The Filipino Profiles

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives (1949-1959) and a member of the Philippine Senate (1959-1965). He was Senate President in 1963. He claimed that during World War II he had been the leader of Ang Maharlika, a guerrilla force in northern Luzon. As Philippine president and strongman, his greatest achievement was in the fields of infrastructure development and international diplomacy. However, his administration was marred by massive authoritarian corruption, despotism, nepotism, political repression, and human rights violations. He benefited from a large personality cult in the Philippines during his regime. In 1983, his government was implicated in the assassination of his primary political opponent, Benigno Aquino, Jr.. The implication caused a chain of events, including a tainted presidential election that served as the catalyst for the People Power Revolution in February 1986 that led to his removal from power and eventual exile in Hawaii. It was later alleged that he and his wife Imelda Marcos had moved billions of dollars of embezzled public funds to the United States, Switzerland, and other countries, as well as into fictitious corporations during his 20 years in power.

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos was born September 11, 1917, in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte outside Laoag City to parents Mariano Marcos and Josefa Edralin. He was named after Ferdinand VII of Spain and baptized into the Philippine Independent Church. According to the Marcos family’s oral history, the family name was originally Taguktok, and their Ilokano roots have some Japanese and Chinese ancestry. Ferdinand was a champion debater at the University of the Philippines, where he also participated in boxing, swimming and wrestling.

In December 1938, Mariano Marcos, his brother Pio, his son Julius, and his brother-in-law Ferdinand were prosecuted for the murder of Julio Nalundasan. On September 20, 1935, the day after Nalundasan for the second time defeated Mariano Marcos for the National Assembly seat for Ilocos Norte, Nalundasan had been shot and killed in his house in Batac. According to two witnesses, the four had conspired to assassinate Nalundasan, with Ferdinand Marcos eventually doing the killing. Late January 1939 they were denied bail,[3] and in the fall of 1939 they were convicted, Ferdinand and Lizardo receiving the death penalty for premeditated murder, while Mariano and Pio were found guilty only of contempt of court. The Marcos family took their appeal to the Supreme Court of the Philippines, which on October 22, 1940, overturned the lower court’s decision and acquitted them of all charges but contempt.

In 1939, while incarcerated, Ferdinand Marcos graduated cum laude with a law degree from the U.P. College of Law and was elected to the Pi Gamma Mu international honor society. While in detention, Marcos reportedly studied for and passed the bar examination with one of the highest scores in history, while also writing an 800-page defense.

Other Information

• Born : September 11, 1917
• Birthplace : Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, Laoag City
• Died : September 28, 1989, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Birth name : Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos
• Father : Mariano Marcos
• Mother : Josefa Quetulio Edralin
• Nationality : Filipino
• Ethnic Affiliation : Ilocano
• Schoolos Attended :
  • Sarrat Central School
  • Shamrock Elementary School, Laoag
  • Ermita Elementary School, Manila (1923-1929)
  • Bachelor of Laws, University of the Philippines cum laude (1939)
  • Doctor of Laws honoris causa University of Michigan (Sept. 19, 1966)
• Political party : Liberal Party (1946-1965), Nacionalista Party (1965-1978), Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (1978-1989)
• Spouse : Imelda Trinidad Romualdez
• Children:
  • Maria Imelda (“Imee”) Marcos
  • Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.
  • Irene Marcos
  • Aimee Marcos (adopted)
• Profession : Trial Lawyer
• Religion : Roman Catholicism (formerly Aglipayan)

Positions held

• 3rd lieutenant (apprentice officer) Philippine Constabulary Reserve (1937)
• Technical Assistant to President Manuel Roxas (1946-1947)
• Representative, Ilocos Norte (three terms) (1949-1959)
• Senator 1959-1965 (4th Cogress, 1959-1962, 5th Congress 1962-1965)
• Senate President (1963-1965)
• Philippine President (December 30, 1965 – 1986)

Notable Events

Pre-Presidency

• Battle of Bataan (1942)
• Bataan Death March (1942)

Presidency

• Vietnam War (1965)
• First Quarter Storm (1970)
• The re-emergence of the Communist movement (1970)
• Martial law and the New Society (September 21, 1972)
• 1981 presidential election and the Fourth Republic
• Cabinet and judicial appointments (1965-73)
• Kilusang Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran (Movement for Livelihood and Progress), (1981)
• People Power Revolution (1986)

Awards and achievements

• Placed First in the Bar Examinations of 1939
• Gold Cross
• Distinguished Service Cross, a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart

Links

• thinkquest.org
• pangulo.ph