The Marcos years were not the PHL's golden era

historian
September 18, 2015 11:03pm

Tags: martiallaw, ferdinandmarcos, marcospresidency, batasmilitar

With the 43rd anniversary of the declaration of martial law coming up on

September 21, Ateneo de Manila historian Dr. Leloy Claudio on Friday
reminded viewers of GMA News TV's News To Go that the years President
Ferdinand Marcos was in office were not the Philippines' golden years.

"Sa akin, malinaw na dapat ang tinuturo sa Martial Law ay ito ang panahon
kung saan maraming nanakaw sa kaban ng bayan, maraming na-torture,
maraming na-imprison na political detainee, at ito talaga ang bumali sa
ekonomiya at demokrasya ng Pilipinas," explained Claudio.
Claudio qualified that he was not anti-Marcos and urged millenials and others
to do their research.
The historian, who is also the author of "Taming People's Power", said that the
gross domestic product (GDP) per capita during 1972, the year martial law
was declared, was $211.40, which was just 10 percent of Japan's GDP of
$2,917.66.
By 1982, Philippine per capita GDP $741, while Japan was at $9428.87.
"Kung trending ang pinag-uusapan, 1983 was the worst crisis in the
Philippines. Tumaas iyong inflation. Tumaas din iyong unemployment. At nagslow down ang GDP growth. All economic indicators were down in 1983,"
Claudio added. "Moreover, and utang natin lumulobo na to $27 billion. So
kung may napapatayo si Marcos, inutang niya iyon sa mga kabataan ng
Pilipino at binabayaran natin iyon hanggang ngayon."

But more than economic woes, the historian also pointed to the human rights
violations during the Marcos years.
Claudio shared that there were over 80,000 political detainees during the
Marcos' presidency. "Hindi ito (mga detainees) nag-stand ng trial. Marami rito
pinakulong lang dahil may nasabi sila sa media. Iyong mga extrajudicial
killings for the entire period, lumagpas ng 3,500... These are statistics that are
harrowing dahil marami talaga ang naghirap ng mga panahong iyon," he said.
The historian also pointed out that New People's Army membership ballooned
under the Marcos regime. "Kung sinasabi ng mga pro-Marcos na walang gulo
ng panahon ni Marcos, eh bakit noong 1972 noong nagdeklara ng Martial
Law, 2,000 lang ang miyembro ng NPA. By 1986, 20,000 na ang miyembro ng
NPA. Si Marcos actually ang number one recruiter ng NPA," he added.
Unfortunately, Claudio lamented, teachers and the parents have disregarded
all the data, and have given young Filipinos a false impression of the Marcos
era.
"Ang iba sinasabi mga magulang. Pero ang pinakanatatakot diyan ay iyong
iba sinasabi guro. Maging kami merong kasalanan talaga dito at kailangan
talagang ayusin iyong education when it comes to Martial Law," Claudio
emphasized. Trisha Macas/DVM, GMA News
- See more at: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/537490/news/nation/the-marcos-years-werenot-the-phl-s-golden-era-historian#sthash.SZhqChZl.dpuf