REFLECTION ESSAY: _____________

Before I started watching the film of Ferdinand Marcos' entire documentary of Filipinos
living under martial law, I admire Marcos for his abilities. I have knowledge about him, but I am
not quite sure if his leadership was good. I thought I knew what had happened that time, and
because of that, I admired President Marcos. However, after watching the entire documentary on
what happened throughout his term, I came to a lot of realizations. What are those? Has my
admiration for Marcos started to fade away?

What is the best way to get started? Maybe I should start by telling you what I know
about Ferdinand Marcos. There was a time that I got bored and I decided to watch some videos
or clips from the internet about President Marcos' accomplishments. I discovered Marcos' plans
for our country, like what they have mentioned from the video I watched, about something called
the Philippine blueprint. Also, I discovered some of their inventions, one of which is a typhoon
rocket, which can stop a typhoon from approaching. But that did not work, and I am not sure
why. I am also not sure if this is real, but as what I have said earlier, I admired him because of
his mindset and abilities. Another one that I discovered is that because of so much courage and
strength of the national defenses back then, no one wanted to fight us. We were known as the
Asian Tiger because of Marcos’ intelligence. About the blueprint, according to the video I
watched, countries like Singapore were the first to rise or develop because of the blueprint that
Marcos sold to other countries. I then thought, I hope they did not take steps to oust Marcos so
that we can also prosper. In addition to that, before entering politics, Marcos was reputed to be
an expert in gold bartering, which is why he became wealthy so quickly. That is all I remember
about the information I acquired before.

This is it, after watching the entire documentary about Ferdinand Marcos' leadership
using martial law, I finally realized what really happened during his tenure. I mentioned in the
introduction that I had several realizations, so what are those? The first point to mention is that I
thought the Philippines prospered during his presidency. We may have prospered back then, but
it did not last long. It was like we had just climbed to the peak and then plummeted back down.
The tiger of Asia that I had been believing for a long time is not true, and even if it is, it still
appears to be ineffective since in the end we are still vanquished, and the Philippine economy is
still collapsing. Second, he applied his intelligence to things that were not good for the
Philippines. We can say that because of his fraud in the elections, it is evident that he used his
intelligence for his personal gain. Another was the fake ambush on Ponce Enrile that only an
intelligent being can think of such a plan. I just hope that he uses his abilities for the betterment
of our country, and even if he holds the position for another 50 years, the people will still elect or
choose him. Third, he abused his authority to such an extent that it appeared as if he had been
consumed by it which he could no longer take control. Fourth, I did not consider or praise
Benigno Aquino as a hero; he may not have done much, but he was the reason why martial law
ended. I saw in him his courage in taking on President Marcos even though he was only a senator
with no allies. I felt more in the documentary I watched what Benigno Aquino had done for his
countrymen. I would salute him if he was still alive, but I just thought and wished that he would
not have returned to the country at that time, and that they first think carefully about the steps
they took in returning to the Philippines. Last thing, I realized that I had assumed that the people
were just fighting Marcos because they were biased towards Benigno Aquino, yet it is true that
Marcos turned violent for no apparent reason. Maybe that is what motivated the people to protest
for freedom. Now I can say that the fear of a Filipino will disappear when the battle is in their
hearts, and I am proud of all people who stood united and did not give up in the fight to end
Ferdinand Marcos' martial law.

If you ask me if I still admire Ferdinand Marcos, I might not be going to respond, not
because his leadership was bad during his time. Maybe it would be better if we remember what
happened at the time and learn from them that will never be forgotten in the history of the
Philippines.