MARCOS MARTIAL LAW

A NECESSITY OR TO HOLD POWER?

A GOLDEN AGE, CORRUPTION OR ABUSES?
 WHY DID MARCOS IMPOSED MARTIAL LAW?

In September 1972, Ferdinand The rising disorder caused by The alleged threats of communist
Marcos has declared Martial law to increasingly violent student insurgency by the new Communist
be the last defense against: demonstration. Party of the Philippines (CPP).

Marcos also stated that declaring

martial law became a "necessity" due
to the ambush of then-Defense
The Muslim separatist movement of
Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile. But in a
the Moro National Liberation
1986 interview, Enrile himself
Font (MNLF).
admitted that such an ambush was
staged to justify the imposition of
Martial Law.
 Civil and political liberties were
Many Filipinos considered Martial
destroyed, Congress was disbanded,
Law to be one of the darkest
a one-man rule was installed, and
moments in the country's history to
human rights were brazenly violated
this day.
Was Marcos’s Martial under military control.

truly the Golden Age,

Corruption, and Human rights lawyer Jose Manuel
"They had absolute and ultimate
"Chel" Diokno even
Abuses? claimed that the late dictator
Ferdinand Marcos' Martial Law
influence over everything, which
allowed them to amass so much
wealth for their own gain, not for
reign was "golden years for the
the sake of the Filipino people,"
family, but not for the Filipinos nor
Diokno said in an ANC interview.
for the country.
 Likewise, Marcos suspended the Dissolved Congress and padlocked
writ of habeas corpus and also the the doors to the Batasang
1935 Constitution. Pambansa.

Was Marcos’s Martial Since 2015, Marcos’s loyalists had

been doing something to paint
truly the Golden Age, Assuming both legislative and
executive powers. So Martial Law
is really the golden age of abuses.
Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship as a
golden age for the Philippines

Corruption, and through manipulated facts and

outright lies.

Abuses?
While thousands of people consider
the Marcos years as the darkest
time in Philippine history, his
family and loyalists are using
mainly social media (TROLL
FARMS) as a platform to foist their
version of history on the rest of the
nation.
 In 1986, over a million Filipinos took to the streets to overthrow the
corrupt and brutal regime of President Ferdinand Marcos. It was called
the People Power Revolution. 

Following the murder of the anti-Marcos politician, Ninoy Aquino, a

huge opposition movement rallied around his widow, Cory Aquino.

Why was She stood against Marcos in a snap presidential election in 1986. But

Marcos when Marcos was declared the winner amid massive electoral fraud,
huge protests began.

overthrown? The protestors were supported by the Catholic Church under the
guidance of Cardinal Jaime Sin. Eventually, senior members of the army
rebelled against Marcos.

Filipinos poured onto the streets to protect the rebel army officers. Loyal
troops refused to fire on the crowds. After four days of mass
Marcos Stolen
Wealth
Proven or Fiction?
 1. SWISS ACCOUNT

a. 1997 The Swiss Federal Court ordered Marcos’ hidden wealth Swiss accounts be
returned to the Philippine government.
Marcos Proven
I’ll Gotten b. JULY 2003, the Philippine Supreme Court ordered the forfeiture of the returned Swiss
funds, which were then remitted to the Philippine Treasury amounting to $658 million. The
court ruled that anything in excess of the Marcos’ total legal income of $304, 372.43 from

Wealth and Court 1965 to 1986 was presumed ill-gotten.

c. JANUARY 2011, the US District of Hawaii awarded $10 million to 7,526 Martial Law

Rulings victims. The amount came from the settlement with owners of supposed Marcos’s
properties in Texas and Colorado. The claimants started receiving their compensation in
tranches beginning March 2011.

d. Singapore’s Supreme Court ruled that Marcos’s remaining Swiss funds amounting to $23
million that was stored in WestLB Singapore belonged to the PNB as trustee of the
Philippine government. The decision became final after it was upheld by the Singapore
Court of Appeal in December 2013.
 2. ARELMA ASSETS

Marcos Proven a. APRIL 2, 2009, Sandiganbayan forfeited Marcos’s so-called

“Arelma, S.A.” assets in favor of the Philippine Republic. Marcos
I’ll Gotten formed Arelma, a Panamanian entity, after opening a $2million
deposit account with Merrill Lynch in New York using money from
Wealth and Court Swiss accounts. The deposit has since ballooned to $40 million as of
2013.

Rulings
b. APRIL 2012, the Supreme Court affirmed the Sandiganbayan
ruling and later denied a reconsideration plea by the Marcoses.
 3. DEPOSED PROPERTIES

a. MARCH 2000, Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG)

auctioned off the sequestered Fair Child compound in Baguio City for P220
million.
Marcos Proven
I’ll Gotten b. 2012, PCGG disposed of two more sequestered properties in Baguio City:
the Hans Menzi compound in April sold for P39 million and the Banaue Inn
in December sold for P10 million.
Wealth and Court
Rulings c. JUNE 2006, PCGG privatized the Mapalad property through a winning
bidder who paid P247 million. The property belonged to the independent
Realty Corporation, which was surrendered to the government in 1986 by the
Marcos crony Jose Campos.

d. SEPTEMBER 2014, the PCGG is set to bid out three more sequestered
properties in North Greenhills, San Juan; Valle Verde in Pasig: and Capitol
Hills in Quezon City.
 4. JEWELRY AND PAINTINGS

a. NOVEMBER 2013, the New York District Attorney convicted of tax fraud Vilma

Marcos Proven
Bautista, the social secretary of Imelda Marcos who sold missing artworks owned
by the Marcoses, including a Claude Monet that was bought for US$ 15 million.
Ownership of the four paintings and the assets bought from the sale still has to be

I’ll Gotten settled in civil court.

Wealth and Court b. JANUARY 2014, the Sandiganbayan ordered that a jewelry collection of Imelda
Marcos (or the Malacanaang collection) valued between $110,055 to $153,089 be

Rulings forfeited in favor of the Philippine government.

Source: INFOGRAPHIC: The hunt for the Marcos ill-gotten wealth Published
September 21, 2014.
 How and When It Was Acquired?

According to Jovito Salonga's book

Diverted foreign economic aid, US 'Presidential Plunder' which details
government military funding including Salonga's time as the head of the
massive discretionary money at Marcos Presidential Commission on Good
disposal as a reward for sending certain Government, these cronies assisted the Salonga cites the following techniques:
Filipino troops to Vietnam and bribes from Marcoses in amassing their wealth by
public works contracts are claimed to be assisting them in one or more of what
among the origins of the Marcos fortune.  Salonga referred to as Marcos' Techniques
of Plunder.

Awarding behest loans to cronies from Forced takeovers of various public or

Creating monopolies and putting them
Government banking or financing private enterprises, with a nominal amount
under the control of cronies;
institutions; as payment;
 How and When It Was Acquired?

Kickbacks and
Direct raiding of the Issuance of Presidential
commissions from
public treasury and Decrees or orders,
enterprises doing
Government Financing enabling cronies to
business in the
Institutions; amass wealth;
Philippines;

Use of shell
Skimming off of Hiding wealth in
corporations and
Foreign Aid and other overseas bank accounts
dummy companies to
forms of International using pseudonyms or
launder money
Assistance; and code names.
overseas;