Ferdinand Marcos

Early life and education

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos was born in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, on September 11, 1917. His father, Mariano Marcos (1897–1945), was a lawyer who represented Ilocos Norte in the House of Representatives of the Philippines from 1925 to 1931. His mother, Josefa Edralin Marcos (1893–1988), was a schoolteacher. Marcos was of Chinese mestizo descendant. He later claimed to be descended from revolutionary hero Antonio Luna, a claim since debunked by genealogist Mona Magno-Veluz. Marcos also claimed descent from Limahong (Chinese: 林阿鳳), a 16th-century pirate who used to raid the coasts of the South China Sea.

Education

From 1923 to 1929, Marcos attended Sarrat Elementary School, Shamrock Elementary School (in Laoag), and Ermita Elementary School (in Manila). He received his secondary education at University of the Philippines High School and attended University of the Philippines Manila, studying liberal arts before studying law at University of the Philippines College of Law. At the College of Law, he joined Upsilon Sigma Phi, where he first met many of his future colleagues and critics. He excelled in his studies and in extracurricular activities, joining the university's swimming, boxing, wrestling, and rifle teams. He was a national rifle champion and an accomplished orator, debater, and writer for the student newspaper. Marcos served as a battalion commander in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and was commissioned as a third lieutenant in the Philippine Constabulary Reserve.

In 1939, Marcos took the bar exam; he was a top scorer with a score of 92.35 percent and graduated cum laude. He was elected to the Pi Gamma Mu and the Phi Kappa Phi international honor societies. Marcos received an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) (honoris causa) degree in 1967 from Central Philippine University.

Assassination of Julio Nalundasan

In 1934, Mariano Marcos lost his campaign for re-election to the House of Representatives to Julio Nalundasan. Mariano Marcos challenged Nalundasan again in the 1935 election but was defeated. On the day after the election, September 21, 1935, Nalundasan was killed by a single rifle shot at his home in Batac. In December 1938, two witnesses accused Ferdinand Marcos, Mariano, and Ferdinand's uncles Pio Marcos and Quirino Lizardo of conspiring to assassinate Nalundasan. At the time, Ferdinand was still studying law and a national champion as a member of the university rifle team. On the night of the assassination, Ferdinand's rifle was in its rack in the ROTC armory. However, the rifle of team captain Teodoro Kalaw was missing, and Ferdinand had access to the armory. A National Bureau of Investigation concluded that Kalaw's rifle was the murder weapon. Ferdinand and his uncle Quirino were convicted of murder, and Ferdinand was sentenced to 10 to 17 years in prison.

He appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court of the Philippines. The Supreme Court overturned the lower court's decision on October 22, 1940, acquitting both men of all charges except contempt of court. Justice Jose P. Laurel, who wrote the majority decision, persuaded his colleagues to acquit Marcos. Laurel himself had been convicted of frustrated murder as a young man after he almost killed a rival during a youthful brawl but was acquitted after his own appeal to the Supreme Court.

Military service and early political career

World War II

Marcos's military service record, and his alleged exaggeration of it, have been the source of controversy and confusion. Near the end of his presidency, researchers found that most stories about Marcos's military service were inaccurate or untrue.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and Japanese invasion of the Philippines in December 1941, Marcos was called into service in the United States Army. He fought with the United States until April 1942, when he was taken prisoner by the Japanese at the Battle of Bataan. Official Army records show that he was assigned to the intelligence service in the 21st Infantry Division under Mateo M. Capinpin. Despite his later claims of heroism at the battle, there are no contemporaneous records of any awards or decorations received by Marcos, and his commander and other officers did not corroborate his claims. However, official dispatches reference Marcos bringing a wounded officer to the rear and note that the 21st Infantry Division did not receive sufficient recognition for their actions at Bataan.

After surrendering, Marcos survived the Bataan Death March. According to Marcos's own account, he was released by the Japanese on August 4, 1942. This claim later became controversial when it was cited as evidence that Marcos's father had served as a Japanese collaborator, as the Japanese only released prisoners who had severe health problems or whose families had cooperated with Japanese authorities. In 1945, his father was executed by Filipino guerillas by drawing and quartering using carabaos. His remains were left hanging on a tree. At least one contemporary Japanese official recorded Ferdinand himself as a Japanese propagandist.

