Martial Law in the Philippines: Lessons & Legacies, 1972-2022 is a collection of essays that explore a multitude of topics about the dictatorship period: cultural politics, dictatorial fantasies, populism and authoritarianism, religion, urban poor organizing, indigenous people, Filipino-Chinese identity, party politics, electoral reform, media roles, the Philippine constitution, population management, crony economic governance, terror and violence, the move from Marcos Sr. to Marcos Jr., and the Philippine Left. Its final chapter serves as an assessment of Martial Law 50 years since its declaration, and the prospects that face the Filipino people moving forward.
De Jesus, Edilberto and Ivyrose S. Baysic (eds.). Martial Law in the Philippines: Lessons & Legacies, 1972-2022. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2023.
In this 1989 episode, the Probe follows the complex ways the Marcoses concealed their ill-gotten wealth. It also follows the court cases against the Marcoses in the United States and the investigations done by the newly formed Presidential Commission on Good Governance.
Probe Archives, “Marcoses’ Ill-Gotten Wealth,” Vimeo, 14:47, May 6, 2022
This episode of the Probe exposes the obscene and conspicuous wealth of the Marcoses by zooming in to the collections found in the Goldenberg Mansion. This Mansion is just one among many residences that contained opulent collections of paintings, artworks, furniture, among others, accumulated by the Marcos family.
Probe Archives, “Gold, Gold and More Gold,” Vimeo, 12:56, May 6, 2022
This BBC documentary produced in 1983, narrated by Filipino lawyer and known Marcos opposition figure, Jose Diokno, is a comprehensive and real time account of the Marcos years. The documentary exposes the farcical economic development, corruption and the human rights violation committed by the Marcos regime. The documentary also shows the persistent resistance of the people despite the repressive state.
BBC, “Third Eye: To Sing Own Song,” Youtube video, 14:17, October 17, 2018
This September 1993 episode of The Probe looks into the first conviction of Imelda Marcos for the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses. Imelda Marcos remained resolute in contesting the conviction.
Probe Archives, “A Conviction at Last,” Vimeo, 13:22, May 6, 2022
This Probe episode talks about the documents and jewelries contained in 35 suitcases left behind by the fleeing Marcoses at the Malacañang Palace in 1986. This episode narrates the journey of the suitcases from the custody of Angelita Reyes to the Philippine Central Bank and up to the investigations done in New York.
Probe Archives, “Bato-bato sa Langit,” Vimeo, 10:37, May 6, 2022
This 2006 episode of the Probe looks into how the Philippine Commission on Good Governance formed to look into and retrieve the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth. However, two decades after the ouster, groups and notable anti-Marcos personalities were contesting the credibility and integrity of the commission.
Probe Archives, “PCGG Deal or No Deal?” Vimeo, 12:06, May 6, 2022
Marcos Martial Law: Never Again is a book by Raissa Robles, a veteran journalist, who comprehensively details the culture of corruption, impunity, and brutality of President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ dictatorship. Robles’ work can be appreciated as a history of torture in the Philippines, with particular focus on the apparent and “deliberate policy” of torture implemented by the Marcos regime. Moreover, Robles paints a vivid picture of torture by citing the actual experiences of Martial Law survivors who endured various torture methods employed by the military.
Robles, Raissa. Marcos Martial Law: Never Again. Filipinos for a Better Philippines, Inc, 2016.
Teresa Tadem’s book historicizes the rise of technocrats in President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ government during the pre-Martial Law years and their crucial roles in sustaining the regime during the Martial Law period. Tadem looks at the background of these technocrats and the conditions which made them prominent in their respective fields, thereby catapulting them into service under Marcos’ government. The book illustrates the dynamic relationship between technocracy and key government instrumentalities crucial for policy-making in the context of the Marcos regime.
Tadem, Teresa S. Philippine Politics and the Marcos Technocrats: The Emergence and Evolution of a Power Elite. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2019. [With permission from author and publisher.]
Ricardo Manapat narrates in full detail the “infrastructure of plunder” that institutionalized cronyism and kleptocracy in Ferdinand E. Marcos’ government. Manapat’s research exposes how the state weaponized its political advantage in order to intervene in economic affairs which benefitted a select few within the dictator’s circle, at the expense of many Filipinos who toiled in poverty.
Manapat, Ricardo. Some Are Smarter than Others: The History of Marcos’ Crony Capitalism. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2020.
Dr. Belinda Aquino, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and founding director of the Center for Philippine Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa looks into the political dynamics of plunder allegedly by Marcos and his cronies under a 20-year-old regime. This study uses the controversial Marcos papers and other incriminating materials retrieved from the plane that carried Marcos and his family to exile in Hawaii. The book explains how and why plunder in the Marcos period broke up former notions of corruption, and how it is set to change the way Filipinos look at corruption in the years ahead.
Aquino, Belinda. Politics of Plunder: The Philippines Under Marcos. Quezon City, 1987.
Papers on the state of the Philippine economy under Marcos by some of the most important political economists in the country. Their report embodies the results of a series of workshops on the economic crisis under Martial Law, held between November 1983 and May 1984, in which interested faculty members of the University of the Philippines School of Economics participated. Topics ranged from fiscal policy to unemployment as well as recommendations for solving the crisis.
De Dios, Emmanuel S. (ed.). An Analysis of the Philippine Economic Crisis. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1986.
