Crisostomo, Marcos the Revolutionary (Manila: J. Kris Publishing
Enterprises, 1973), 76.

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 140 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

relief, a transitory easing of pain, and Marcos would have none of that. The
nation was a patient afflictedwith cancer; the roots of the cancer had been
known (he himself had pinpointed them)...19

Crisostomo effectivelycombines heremany of themajor points during

the first year of martial law: Marcos
the revolutionary president, martial
law as a revolutionary act, and the national purge. The themes of
sickness/dirt and martial law as the cure/washing spread into the media.
The press, while advancing these themes, also promoted the idea of the
leader's heroic struggle against various representations of the false
Filipino. One writer of particular note, Teodoro Valencia, used his
"Jaywalker" column in Expressweek to relate the engagement between
the president and the oligarchy. He writes that "before martial law... the
President had to play ball with thepolitical warlords. The PC [Philippine
Constabulary], the Army and the national government stopped at the
gates of the warlord's kingdoms. ...Is this the society we think our people
want returned to them?" 20Another early 1973Valencia column finds the
false Filipino as "the neighborhood bully who used to thumb his nose at
thepoliceman because his protector [a richoligarch] always bailed him out
... finds himself lost in the martial law world."21 Furthermore, martial
law put the false Filipino in order: "before martial law... the men of
influence and money were able to disregard laws with impunity. ...For
lack of discipline the nation plunged into the depths. ...The future was
dark and ominous. ...Something had to be done. It was exactly what the
President did ? he put a stop to a total lack of discipline."22 Of

particular interest is this account of the false Filipino and Marcos, both
drawn within themyth of the traditionalPhilippine culture.

The present rule scored a stunning victory over the pockets of authority
established by the politicians. This is more in tune with the Filipino
traditionof leadership by the elder chiefs.This is in harmony with concepts
accepted during the era of constitutional democracy. In other words, the

big chief took over from the small chiefs by subjugating them. ...So the
littlechiefs are gone! Now the President can lead the nation back to the
paths of rightand justice.23

19bid.,77.
20Teodoro F. Valencia, "Vote 'Yes* for a Constitutional Democracy,'' Expressweek
1/4/1973, 6.
21Valencia, "Wake Up and Live!" Expressweek 1/18/1973, 6.
22Valencia,
"Discipline Can be Fun," Expressweek 1/25/1973, 7.
23Valencia. "What Went Wrong?" Expressweek 2/8/1973, 6.

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE MYTHS OF THE NEW FILIPINO 141

The propaganda at this time centered on transformation. The actions

of the government, so extraordinary, were translated into a drama that
heightened the audience's awareness of excitement, of value, and of self.
The use of cultural myths turned the imposition of martial law into a
cultural pageant with marked historical overtones, and theFilipino people
became participants in theevent. 1972 and 1973 saw a revolutionarypurge
curing thePhilippine nation of itsvarious maladies; itwashed the country
clean of its filth.Martial law was built on the ideals of the Filipino
patriots. Itwas in keeping with trueFilipino traditions, and was enacted
through strength and courageous struggle. The blossom of such rhetoric,
the culmination of themyth, was thenew Filipino inhisNew Society.

THE REBORN FILIPINO

After the purges of martial law came a resurrection of the correct

Philippine way of life.Here was the regenerationof a moral and political
praxis lost under the chaotic tenure of the oligarchs and the threat of
Communism. To reflect this renascence, and in doing so legitimate the
continued existence of martial law, the propaganda strategy of the
government entered its third dramatic phase: the celebration of the "new
Filipino." The new Filipino embodied traditional racial values, the ideals
of thePhilippine Revolution, and, perhaps most importantat this stage,
the discipline necessary for personal and social growth. This symbolic
persona was also characterized by images of rejuvenated health, cleanli?
ness, and brightness. In thisway the idea of thenew Filipino and his New
Society became a frame for public perception: reality was now seen
through an optimistic screen of national order and prosperity.
The countrywitnessed many Filipinisms during the firstyear ofmartial
law. The national solemnization manifested itself in numerous ways, one
of themore notable being an attempt to revive theTagalog language in
schools and business. There continued to be a lionization of Asian racial
identity. Songs, slogans, proverbs, citizen campaigns such as the Mabuhay
Ang Pilipino Movement, all carried the storyof thenew Filipino.24
Filipinisms became directly incorporated into the political apparatus.
The creation of the barangay systemof local political administration was
an attemptby thegovernment to put the concepts of thenew Filipino into