After his release, Marcos claimed to have led a guerrilla force of nine thousand in northern Luzon; these claims have been contradicted and ruled criminal by the United States Army investigators. According to Primitivo Mijares, Marcos also filed a fraudulent war reparations claim for millions of dollars in cattle. Military records show that Marcos rejoined U.S. forces in December 1944 until his discharge with the rank of major in May 1945.

Political rise (1949–1965)

After World War II, the Philippines gained political independence from the United States on July 4, 1946. Marcos was appointed as one of eleven special prosecutors, tasked to prosecute those accused of collaboration with the Japanese. Leveraging this appointment and his exaggerated war record, Marcos eventually entered politics as a member of the new Liberal Party. In 1949, Marcos ran for his father's former seat in Ilocos Norte's 2nd congressional district. He won and was re-elected to the House of Representatives twice, serving until 1959.

The Liberal Party had split from the Nacionalista Party in 1946. Marcos later became the party's economic spokesman and chaired the House Committee on Commerce and Industry. He also served on the committees on Defense, Ways and Means; Industry; Banks Currency; War Veterans; Civil Service; and Corporations and Economic Planning. He was also a member of the Special Committee on Import and Price Controls, the Special Committee on Reparations, and the House Electoral Tribunal.

After serving three terms in the House, Marcos was elected to the Senate in 1959. He became minority floor leader in the Senate in 1960 and served as party president from 1961 to 1964. From 1963 to 1965, he was Senate President. He introduced significant bills, many of which were enacted. During his 1962 campaign, Marcos claimed to be the most decorated Filipino veteran of World War II, having garnered almost every medal and decoration awarded by the American or Philippine government, including the Distinguished Service Cross and Medal of Honor. The Liberal Party later confirmed that many of the medals were awarded to Marcos in 1962 to aid in his Senate election campaign.

Presidency (1965–1986)

First term (1965–1969)

In 1965, Marcos expected incumbent president Diosdado Macapagal to step aside and support his campaign for president. Marcos had managed Macapagal's 1961 campaign in exchange for Macapagal's support in 1965. Stung by Macapagal's broken promise, Marcos left the Liberal Party to join the Nacionalista Party and run for president on a populist platform. With the support of Faustino del Mundo, leader of the Hukbalahap guerrilla remnants and organized crime in Pampanga and southern Tarlac, Marcos was able to mobilize resources and utilize coercive violence to win Central Luzon, which was crucial to the election. On October 13, 1965, at least one person was killed and five wounded in a clash between gangs supporting Macapagal and Marcos.

Marcos won the election and was inaugurated as the 10th president of the Philippines on December 30, 1965.

As president, Marcos launched an aggressive program of infrastructure development funded by foreign loans. From 1966 to 1970, Marcos increased infrastructure spending in the Philippines by 70 percent, and as of 2011, Marcos had spent more annually on infrastructure than any other president of the Philippines. Major projects included the construction of the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex. Critics have referred to the Marcos policy of major construction and infrastructure building to curry public support as an "edifice complex."

Projects completed during Marcos's rule from 1965 to 1986 included major healthcare infrastructure, including the leading centers for heart, lung, and kidney care in the Philippines, and transportation infrastructure, including the Marcos Bridge between Leyte and Samar, the Pan-Philippine Highway, and the Manila Light Rail Transit. These projects were typically constructed on a rush basis, often compromising their structural safety. Marcos also emphasized educational infrastructure, including public school buildings and roads to connect communities to them, during his first presidential term. Ultimately, forty-seven colleges and universities were established during Marcos's term in office from 1965 to 1986.

Spending during his first term outpaced tax revenues, but Marcos continued to promise "rice, roads, and school buildings" as the cornerstone of his 1969 re-election campaign. Marcos covered the gap with foreign lending, leading to a 72 percent increase in the budget deficit over Macapagal's term in office. Although he remained popular for most of his first term, these policies created long-term economic instability and required that Marcos rely on foreign support to preserve his rule.

