0156D: More Than Anything, Marcos Was A Crook

It annoys me to no end whenever I see images and other internet memes being spread around Facebook and other social media about what a great President Ferdinand Marcos supposedly was. As of late they seem to be more and more prevalent - I guess the Marcos Loyalists are taking advantage of the fact that there is a whole generation now that did not experience Martial Law and the horrors of that traumatic and lamentable period in this country's history.

The images make a lot of false claims.

First train in Asia? Oh please, the first railways were built in India in 1853. First airport in Asia? Given Marcos became president in 1965, are they saying he somehow claimed retroactive credit over the Manila International Airport that was built in 1935? Even if you consider the international runway and taxiway were begun in 1954 and the control tower in 1956, they're all well before the time he became president. And all the great things that were built during his term? Sure they're nice things to have, but the government borrowed heavily to help fund these projects. But more importantly, every single project meant more opportunities for him and his cronies to skim off the top and keep more money for themselves.

The man stole BILLIONS from this country. No amount of roads or hospitals can justify that fact. These things do not make him a great president.

The irony that all these things are being shared on the internet is not lost on me. This was the man who suspended the right to habeas corpus. This is the man who ensured that hundreds of political prisoners mysteriously disappeared in the night. This was the man who silenced the free press so that no dissenting voices could tell the truth about his travesties. Had he been ruling the country in this modern period, he probably would have enacted an executive order far stronger than the anti-cybercrime law and put us all in a situation that would be more similar to China or even North Korea. This is the very family that lived not just in luxury but in sheer opulence as the country was sent deeper and deeper into the gutter. We are a poor nation now since we remain burdened by the massive amount of foreign debt that the Marcoses left us. The majority of our country being in poverty is the true legacy of the Marcos Regime.

How can ANYONE in their right mind support even the beginnings of the idea that the Marcos Family cared about this country? We are talking about a man who put a giant bust of himself on a mountain like some god watching over the country. So yes, I feel very, very angry when I see these memes being spread around as if they were gospel truth. Reading the associated comments on these posts is even worse given you have people actively defending these lies and going back to the catchall defense that "history is wrong" or "history lies".

Who are these uneducated idiots to make that kind of a claim? Who are they to claim that all the copious volumes written on the Marcos years are wrong and somehow an image that they saw on the internet is right? Grow up! Do your homework! And stop believing in internet fluff.