24Tatad describes the Mabuhay ang Pilipino Movement as a voluntary nationwide

movement of civic organizations ("with the active support of the Department of Public
Information") to "perpetuate in thenational effort/'A Dialogue WithMy People, 39.

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 142 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

actual practice. One sees in the following passage fromhis 1973Notes on a

New Society how Marcos justified political change through themyths of
race and historical fulfillment.

The barangay is... the basis of a new institution whose origins are

indigenous to our race. It is truly Asian... Out of the barangay concept we

have realized the ancient dream of political philosophers... This is the

democratic political revolution...25

This assemblage of myths rang throughout the president's speeches.

On November 30, 1972, the anniversary of thebirth of revolutionaryhero
Andres Bonifacio, the president helped launch theMabuhay Ang Pilipino
Movement. In his address he remembered theFilipino heroes of 1896 as
such: "From thedarkness of centuriesnew light illuminated an entire race
and made them conscious of being one people." The pseudo-religious tone
was particularly appropriate for modern Filipinos because "The time of

redemption has now come. ...Dr. Rizal...wrote: 'I seek no shade but

light.' And so might we say in response to the challenge flung at us: ...We
seek no shade but light."26
Even after the acceptance of the January 1973 plebiscite, which
essentially gave Marcos legal and public legitimation, his speeches
constantly conceived theNew Society as an ameliorated Filipino world
reborn with a direct link to the heroic past and with a mission for the
future. The president, in a television-radio address on Bataan
Day
(April 9), demonstrated this national metamorphosis by connecting the
declaration of martial law to the heroism of 1942? assisted by the
antipodal positioning of death/renewal, defeat/victory, darkness/light,
chaos/order, and filth/cleanliness.

We are a people reborn today. ...as the heirs of those dead dreamers of

Bataan, we labor to bring forth their vision. ...When we took the fateful

step of throwingoff the shackles of a defeated and fatalistic society,what

exactly happened to the Filipinos? They were transformed. ...All that
darkness is now gone. ...There is a resurrection in the land, in the very
character of our cities and towns. Now we can say that our land shines from
sea to sea... The hopeless dirt and squalor ofManila is gone. The crime and
corruption of government is gone. ...if we treasure the spirit of Bataan...
we must grow in this resurrected life...27

25Ferdinand E. Marcos, Notes on a New Society of thePhilippines (Manila: theMarcos

Foundation, 1973), 173.
26Marcos, "The Continuing Revolution," inA Dialogue WithMy People, 45.
27Marcos, "To Fulfill a Dream," inA Dialogue WithMy People, 106.

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE MYTHS OF THE NEW FILIPINO 143

As martial became more

law and more entrenched, the Marcos
message continued to emphasize the myths already mentioned, but divine
mission began to take predominance. In the June 12, 1973 Independence
Day address at Rizal Park, Marcos stated that

We have pushed away the darkness of the long, long nightwith one single
blow... [and] with one swift and single blow... we have sought to establish a
new soul for our country and for our people; and we now seek the light...
This is the culmination of the long, long years of yearning, of hoping, of
dreaming, of groping and of despair.28

And permeating all of these messages, either implicitly or, as now

shown, explicitly, was the idea of social
and personal "discipline."
Discipline, as defined by Marcos in a June 23, 1973 commencement speech
at the National War College, is "the will, the spirit... the flowering of his
29
[the Filipino] intellect and his energies." Discipline countered the
"negative liberty" that resulted when people did not show responsibility.
The crucifixion of this negative libertybecame rampant in some parts of
the media. For instance, in early 1973 Valencia wrote the following
passage under the rather remarkable title of "Discipline Can Be Fun:"