Second term (1969–1972)

Marcos's second term was characterized by social unrest, beginning with the 1969 balance of payments crisis, which was triggered by exuberant infrastructure spending. Opposition groups began to form, with moderate opposition calling for political reform and radicals espousing revolutionary ideology. A period of unrest and political violence culminated in Marcos's 1972 declaration of martial law, ending his term early and establishing himself as the constitutional dictator of the Philippines.

Early in Marcos's second term, Philippine and United States government officials alleged that a group composed mostly of retired military officers, headed by Liberal Party official Terry Adevoso, had organized a revolutionary junta that sought to discredit and kill Marcos. The plot allegedly included Vice President Fernando Lopez.

In addition to private opposition seeking to supplant Marcos, citizens concerned with the economic crisis and Marcos's spending policies challenged his political program. In addition to the student revolts, political opposition to the Marcos government grew. Opposition senators Lorenzo Tañada, Jovito Salonga, and Jose W. Diokno accused Marcos of seeking to exceed the two-term constitutional limitation and of increasing authoritarianism. Organizations opposing Marcos during this period included the NUS, National Students League, and the Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties (MCCCL), led by Diokno. The MCCCL staged mass rallies, attracting as many as 50 thousand attendees. Media reports classified the various opposition groups as either "moderate" or "radical." Moderates included Catholic organizations, civil libertarians, and nationalist politicians who sought political reforms. Radicals included labor and student groups who wanted more systemic social and economic reform.

By 1970, campus study sessions on Marxism–Leninism in the Philippines had become common, and many students joined organizations associated with the National Democracy movement, including the Kabataang Makabayan (led by Jose Maria Sison), Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan, and Malayang Pagkakaisa ng Kabataang Pilipino. The Marcos administration often made no distinction between the moderate political opposition and the student revolutionaries. Consistent with the Cold War geopolitical framework, in which the Philippines was a key regional ally of the United States against the Chinese Communist Party, Marcos broadly labeled his opposition as communist or, more specifically, Maoist. With the participation of the armed forces, Marcos waged a campaign to eliminate the Communist Party of the Philippines. emphasizing it as a threat to Philippine society. According to American foreign policy scholar Richard J. Kessler, Marcos "mythologized the group, investing it with a revolutionary aura that only attracted more supporters."

Military dictatorship (1972–1981)

On the evening of September 23, 1972, shortly after the attempted assassination of Enrile, Marcos declared martial law in the Philippines and extended his rule beyond the two-term constitutional limit. Although martial law was formally lifted on January 17, 1981, this marked the beginning of a 14-year period of autocracy lasting until Marcos fled into exile on February 25, 1986. After 1981, Marcos retained virtually all of his constitutional authority until he was ousted. As president of the United States, Richard Nixon approved Marcos's subsequent martial law initiative.

Marcos ruled by decree during this period, inhibiting freedom of the press and other civil liberties, abrogating Congress, and arresting opposition leaders and militant activists, including Ninoy Aquino, Jovito Salonga, and Jose W. Diokno. Most were detained without charges, although Aquino was formally charged with murder, illegal possession of firearms, and subversion alongside leaders of the New People's Army. Eventually, Marcos claimed that martial law was the prelude to creating a bagong lipunan or "new society" based on new social and political values.

The early years of martial law met public approval, as it was believed to have caused crime rates to drop.

One of Marcos's rationalizations for martial law stated that there was a need to "reform society" by placing it under the control of a "benevolent dictator" who could guide the undisciplined populace through a period of chaos. He referred to this social engineering exercise as the bagong lipunan, or "new society". His administration produced propaganda materials, including speeches, books, lectures, slogans, and numerous songs to promote it. According to Marcos's own book, titled Notes on the New Society, his movement urged the poor and the privileged to work as one for the common goals of society and to achieve the liberation of the Filipino people through self-realization.

