President Marcos held the Presidency for 20 years. During the 1965-1985 interval. His first 4-year term was surprisingly more successful than the combined achievements of all his predecessors. It was marked by a vigorous development of the country’s physical economy.
His second termer initiated him to a stormy date with history. He was confronted with a radical right and radical left. A restive studentry further abated his governance. He declared martial law during the interim to protect the Philippines against communism.
President Marcos was known as "Nation Builder" he built so many biggest infrastructures projects in Philippines and it works until the present days.
Ferdinand E. Marcos had achievements in his lifetime. Here are some inscribed into the roll.
- Topped all his academic pursuits.
- Earned the moniker “brilliant lawyer”… having topped the bar exams while serving a prison term; defended himself before the Supreme Court on his first trial and won.
- Awarded 33 medals as combat intelligence officer in WWII… the most decorated soldier in Philippine history.
- Elected thrice as Congressman; elected as Senator with the highest number of votes; became Senate President in spite of being in the minority party.
- His party-switching maneuver in an election season against the odds, to eventually become President has never been duplicated.
- Caused the most conclusive development of the country’s physical economy, more than any Filipino leader, past and present.
- Caused the Philippines to experience, even shortly so, self-sufficiency in rice and corn production resulting to the first ever Philippine rice exportation in the 70s.
- Declared Martial Law ‘Philippines style’… civilian authority remained supreme over the military.
- First to pushed land reform on a national scale abolishing tenancy and emancipating the tenants from the bondage of the soil by transferring to them the ownership of the land they till in 1972.
- Initiated the formation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to combat the communist threat in the region.
- Created the Department of Tourism in 1973 to intensify the tourism industry in the country.
- He wrote too many laws… still used by succeeding administrations, and very few were repealed.
President Ferdinand Marcos Programs
Ferdinand Marco's platform of national governance was anchored on PLEDGES. An acronym for P- Peace and Order, L- Land Reform, E- Economic Development, D- Development of moral values, G- Government Reforms, E- Educational Reforms, and S- Social Services.PLEDGES was not drummed up during Marcos’ first term, but it was there evidently. On his second term, it manifested more in his performance… and all the time Marcos was not preaching PLEDGES at all. It was only during the martial law years, when PLEDGES was vigorously discoursed right from the start of that regime.
Ferdinand Marcos: President of the Philippines, the man, the giant Filipino patriot. The unforgettable among the Presidents of the Philippines. A true Pilipino.