Thirty Years Later . . .: Catching Up with the Marcos-Era Crimes

I flew from Manila to the US to attend grad school in December of 1974, acquired US citizenship in 1981, and have lived in the US since then. As Marcos imposed martial law in September of 1972, my first-hand experience of living under martial law spanned a brief 2 years and 2 months.After the initial shock of the martial law declaration wore off, I had high hopes that the new structure and discipline would result in peace, prosperity, and security for the Philippines. Working as a sales engineer, the only negative impact of martial law I experienced was that it curtailed my business dinners and nights out as I had to make sure I was home by 12 midnight.Many years later, I started reading books about the Marcos years before, during and after martial law. I was shocked to learn about the atrocities committed by the police and the military, the plundering of funds by both husband and wife, and the extent of Imelda’s wasteful extravagance.I therefore approached Myles Garcia’s book with a curiosity to find out if Myles offered a new perspective on the Marcos-era years. The book did not disappoint me. The night I started the 183-page book, I stayed up to 2:00 am to finish the book in one sitting.The book does an excellent job of organizing the information in an easy-to-follow manner. Even though the topic is “deadly” serious, Myles’ writing style is light and entertaining. It does not follow the heavy and ponderous tone so typical of the other books of this genre.In my case, it fills in my personal knowledge gaps of Philippine events. For example, the book unabashedly identifies three pre-martial law cronies (called X, Y, & Z). I did not realize that Mr. Z was also involved in the Benguet-Bahamas deal. Another example I found both amusing and embarrassing is the story behind the upside-down tiara that Imelda wore for the 1971 Persepolis bash. There are many more of these gems in the book.For Filipinos and for people with Filipino friends, the book will bring more substance and depth to your political discussions during your backyard barbeques and dinners.For the history buff, it is a powerful reminder to all rational and righteous people that we should never let it happen again. It is particularly relevant to Filipinos who are voting in the Philippine elections in May 2016.“Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” Quote from George Santayana, Spanish philosopher and poet.I highly recommend the book!

Very useful as a list of the Marcos junkets abroad, with information especially about the wild lavish spending by Imelda, and the economic plunder of the regime in collaboration with a detailed catalog of corrupt cronies, and the family's still hidden loot, along with the enormous foreign debt that continues to impoverish the country even three decades later. However, the book is inadequate as a full overview of the criminal dictatorship, although advertised as such.The book omits the Nixon/Kissinger role in establishing and maintaining the military dictatorship, the Marcos regime's collusion in the Vietnam War, and ignores the participation of predatory foreign corporations, especially U.S., the one described exception being Westinghouse and the ridiculous plan costing billions to build a nuclear power plant on the volcanic and earthquake prone Bataan peninsula.Only barely mentioned are the many thousands of murders and disappearances, the very numerous jailings and tortures, and the impunity of the military in untold crimes against humanity. An entire generation of Filipinos was deprived of the chance for a decent life by Marcos.The book is weakened by pushing false theories about the assassination of Ninoy Aquino, hypothesizing it was done by prominent crony Eduardo Cojuangco, or by Imelda herself, or by Fabian Ver acting on his own, all plain nonsense. The chain of command goes straight to Marcos. None of the underlings or associates would have dared to try such a drastic act, none had the the power to give all the orders and to coordinate all the parts of the plot, except for Ver, who strictly only followed orders from his boss. Marcos immediately and dramatically handled the cover-up personally, appearing on television, pretending nobody knew the identity of Rolando Galman, shot dead at the Manila airport along with Aquino, August 21, 1983.With an enormous force, the military had completely secured the perimeter of the airport, preventing crowds of tens of thousands of would-be welcomers from approaching and witnessing. Then soldiers shot Aquino point-blank in the back of the head while escorting him from the airplane. Other soldiers then pushed Galman out the rear door of a van parked nearby, and shot him dead, falsely claiming he was the killer of Aquino. Galman's friends and family were also murdered to silence them. Ferdinand Marcos was absolutely 100% responsible.What we really still desperately need is a small book effectively describing the evils of the Marcos dictatorship, illustrated with supporting photos, written not merely in English, but in at least Tagalog, preferably with editions in other Philippine languages, also with an on-line version. The true history of the regime is not being adequately taught in schools.

The author adopts a light tone and breezy style which makes the book easy to read even when the antics of the principals are astonishing, riveting and so devious all at the same time.

Interesting anecdotes but more of personal point of view than historical fact based writing.

I recommend this lecture to be inform about the Imelda's fortune.

Informative and interesting!