Bagong Lipunan marked the first major restructuring of Philippine education since the Treaty of Paris. It reoriented the teaching of civics and history to entrench constitutional authoritarianism. In addition, it attempted to synchronize the curriculum with the administration's economic strategy of labor exportation. In order to support the new regime, Marcos also established a youth organization, Kabataang Barangay, which was led by Marcos's eldest daughter Imee. Presidential Decree 684, enacted in April 1975, encouraged youths aged 15 to 18 to go to camps and do volunteer work. The Bagong Lipunan was also intensely anti-Chinese. To instill patriotism among Filipino citizens and prevent the growing number of Chinese schools from propagating foreign ideologies, Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 176, preventing educational institutions from being established exclusively for foreigners or from offering curriculum exclusively for foreigners and restricting Chinese language instruction to not more than 100 minutes per day.

Third term and ouster (1981–1986)

On January 17, 1981, Marcos issued Proclamation 2045, lifting martial law without restoring habeas corpus for rebellion and subversion-related crimes. The proclamation was timed to precede a state visit from Pope John Paul II and the presidential inauguration of Ronald Reagan in the United States to minimize international opposition. Marcos scheduled presidential elections and a referendum on barangay elections for June 16, six months after the proclamation. Marcos stood for re-election, but the major opposition parties, led by LABAN, boycotted the election under the banner of the United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO). He easily defeated token opposition.

Marcos' third inauguration took place on Tuesday, June 30, 1981, at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila. Attendees included Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, future Chinese president Yang Shangkun and Thai prime minister Prem Tinsulanonda. American vice president George H. W. Bush also attended and praised Marcos for his "adherence to democratic principles and to the democratic processes".

During the martial law period, the Philippine economy continued to expand as it had in the decade prior, fueled by the administration's continued reliance on foreign lending, which allowed it to defy international price shocks as a result of the 1973 and 1979 energy crises. From 1964 to 1982, the gross domestic product of the Philippines grew from $5.27 billion to $37.14 billion, with approximately 9 percent growth in each of 1973 and 1976. However, external debt also grew from $360 million in 1962 to $17.2 billion in 1980. This debt-driven growth left the nation vulnerable. When the United States raised interested rates from 1980 to 1982 in response to high inflation, the Philippine economy went into decline beginning in 1981, producing the worst recession in history by 1985. The economy contracted by 7.3 percent for two consecutive years in 1984 and 1985. Poverty rates reached 49 percent. American economist James K. Boyce has referred to the Philippine economy under Marcos as an example of "immiserizing growth", paradoxically worsening the economy through growth in which the rich get absolutely richer and the poor become absolutely poorer.

In particular, the commercial logging and timber industry, which had accounted for five percent of GDP during the first half of the 1970s. Timber products were a top export. However, in the early 1980s, the forestry industry collapsed because most accessible forests had been depleted. Of 12 million hectares of forest land, about 7 million had been harvested at a rate of 300,000 per year for the prior two decades. In 1981, the Food and Agriculture Organization classified 2 million hectares of Philippine forests "severely degraded and incapable of regeneration".

Human rights abuses

The Marcos regime committed documented human rights abuses against a long list of opponents, particularly after the institution of martial law in 1972. These included student activists, farmers, journalists, legal political opponents, and priests and nuns. Victims were commonly accused of supporting communist rebels or other leftists or of joining or sympathizing with insurrectionist groups, including the Communist Party, NPA, or Moro National Liberation Front. Many were rounded up without an arrest warrant and indefinitely detained without charge. According to Rappler, others were arrested under color of law through Arrest Search and Seizure Orders (ASSO), which permitted the military or police to detain citizens.

Victims were often taken to safehouses where they were tortured, often blindfolded. According to activist and abductee Edgar Jopson, "Safehouses usually have their windows always shut tight. They are usually covered with high walls. One would usually detect [safehouses] through the traffic of motorcycles and cars going in and out of the house at irregular hours. Burly men, armed with pistols tucked in their waists or in clutch bags, usually drive these vehicles."

