ON THE 32ND ANNIVERSARY OF MARTIAL RULE:

The Truth is, He Never Left Us

The most fanatical among the “devotees” of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos claim that he is still alive. In a way, he really still is: many of those who walked highly and mightily under his 20-year rule are still in power.

BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat

Don’t cry for me, Argentina

The truth is, I never left you…

These are lines from the song “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina,” from the musical Evita by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, which deals with the life of Evita Peron. The song was banned in the Philippines during the martial law era (1972-86).

Evita is known to many as the extremely extravagant first lady of Argentinian dictator Juan Peron, who rose to power after a coup in 1943, was elected president in 1946 and later overthrown in a coup in 1955. Before hitting the political scene, Evita was a minor movie actress.

Former first lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos has been compared to Evita Peron, notably by the late historian-journalist Renato Constantino – having been a Manila beauty queen before getting wed to an aspiring politician who would eventually become a dictator. She and her children – most notably Imee who is now an Ilocos Norte representative – lived lavish lives financed, critics said, with the people’s money, that aroused the ire of a nation increasingly impoverished under a dictatorship. This is said to be the reason she had the song “Don’t Cry” banned during martial law.

The Marcoses were booted out of Malacañang in the People Power uprising of 1986 following more than a decade of people’s anti-dictatorship resistance – both underground and open. Ferdinand Marcos, who had been weakened by a lingering ailment, died in exile in 1989.

But Marcos is still very much here. To paraphrase the song, he never really left us. He is still here, through his many cronies who remain in power.

Imelda

In 1992, Imelda was allowed to return to the Philippines from Hawaii, where their family had gone on exile in 1986. She ran for a seat in the House of Representatives in 1995 and won – representing her native Leyte. She ran for president in 1998, but lost.

Her son Bongbong (Ferdinand Jr.), on the other hand, had been allowed to return to the country long enough before the 1992 election to qualify as a congressional candidate. He won. He ran for the Senate three years later but lost. In 1998 he ran for Ilocos Norte governor and won.

Meanwhile, Imee ran for Ilocos Norte representative in 2001 and won. She ran again last May 10, and is now serving her second term.

The Marcoses have yet to fully account for the ill-gotten wealth stashed in Swiss banks. They also remain influential power brokers.

Other prominent Marcos cronies who remain in power are: Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, the Estradas, Lucio Tan, Juan Ponce Enrile, and Jose de Venecia.

Cojuangco

Tycoon and Marcos fraternity brod Cojuangco built his business empire during the Marcos presidency. He reportedly amassed billions of pesos through the coco levy, a tax collected from coconut farmers supposedly to finance the development of the coconut industry. He had admitted publicly that he was able to purchase the majority shares in San Miguel Corporation using money from the coco levy.

Cojuangco’s earnings from the coco levy now amount to P130 billion ($2.32 billion based on a $1:P56 exchange rate). It is said of him that with the amount of wealth he has, he can very well claim to be the country’s de facto president. He is described in mainstream media as the country’s top “kingmaker,” what with his ability to ensure political futures with his financial support.

Cojuangco was in the news again late August for his alleged role in the assassination of former senator and Marcos political rival, Benigno Aquino, Jr. in 1983.

Tan and De Venecia

It’s pretty much the same case for Tan and De Venecia. They both saw their fortunes grow during the Marcos years with, reports said, generous behest loans from the government for their businesses, in particular for Tan’s Fortune Tobacco and De Venecia’s Landoil Resources.

Tan is legendary for his ability to evade his tax obligations. The Ramos presidency tried to force Tan to settle unpaid taxes to no avail. His unpaid taxes now total P28 billion.

De Venecia, meanwhile, has managed to stick to his position as Speaker of the House of Representatives, which he first attained in 1995 – the only interruption being in 1998-2001. He had run for president in 1998 but lost.

In contrast to Cojuangco, Tan, and De Venecia, the association of Enrile and the Estradas with Marcos was more political in nature – although they are also reported to have benefited from the dictatorial regime.

Enrile, Estradas

Enrile was defense minister under Marcos and, as such, presided over an armed force accused of  committing a litany of human rights violations. In 1972, as he would admit in 1986, he staged an assassination plot against himself to pave the way for the declaration of martial law.

He was partly instrumental in the formation of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, a small group of anti-Marcos soldiers who would stage a coup in 1986. About to be arrested by Marcos men, Enrile together with then Armed Forces vice chief Fidel V. Ramos rode on the crest of the Edsa I revolt and emerged as “heroes.”

Enrile briefly served as defense secretary under the Corazon Aquino government. He won a Senate seat in 1987. In 1992, he won a seat in the House, representing his province of Cagayan. Three years later, he won in the senatorial elections.

When Imelda Marcos celebrated her birthday in 1998, Enrile was among the well-wishers present. He was caught on TV getting a pat on the back from the former first lady, who said: “This man is actually a Marcos boy.”

He ran again for senator in 2001 but lost, and would win another Senate term three years later.

Former president Joseph Estrada was mayor of San Juan for nearly two decades during the Marcos presidency. He was a senator from 1987 to 1992, and vice president from 1992 to 1998. He ran for president in 1998, and won.

He has never been unabashed in his sympathy for the Marcoses, and to prove the point one of his first announcements after his proclamation as president-elect in 1998 was on his decision to have the remains of Ferdinand Marcos buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery) – an announcement that drew fire from human rights activists and their allies. He had to take back his announcement in the wake of the massive public indignation that it generated.

But throughout his presidency he was always on a collision course with public opinion because of his government’s alleged corruption and anti-people policies. He was ousted in 2001 in what has since become known as the People Power 2 uprising.

Nevertheless, he continues to wield power through his legal wife Loi Estrada, who managed to get a Senate seat in the May 2001 elections, and two of his sons. His son with businesswoman Guia Gomez, JV (Jose Victor), became mayor of San Juan in 2001 and is now on his second term. Meanwhile, his son with Loi, Jinggoy, is now also a senator – accompanying his mother who has managed to win a second term.

The most fanatical of Marcos’ “devotees” claim that the former dictator is still alive. In a sense, they are right, for many of the people who walked highly and mightily during his 20-year rule still hold power.

Ferdinand Marcos had to flee the people’s wrath in 1986. Like another dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte, he never made it back to his country alive. But the truth is, he never left us. Bulatlat

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