Ferdinand Marcos Dies in Exile
The Times’ editorial (“The Shameful Marcos Legacy,” Sept. 29) cast the death of Ferdinand Marcos in its proper historical light. Unfortunately, a related article in the same issue, “Filipino Community in L.A. Remains Deeply Split Over Marcos,” presented a distorted view of the spectrum of opinions in the Filipino community, quoting only four individuals sympathetic to Marcos and one anti-Marcos leader from San Francisco. I would like to share an opinion held by many in our Filipino American community here in Los Angeles.
Marcos’ death indeed marks the closing of the most shameful chapter in the modern Philippine history. For our community, Marcos’ name will remain a household word not out of respect for the man but because of his notoriety, as a symbolic reminder of what must never be allowed to happen again. After all, it was during 20 years of uninterrupted Marcos one-man rule that the Philippines sunk from being among the more economically promising nations in the Southeast Asian region to perhaps the most impoverished--despite its rich natural resources and a highly literate population.
Upon declaring martial law in September, 1972, he presided over the wanton denial of the precious human rights and democratic institutions already ingrained in Philippine political traditions. In its place, he installed a repressive military dictatorship.
Thus protected from scrutiny by his dictatorial powers, Marcos (and his wife) gave the word corruption a whole new meaning, as he squandered or methodically parceled off billions of the country’s economic assets for himself and his cronies, mostly to foreign banks and ventures. To this date, the great bulk of this stolen wealth has not been returned to the country despite the crying needs of the people.
And yet, despite all these crimes against his own people, Marcos was allowed to stay in a mansion in Honolulu instead of languishing in jail. During his defiant exile, Marcos directly attempted to overthrow the Aquino government at least once, and gave encouragement to many other similar attempts.
The decision not to allow the return of Marcos’ body to Philippine soil is a testament not so much to the instability of the present government as it is of the fanaticism of the Marcos loyalists.
Perhaps the return of something truly valuable to the Filipino people at this time should be advocated instead: Return the booty not the body!
GREG SANTILLAN
San Gabriel