In many cases, victims were summarily executed, and mutilated remains were dumped along roadsides to instill fear and intimidate opponents. In many cases, opponents of the regime suddenly went missing, without a trace, and their bodies were never recovered. Prominent persons executed or disappeared by the regime included Liliosa Hilao, Archimedes Trajano, Juan Escandor, both Primitivo Mijares and his son Boyet, Tish Pascual-Ladlad, Hermon Lagman, Rizalina Ilagan, Jessica Sales, Carlos Tayag, Christina Catalla, NPA commander Alex Boncayao, Macli-ing Dulag, Tulio Favali, Liliosa Hilao, Evelio Javier, and Emmanuel Lacaba.

In 1976, Amnesty International identified 88 government torturers, including members of the Constabulary and the Army. According to journalist Rigoberto Tiglao, nearly all abuses were committed by Philippine Constabulary units, especially its Security Units, which reported directly to Fidel Ramos.

Estimates

It is difficult to develop a precise accounting of the abuses under the Marcos regime due to heavy press censorship at the time.

Estimates of the scale and scope of the human rights abuses under the Marcos regime vary, but estimates generally include approximately 1,500 to 4,000 documented extrajudicial killings or disappearances through targeted assassination or massacres, in addition to the thousands killed in the Moro conflict. Tens of thousands more were imprisoned or tortured for political reasons. In addition, ten thousand Muslims were killed in the Moro conflict by the army, constabulary, and paramilitary groups, many in massacres.

Denial by Marcos family and allies

Members of the Marcos family deny any responsibility for human rights violations. Bongbong Marcos has described claims of human rights abuses as "self-serving statements by politicians, self-aggrandizement narratives, pompous declarations, and political posturing and propaganda."

Imee called the allegations political accusations. According to her, "If what is demanded is an admission of guilt, I don't think that's possible. Why would we admit to something we did not do?"

Exile (1986–1989)

Flight to Hawaii

At 15:00 PST (GMT+8) on February 25, 1986, Marcos talked to United States Senator Paul Laxalt, a close associate of President Reagan, asking for advice. Laxalt advised him to "cut and cut cleanly", to which Marcos expressed his disappointment. In the afternoon, Marcos talked to Enrile, asking for safe passage for him and his family, including close allies such as General Ver. Finally, at 9:00 p.m., the Marcos family was transported by four Sikorsky HH-3E helicopters to Clark Air Base in Angeles City, about 83 kilometers north of Manila, before boarding US Air Force C-130 planes bound for Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and finally to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, where Marcos arrived on February 26. He also brought with him 22 crates of cash valued at $717 million, 300 crates of assorted jewelry, $4 million worth of unset precious gems, 65 Seiko and Cartier watches, a 12 by 4 ft box full of pearls, a 3 ft solid gold statue covered in diamonds and other precious stones, $200,000 in gold bullion, nearly $1 million in Philippine pesos, and deposit slips to banks in the United States, Switzerland, and the Cayman Islands worth $124 million. His mother, Josefa, was left in Malacañang Palace. She died in 1988.

Initially, there was confusion in Washington as to what to do with Marcos and the 90 members of his entourage. Given the special relations Marcos nurtured with Reagan, the former had expectations of favorable treatment. However, Reagan kept his distance. The State Department in turn assigned former deputy chief of mission to Manila, Robert G. Rich Jr., to be the point of contact. The entourage was first billeted inside the housing facilities of Hickam Air Force Base. The State Department announced the Marcoses were not immune from legal charges, and within weeks hundreds of cases had been filed against them.

Throughout his stay in Hawaii, he and his family enjoyed a high life, living in a luxurious house in Makiki Heights, as Imelda entertained guests at parties, while Filipinos back in the Philippines suffered under the debt Marcos incurred.

When protestors stormed Malacañang Palace shortly after their departure, it was notoriously discovered that Imelda had left behind over 2,700 pairs of shoes. The protesters looted and vandalized the palace; many stole documents, jewelry, food, typewriters, etc.

The Catholic hierarchy and Manila's middle class were crucial to the success of the revolution. Contrary to the widely held notion that the protests were limited to Manila, protests against Marcos also occurred in the provinces and on the islands of Visayas and Mindanao.