The country without discipline must perish. ...Before martial law, we did
?
not mind laws the men of influence and money were able to disregard
laws with impunity. ...For lack of discipline, the nation plunged into the

depths. Our economy was shot. Peace and order was [sic] horrible. The
future was dark and ominous. ...Something had to be done. It was exactly
?
what the President did he put a stop to a total lack of discipline. ...Now,
the common man will have a share in thebounty of this land? ifhe can be
disciplined enough to do what is best for himself and his country.National
discipline is the need of the hour. This means sacrifice for our own good...
We can be happy with discipline because it is the by-product of thewill to
do and the desire to achieve.30

Sacrifice and discipline were then important components of the reborn

citizen, and the occurrence of the theme in the government's propaganda
became extreme during 1973. The first anniversary of martial law provides
a good example. Valencia responded to the occasion with an editorial
titled"What ItWould Have Been Without Martial Law." Here again the
images of resurrection, order, and cleanliness surface.

28Marcos, "Our True Independence,'' inA Dialogue WithMy People, 185.

29Marcos, "Liberty and Discipline," inA Dialogue WithMy People, 188.
3?Valencia, "Discipline Can be Fun," Expressweek 1/25/1973, 7.

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
144 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

Martial law did one thing for us. It exposed the fake leadership in almost
every line of national activity. ...Without martial law, the over-all cleanli?
ness of our cities, towns, and provinces would never have been possible.

Valencia and otherwriters seemed to quickly grasp themythic elements

of the government line. Indicative of this is the following advertisement
forAir Manila that appeared in the Times Journal on Sept. 21, which
accentuates a sense of cultural revelation, of a fulfilled destiny, and of

discipline. The ad showed a letterfrom a Filipino to a Filipino-American

asking the latter to come back home because

So much has happened since you leftover a year ago. Things are not the
way they were. But I feel it's a newness you will recognize. Because it seems
it's how we always wanted things to be. A lot of good has been brought
about by the new order. You can see it in the cleanliness of the street.The
orderly flow of traffic.People have become more disciplined. And we feel
safer. More assured.32

On the same page appeared another advertisement, this one by the

Mabuhay Ang Pilipino Movement. Translated fromTagalog, it read in

33
part "For the progress of the country, discipline is needed." This slogan
became very popular during the firstyear of martial law; the rhetorical
intent is obvious.
The term "reborn Filipino" was not only the climax of the narrative
structure, itwas also encyclopaedic in that it collected the various myths
and images so long used by Marcos to propagate his power. Secure in
racial identity and with the false character in the national drama purged,
the rhetoric of the period presented a universe that stressed an attainment
of mythic aspirations. As shown, historic linkage stood at the heart of the
?
message: the Filipino of the New Society healthy, clean, growing but
? had emerged into the lightof progress as the fulfillmentof
disciplined
the promise of Rizal, of Bonifacio, of the founding fathers of Malolos. In
theNew Society, theFilipino had reached his destiny.

31
Valencia, "What It Would Have Been Without Martial Law," Expressweek
9/20/1973,6.
32Advertisement forAir Manila in theTimes Journal,
Sept. 21,1973, 2.
33Advertisement for the
Mabuhay Ang Pilipino Movement in the Times Journal, Sept.
21, 1973, 2. Note that the slogan "Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan" (for the
progress of the country,discipline isneeded), was one used by thepresident; see for example
his speech "Liberty and Discipline," inA Dialogue WithMy People.

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE MYTHS OF THE NEW FILIPINO 145

MARCOS: LIKE A WARRIOR OF OLD

Such was the rhetoric of the early New Society: a manipulation of

cultural myths within an anxiety-purge-rebirth plot structure. Critical to
this strategy was the image of the president which acted as a cementing
agent to bind the dramatic movements together. At each stage of the
propaganda campaign the figureof the president reflected the themes of
the political message. Consequently, in the characterization of Marcos
appear the elements of the traditional Filipino, the powerful destroyer/
healer, and the revolutionary father of the new order. So strong and
widespread was this effort that it can be considered an attempt to create a

leadership cult among the people.

