INTRODUCTION

In any society, morality plays a key role and is embedded into our social system
through various social mechanisms such as religion and values. These dictate which behavior
is correct and approved of in opposition to other actions that are viewed as wrong or immoral.
This sense of morality differs from individual to individual. Being moral is when an
individual is concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior. A moral person
always makes an attempt to follow the accepted standards of behavior. This sometimes can
be rather difficult, however, a moral person is always guided by his morality.
Even though laws and the legal system are a bit different from morality, morality
plays as a basis for laws as well. For instance, a moral person would not try to steal
something that belongs to another. This action of stealing is considered as illegal by the law.
According to this example, morality and the legal system are in sync.
However, when it comes to instances such as helping someone who is troubled, there
is no law. It is the morality that guides the person to engage in such behavior. This sense of
morality comes to the person through his socialization process. The influence of the family,
such as parents and also other social agents such as priests and teachers can lay a foundation
for this sense of morality. This pushes the person to sustain a sense of morality which can
even operate as an obligation that he feels for the rest of the society.
On the other hand, Former Philippines Senate president Ferdinand Marcos is
inaugurated president of the Southeast Asian archipelago nation. Marcos’ regime
would span 20 years and become increasingly authoritarian and corrupt.
Ferdinand Marcos was a law student in the late 1930s. During the Japanese
occupation in World War II, he allegedly served as leader of the Filipino resistance
movement, but U.S. government records indicate he played little role in anti-
Japanese activities.
In 1949, he was elected to the Philippines  House of Representatives. In
1959, he moved up to the Senate and from 1963 to 1965 served as Senate president.
In 1965, he broke with the Liberal Party after failing to win his party’s presidential
nomination and ran as the candidate of the Nationalist Party. After a bitter and
decisive campaign, he was elected president. In 1969, he was reelected, also in
1981, Marcos was dubiously reelected president.

CHALLENGE
Considering historical facts and results from studies and surveys about the Macros
regime, would you consider Ferdinand Marcos as a moral president?

SOLUTION
After readings of evidences, a proposition is made which states that Ferdinand Marcos
is not considered as a moral president.
BENEFIT
Initially, the view of Marcos during his first term in office was to elevate the
economic and social conditions of the country by promoting hard work and self-reliance. He
unified the islands by building a network of roads, bridges, railroads and ports. Health centers
and schools were given utmost priority. He also strengthened our relations with the member
countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
However, his presidency was marred by corruption, killing, torture, disappearances
and media oppression. Marcos engineered the creation and promulgation of the 1973
constitution using comic strategies to fool majority of the Filipinos. He replaced Congress
with Batasang Pambansa or National Assembly with majority of the politicians whom he
personally knighted to be his puppets. The legislature with cloned law makers was popularly
known as the "rubber stamp."
Marcos declared Martial Law on September 21, 1972 to "save the Republic of the
Philippines" from the hands of the Communists plus other reasons he embroidered. The
Marcos Martial Law Administration was considered by his unbelievers as the darkest years of
post-colonial Philippines. Moreover, his Martial Law Administration was characterized by
nepotism, cronyism, crony capitalism, extreme human rights violations, widespread poverty,
social inequity, rural stagnation, rising criminality, agrarian unrest in Luzon, labor unrest,
violent student activism, revived communist insurgency, secessionist movements in
Mindanao, rapidly rising birth rate, and slow growth of local industries.
The Amnesty International estimated that 70,000 were imprisoned; 34,000 tortured
and 3,240 killed. He also plundered the wealth of the country with the amount between five
to ten billion dollars. He was tagged as the second most corrupt head of state in the whole
world in the past two decades. Marcos lifted Martial Law (on theory) on January 17, 1981 to
show artificial decency because Pope John Paul II was scheduled to visit the Philippines. He
was forced to leave the Palace after the assassination of Ninoy Aquino and that dramatic Edsa
Revolution.