Plans to return and "The Marcos Tapes"

More than a year after the revolution, it was revealed to the United States House Foreign Affairs subcommittee in 1987 that Marcos held an intention to return to the Philippines and overthrow the Aquino government. American attorney Richard Hirschfeld and business consultant Robert Chastain, both of whom posed as arms dealers, gained knowledge of a plot by gaining Marcos's trust and secretly recorded their conversations with the ousted leader.

According to Hirschfeld, he was first invited by Marcos to a party held at the latter's family residence in Honolulu. After hearing that one of Hirschfeld's clients was Saudi Sheikh Mohammad Fassi, Marcos's interest was piqued because he had done business with Saudis in the past. A few weeks later, Marcos asked for help with securing a passport from another country in order to travel to the Philippines while bypassing travel restrictions imposed by the Philippines and United States governments. This failed, however, and subsequently Marcos asked Hirschfeld to arrange a $10-million loan from Fassi.

On January 12, 1987, Marcos stated to Hirschfeld that he required another $5 million loan "in order to pay 10,000 soldiers $500 each as a form of 'combat life insurance.'" When asked by Hirschfeld if he was talking about an invasion of the Philippines, Marcos responded, "Yes". Hirschfeld stated that Marcos said that he was negotiating with several arms dealers to purchase up to $18 million worth of weapons, including tanks and heat-seeking missiles, and enough ammunition to "last an army three months".

Marcos had thought of flying to his hometown in Ilocos Norte and initiating a plot to kidnap Corazon Aquino. "What I would like to see happen is we take her hostage," Marcos told Chastain. "Not to hurt her ... no reason to hurt her ... to take her."

Learning of this plan, Hirschfeld contacted the US Department of Justice and was asked for further evidence. This information eventually reached President Ronald Reagan, who placed Marcos under "island arrest", further limiting his movement.

Legal cases

Within two weeks of his arrival to the United States, hundreds of criminal and civil cases against the Marcos clique were filed in Hawaii, San Francisco, and New York. Marcos made personal appeals to Reagan to put a stop to these cases. In June 1988 National Security Advisor Colin Powell recommended proceeding with indictments of the Marcoses as he reviewed the cases as forwarded by United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Rudy Giuliani. Reagan tacitly approved. On August 4, Marcos stated that he had head of state immunity to resist subpoenas by a federal grand jury to produce his finger and palm prints and failed to consent to investigators to review his bank accounts. By August 18, a bench warrant of arrest was issued against the Marcoses. By October of that year, Reagan personally wrote to Marcos, informing him that he believed in his innocence of the charges against him but reminding him that the case was out of his hands. He assured him that they would have every opportunity to prove their innocence.

Giuliani pressed for indicting the Marcoses for violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). The RICO Act focuses specifically on racketeering and allows the leaders of a syndicate to be tried for the crimes they ordered others to do or assisted them in doing. For example, before RICO, a person who instructed someone else to murder could be exempt from prosecution because they did not personally commit the crime. In his next letter to President Reagan on October 20, Marcos complained that Giuliani was giving them nothing but an ultimatum to plead guilty and even to testify against others, including his own family.

Personal life

Ferdinand was baptized and raised into the Philippine Independent Church.

Marriages and children

Marcos lived with a common-law wife, Carmen Ortega, an Ilocana mestiza who was the 1949 Miss Press Photography. They had three children and resided for about two years at 204 Ortega Street in San Juan. In August 1953, their engagement was announced in Manila dailies. Not much is known about what happened to Ortega and their children.

He subsequently converted to Catholicism in later life to marry Imelda Trinidad Romualdez. They married on April 17, 1954, 11 days after they first met. They had three biological children: Imee, Bongbong, and Irene Marcos. Marcos's fourth child with Ortega was born after his marriage to Imelda. Marcos and Imelda later adopted a daughter, Aimee.