A passage from Hartzel Spence's 1964 authorized biography of
?
Marcos one used by supportive writers throughout his tenure ?
identifies characteristics of Marcos that would be integral to the
presidential image for twenty years to come. Spence draws upon the
deep-seated Philippine superstitions to create the first leader blessed with
destiny and the trueFilipino identity.

Ferdinand Marcos has no right to be alive. ...But a persistent legend

reverberates in thePhilippines, from the rice paddies and tobacco fields of
his native northern Luzon to the canebrakes and mahogany forests of
southernMindanao, that Ferdinand Marcos has an anting anting in his
back. The is a talisman... of petrified medicinal wood ...
anting anting
bequeathed toMarcos by a legendary figure of the previous generation.
Gregorio Aglipay. ...it permits its holder to disappear and reappear at
will... it can restore the dead to life.34

In many ways this description summarizes the entire propaganda

stratagem of martial law. First, it identifies Marcos with the traditional
folk culture. Second, it makes use ofthe historical dimension: the
talisman'sprevious owner, Gregorio Aglipay, was a well-known guerrilla
priest of the 1896 revolution. As the story goes, it was given to Marcos
before the battle of Bataan. This symbolizes not only heroic prowess but
also the physical linkage between the revolutionary leaders of 1896,
Filipino heroes inWWII, and theactual person of thepresident. Finally, it
has thepower of healing, of bringing "the dead to life."
Thus by 1972 the myth of Marcos was largely in place. His

^Hartzel Spence, For Every Tear a Victory: The Story of Ferdinand E. Marcos (New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1964) 3-4. This was later reissued under the titleMarcos of the
Philippines.

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 146 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

personification at the onset of martial law was that of a modern day Lapu
Lapu ridding thePhilippine people of foreign invaders and the oligarchy.
The legendary quality of Marcos was especially effective among the
financially destitute and the politically ignorant,who saw in the Ilocano
president the storyof an underdog rising to the heights of power. During
the firstyear of martial law theMarcos publicity machine saturated the
country with accounts of the president's life. Crisostomo's Marcos the
Revolutionary describes the true Filipino leader confronted by false
Filipino forces as such:

The system was... forbidding. ...At the control center were the handful of

elite in whose hands were concentrated the wealth of the country... Once
installed in the seat of power thepolitician is theirprisoner... The least sign
of hesitation... would end his political career... For the elite would unleash
their wrath through the mass media which they also owned and
a less cruel ?
controlled... At the very least he would be meted punishment
news blackout... Then, of course, there is that extreme punitive action:

liquidation. ...Hence, they expected him [Marcos] to be on their side, to

defend the system... not [to be] the leader of the people, the teeming
millions... But they underestimated the man...35

The biographical rendering,clearly epic in tone, seems to be in keeping

with other propaganda currents. Crisostomo first presents the Philippine
politician as a prisoner, fearful, impotent in the face of themythic false
Filipino, here as "the system." This defines Marcos as a heroic rebel
outside the corrupt political norm. His successful defeat of the enemy elite
establishes him as a populist revolutionary leader, not unlike a Bonifacio
or Mabini.
The two biographical passages above should not be passed off as mere
propaganda stylization: rather they should be seen as conscious attempts
to create a cult of leadership designed to complement and excite the
Filipino psycho-social environment.36 The idea of a leadership cult is
evident in the celebration of the first anniversary of martial law.With
martial law now an operating fact, the Philippine media went to extremes
in eulogizing its founder.A sampling of the feature titles from the Sept.
11, 1973 Times Journal bears out the idolatrous construction of the
President's character: "Marcos the Revolutionary," "Marcos the Road

Builder," "The Young Ferdinand," "Highlights of the President's 56th

35Crisostomo, 34.

36Kershaw's study of Hitler and the cult of leadership in The Hitler Myth: Image and
Reality in the Third Reich is especially appropriate in understandingMarcos' image during
martial law.