RESULT
On the information-based analyzation, Marcos regime oversaw the arrests of
thousands, the silencing of the press, the closure of both houses of Congress, and the
suspension of the ongoing constitutional convention. In due course, the Marcos state has also
set up the politicization of the military, the corruption of state institutions, the massive
distortion of the economy through crony capitalism, and the murder and forced
disappearances of hundreds of activists and various oppositions. Therefore, informatively
speaking, Ferdinand Marcos is not considered a moral president.
INTRODUCTION
The Philippines is a republic with a presidential form of government wherein power is
equally divided among its three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The
government seeks to act in the best interests of its citizens through this system of check and
balance.
Article VII, Section 1, of the 1987 Constitution vests executive power on the
President of the Philippines. The President is the Head of State and Head of Government, and
functions as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. As chief
executive, the President exercises control over all the executive departments, bureaus, and
offices.
He or she is the head of state, leader of the national government, and Commander-in-Chief of
all armed forces of the Philippines. 
The President of the Philippines is elected by direct vote by the people for a term of
six years. He may only serve for one term, and is ineligible for reelection. The term of the
President of the Philippines starts at noon of the 30th day of June after the election.
The qualifications for an individual aspiring to become the President of the
Philippines are outlined in Article VII, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution. According to the
constitution, an individual may become President provided he meets a certain criteria which
are: a natural born Filipino, a registered voter, must be able to read and write, 40 years of age
at the day of the election, and must have resided in the Philippines ten years before the
election is held.
Moreover, 21 years in the seat of Presidency really marked the name of one Ferdinand
Marcos. He is the President who served the country in the longest period of time. From 1965
to 1986 he ruled over and governed the Philippines. Thoughts, opinions, and perceptions
about him were thus divided because of this. While some may take a very positive outlook
about his administration, some on another end of the spectrum, took a more negative side.
Nonetheless, despite all these issues, let us give credit to whom and where credit is due. Let
us all take a look at this list of achievements done by the Marcos Administration.

CHALLENGES
Upon studies, inquiries, and also relying to the statements of those who personally
experienced the Marcos regime, would you consider Ferdinand Marcos as the best president
in the Philippines?

SOLUTION
Survey and studies have been read, analogies have been made which leads to the
judgement that Ferdinand Marcos is not the best president that the Philippines have ever had.
BENEFIT
President Ferdinand Marcos’ dream of building a new society had brought forth
several projects that have benefited us in the long run. During his third SONA in 1968,
Marcos claimed that the country became self-sufficient in rice and corn, therefore solving the
chronic food shortage. He implemented beneficial policies. He helped the people who were in
need of medical treatment by constructing infrastructures like the Children's Medical Center.
He also built buildings that attracts tourists like the Coconut Palace.
Fast forward to 1980 and the Marcos administration reached yet another milestone.
The country’s gross national product (GNP) dramatically climbed from 39.5 billion pesos in
1965 to an outstanding 86.7 billion pesos in 1979, which translates to 6.6% growth rate a
year.
From Sept. 21, 1972, up to Feb. 26, 1986, Marcos was able to craft and formulate a
total of 7, 883 presidential decrees and other 5 legal issuances. All of the country’s specialty
hospitals were also built during his term and these include the Kidney Center, Philippine
Children Center, Philippine Heart Center and the Lung Center of the Philippines.
However, we also have to deal with the other side of the coin. As time passed, the
power got to his head, thus losing focus and letting the Philippines down. The Philippines
was experiencing social unrest which continued to build. Ferdinand Marcos' corruption
started to affect the people. In his twenty years in power, the country's foreign debt grew
from about one billion dollars to over $25 billion; in a statement released last year by the
Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), an estimate of as much as a third of all the debt, about
$8 billion, went into his pockets or those of his cronies. (Philippine history.com)
Because of the corruption, Student demonstrators attempted to storm the Malacanang
Palace, the Presidential Mansion, on 30 January 1969. Manila and other large cities were
rocked by random bombings. In 1970, Marcos signed a congressional resolution that called
for a convention to be held the following year to review the 1935 Constitution. While this
convention might have posed a threat to his stay in power, it was also an opportunity for
Marcos to bribe delegates to change the 1935 prohibition against the president serving for
more than two terms.
Meanwhile, Marcos blamed leftists for the bombings and took the opportunity to
suspend Writs of Habeas Corpus in August 1971, a prelude to Martial Law. He declared
Martial Law to keep his power. From that event, he abused the Philippines by taking away
the people's rights and powers. Martial Law also took away his people's freedom of speech
and petition, which led to the People Power Revolution that forced him to give up his
presidency and leave the Philippines. At first, the Filipino people trusted him because of his
positive responsible acts; but as time passed, he betrayed the Filipinos.
Also, according to the Akbayan party-list group, the Marcos administration was
responsible for 35, 000 torture cases, 70, 000 incarcerations, and 3, 257 murders. He’s also
blamed for the arrest of more than 50, 000 people including the “desaparecidos” or those
who were victims of enforced disappearances.
RESULT
Considering how Marcos' Constitutional Convention effectively rewrote the
Philippine Constitution which gave Marcos virtually unlimited power and tenure. And
addition to this was its human rights violations and financial problems, like the country
paying for its poorly managed economy. This irresponsible act aroused deeper aggression and
disbelief of Filipinos which causes for Marcos not to be the best president that the Philippines
have ever had.