Extramarital affairs

Marcos had an affair with American actress Dovie Beams from 1968 to 1970. According to reports by the Sydney Morning Herald, Marcos also had an affair with former Playboy model Evelin Hegyesi around 1970 and sired a child with her, Analisa Josefa.

Death and burial

Marcos was admitted to the hospital on January 15, 1989, with pneumonia and underwent a series of operations. In his dying days, Marcos was visited by Vice President Salvador Laurel. During the visit, Marcos offered to return 90% of his ill-gotten wealth to the Filipino people in exchange for a burial in the Philippines besides his mother, an offer also disclosed to Enrique Zobel. However, Marcos's offer was rebuffed by the Aquino government and by Imelda.

Marcos died at St. Francis Medical Center in Honolulu at 12:40 a.m. (HST) on September 28, 1989, of kidney, heart, and lung ailments, 17 days after his 72nd birthday. Moments after, the younger Ferdinand eulogised his late father by stating, "Hopefully friends and detractors alike will look beyond the man to see what he stood for: his vision, his compassion, and his total love of country."

Marcos was interred in a private mausoleum at Byodo-In Temple on the island of Oahu.

According to Roberto Ongpin, Marcos had two kidney transplants. The first one came from his son Bongbong but was rejected by his body. Several years later, soldier in the presidential security group who was from his Batac hometown in Ilocos Norte was the donor. The organ kept him alive until he died.

The Aquino government initially refused to allow Marcos's body to be brought back to the Philippines, which ultimately happened four years later.

From 1993 to 2016, Marcos's remains were interred inside a refrigerated, frozen crypt in Batac, Ilocos Norte, where his son, Ferdinand Jr., and eldest daughter, Imee, became the local governor and congressional representative, respectively.

A large bust of Ferdinand Marcos (inspired by Mount Rushmore) was commissioned by the tourism minister, Jose Aspiras, and carved into a hillside in Benguet. It was subsequently destroyed, allegedly by left-wing activists, members of a local tribe who had been displaced by construction of the monument, and looters hunting for the legendary Yamashita treasure.On November 18, 2016, his remains were reburied at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte despite opposition from various groups. On the morning of November 18, using Philippine Armed Forces helicopters, his family and their supporters flew his remains from Ilocos to Manila for a private burial. This account was challenged, and the physical location of his remains is disputed. Various groups protested the burial.

Posthumous lawsuits

Roxas v. Marcos

Rogelio Roxas, a Filipino treasure hunter, discovered a 3-foot-tall golden Buddha statue in tunnels under the Baguio General Hospital in 1971. Roxas was later arrested and tortured by members of the military, and the statue was taken away. Upon the exile of the Marcoses, Roxas assigned his rights to a friend in the United States and formed the Golden Buddha Corporation (GBC), which pursued the case against the former president. In 1996, the lower court awarded US$22 billion in favor of GBC, the largest sum in a civil case in the history of the United States. In November 1998, the Hawaii Supreme Court overturned the ruling but maintained an award of US$6 million for the illegal arrest and torture experienced by Roxas.

Sandiganbayan, Supreme Court, and international trials

On November 9, 2018, Imelda Marcos was found "guilty beyond reasonable doubt" by the Sandiganbayan of seven counts of graft for private organizations set up in Switzerland during her time as a government official from 1968 to 1986. In less than 20 days, however, the Sandiganbayan listed Imelda's "advanced age" and health condition as considerations for allowing the accused to post bail. The Fifth Division's (of the Sandiganbayan) ruling read that "the fact that she is of advanced age and for health reasons, consistent with the doctrine in Enrile vs. Sandiganbayan, bail is allowed for these seven cases." The Supreme Court of the Philippines affirmed that the family's assets, beyond their government salaries, are considered ill-gotten wealth. In 1998 the Court acquitted Imelda Marcos of corruption charges from a previous graft conviction in 1993.

The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed a contempt judgement in relation to the assets of Imelda and her son Bongbong. Although on a different matter, this judgement awarded $353.6 million to human rights victims, which was arguably the largest contempt award ever affirmed by an appellate court.

Wealth and reparations

From 1989 to 1996, a series of civil suits were filed against Marcos and his daughter Imee, alleging that they bore responsibility for executions, torture, and disappearances under his regime. A jury award for US$2 billion was overturned on June 12, 2008, by the Supreme Court of the United States in Republic of Philippines v. Pimentel. The Court ruled 7–2 that

In 1995, some 10,000 Filipinos won a US class-action lawsuit filed against the Marcos estate. The claims were filed by victims or their surviving relatives consequent to torture, execution, and disappearances.

The Swiss government, initially reluctant to respond to allegations that stolen funds were held in Swiss accounts, returned $684 million of Marcos' holdings.

Corazon Aquino repealed many of the repressive laws enacted during Marcos's dictatorship. She restored the right of habeas corpus, repealed anti-labor laws, and freed hundreds of political prisoners.

From 1989 to 1996, a series of suits were brought before US courts against Marcos and his daughter Imee, alleging that they bore responsibility for executions, torture, and disappearances. A jury in the Ninth Circuit Court awarded US$2 billion to the plaintiffs and to a class composed of human rights victims and their families. On June 12, 2008, in Republic of Philippines v. Pimentel, the US Supreme Court ruled 7–2 that "The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is reversed, and the case is remanded with instructions to order the District Court to dismiss the interpleader action." The court dismissed the interpleader lawsuit filed to determine the rights of 9,500 Filipino human rights victims (1972–1986) to recover US$35 million, part of a US$2 billion judgment in US courts against the Marcos estate, because the Philippine government is an indispensable party, protected by sovereign immunity. The Philippine government claimed ownership of the funds transferred by Marcos in 1972 to Arelma S.A., which invested the money with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. in New York. In July 2017, the Philippine Court of Appeals rejected the petition seeking to enforce the United States court decision.

In 2013, Philippine Congress passed Republic Act 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013. The law created the Human Rights Violations Claims Board and provided reparations to victims of summary execution, torture, enforced disappearances, and other human rights violations. Compensation came from P10 billion of stolen wealth seized by the government from the Marcoses. A total of 11,103 victims received compensation in 2018. A bill filed in Congress in 2020 proposed to compensate tens of thousands of people still not officially recognized as victims of state-sponsored violence.

Publications

Marcos published various books during his term from 1970 to 1983, and a final offering was published posthumously in 1990. Apparently these books were written by ghostwriters, notably Adrian Cristobal.

National Discipline: the Key to Our Future (1970)

Today's Revolution: Democracy (1971)

Notes on the New Society of the Philippines (1973)

Tadhana: the History of the Filipino People (1977, 1982)

The Democratic Revolution in the Philippines (1977)

Five Years of the New Society (1978)

President Ferdinand E. Marcos on law, development and human rights (1978)

President Ferdinand E. Marcos on agrarian reform (1979)

An Ideology for Filipinos (1980)

An Introduction to the Politics of Transition (1980)

Marcos's Notes for the Cancun Summit, 1981 (1981)

Progress and Martial Law (1981)

The New Philippine Republic: A Third World Approach to Democracy (1982)

Toward a New Partnership: The Filipino Ideology (1983)

A Trilogy on the Transformation of Philippine Society (1990)

Recognition

Chief Commander of the Philippine Legion of Honor (September 11, 1972)

Man of the Year 1965, Philippine Free Press (January 1, 1966)

Knight Grand Cross of Rizal of the Order of the Knights of Rizal.

Gabon: Grand Cross of the Order of the Equatorial Star

Japan: Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum (September 20, 1966)

Romania: Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic (April 9, 1975)

Singapore: First Class (Honorary) of the Order of Temasek (January 15, 1974)

Spain:

Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (December 22, 1969)

Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit

Thailand: Knight of the Most Auspicious Order of the Rajamitrabhorn (January 15, 1968)

Indonesia: First Class (Adipurna) of the Star of the Republic of Indonesia (January 12, 1968)

Marcos and Imelda were jointly credited in 1989 by Guinness World Records with the largest-ever theft from a government (an estimated 5 billion to 10 billion US dollars), a record that remained unbroken as of 2022.