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE MYTHS OF THE NEW FILIPINO 147

Year," and
"The Charismatic Leader." In the same issue two highly
epideictic poems show how the Marcos image was projected publicly by
government officials. One, "Growth of the Molave," by undersecretary
of Foreign Affairs R. Zulueta Da Costa, suggests that the glory of past
revolutionaries is alive inMarcos. Here, the myth of cultural greatness is
reborn:
Now, Rizal, now. At last
You shall sleep in peace.
The land, the people, the dream
Stir to lifeproclaiming
The present be ours.37

A second poem, "Apotheosis to President Ferdinand E. Marcos" by

Executive Presidential Assistant Guillermo C. De Vega, similarly stresses
the resurrected national self through the myths of racial identity and the
revolutionary past. Note again the epic tone.

The new Filipino has risen,and you

like thewarrior of old survivinggracefully straw
Patriots and evil tongues, are a brown heritage
The nation wears on the doorway of the self.

Marcos: a hero but in a century.38

Despite the depths of sycophantic unction, both poems are consistent

with the martial law propaganda campaign of symbolic rebirth using a
variety of cultural myths. Within the public image of the president one
? ?
finds the "true" Filipino he of a "brown heritage" who like Rizal
and other revolutionary "warrior[s] of old" had vanquished the enemies
of the nation and allowed the "new Filipino" to "stir to life."
The cult of the Filipino leader continued unabated throughout his
presidency. To be sure, only a few of the Marcos encomia have been
mentioned here. These, however, demonstrate that his public image was
carefully constructed to reinforce the major rhetorical movements and
themes of the government's propaganda undertaking during the months

following the declaration of martial law.

37R. Zulueta Da Costa, "Growth of the Molave," Times Journal Sept. 11, 1973, 8.
^Guillermo C. De Vega, "Apotheosis to President Ferdinand E. Marcos," Times
Journal Sept. 11, 1973, 8.

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 148 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY

CONCLUSION

Why was martial law initially accepted? While social instability,

physical intimidation,and bonafide political support were major factors,
the propaganda of 1972-1973 contributed greatly. The knowledge of the
relevance of cultural myths to the needs and values of the audience is
crucial to the success of the persuasive message, and it can be said that
Marcos and his writers gauged this relevance correctly. The practical
application of thisknowledge was the creation of an aesthetic reality that
allowed fora transferof both government identity(ineffectualdemocracy
to revolutionarydemocracy) and audience identity(the colonial Filipino to
the new Filipino). Itwas this successful transferof public perception that
helped foster the early acceptance of martial law and, consequently,
sustained existence of theMarcos regime.
But thepropaganda of thePhilippine governmentwas neither original
nor inventive.
Structurally, it rested on a three part narrative of rebirth:
imperiled national consciousness, purgation, and resurrection. The
? a
pattern was bonded together by the leader image structural form

owing much to European predecessors. This plot was constructed of

various Filipino myths, and what made the propaganda successful was the
audience's susceptibility to these myths. Because of Filipino colonial

identity, Marcos and his writers constantly used myths of nationalism,

Filipinism, imperialism, betrayal, and, especially, of historical fulfillment.
?
The persuasive entreaties found across the spectrum speeches and
? were
books by the president, biographies, the popular press presented
by a synergy of images including the inherent greatness of the brown race,
comparisons to revolutionary heroes, health, cleanliness, brightness, and
types of discipline and order.
The Marcos message was, of course, a litany of contradictions, partly
kept, broken, or inconsequential premises, and sheer lies. The streets
remained clean and orderly only for a short while. The threat of the
? ?
"false" Filipino imperialism and the oligarchs actually became
realized: theCommunists only grew stronger, thePhilippines became only
more dependent on American aid, and theoligarchs were only replaced by
theMarcos league of cronies. Perhaps most ironic,martial law did indeed
result in a historic linkage to the ideals of 1896, but the connection would
not be realized untilmore than a decade later, and itwould be under the
banner of "people power" not the "September 21st Movement."

This content downloaded from 188.72.96.104 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:10 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions