Ferdinand Marcos's cult of personality

This article is about self-aggrandizing propaganda perpetuated by Marcos, his family, or his followers during his lifetime. For historical distortion, denialism, and negationism after the events of Marcos's life, see Historical distortion regarding Ferdinand Marcos.

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Ferdinand Marcos

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First term
Second term
Martial law
Third and fourth terms

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President of the Philippines

Ferdinand Marcos developed a cult of personality as a way of remaining President of the Philippines for 20 years,[1][2] in a way that political scientists[who?] have compared to other authoritarian and totalitarian leaders such as Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler,[3] but also to more contemporary dictators such as Suharto in Indonesia, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and the Kim dynasty of North Korea.[4]: p114 

The propaganda techniques used, either by himself or by others, to mythologize Ferdinand Marcos, began with local political machinations in Ilocos Norte while Ferdinand was still the young son of politician and Japanese collaborator Mariano Marcos,[5] and persist today in the efforts to revise the way Marcos is portrayed in Philippine history.[6] According to members of his administration, such as Adrian Cristobal, Marcos's intent was to project an image of himself "the only patron, the king" of Philippine society, which he still saw as a society of tribes."[7] Cristobal furthers that "Marcos and the First Lady wanted more than anything else [...] to be king and queen. They wished to shape the kingdom in their own image; [...] Marcos wanted to be able to say, 'L'État, c'est moi.'"[7] In some extreme cases where Marcos encouraged the formation of cults so that they could serve as a political weapon, Marcos came to be thought of as a God.[8]

These propaganda narratives and techniques include: using red scare tactics such as red-tagging to portray activists as communists and to exaggerate the threat represented by the Communist Party of the Philippines;[9]: "43"  using martial law to take control of mass media and silence criticism;[10] the use of foreign-funded government development projects and construction projects as propaganda tools;[11] creating an entire propaganda framework around a "new society" in which he would rule under a system of "constitutional authoritarianism";[12][6][13] the perpetuation of hagiographical books and films;[14][15] the perpetuation of propaganda narratives about Marcos's activities during World War II, which have since been proven false by historical documents;[16][17] the creation of myths and stories around himself and his family;[18][19] and portrayals of himself in coinage and even a Mount Rushmore type monument;[20] among others."

Since Ferdinand Marcos's death, propaganda efforts have been made to whitewash his place in Philippine history,[21][22] an act of historical negationism[23] commonly referred to using the more popular term "historical revisionism."[24]

  1. ^ Root, Hilton L., Three Asian Dictators: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (January 16, 2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2716732
  2. ^ Mark M. Turner (1990) Authoritarian rule and the dilemma of legitimacy: The case of President Marcos of the Philippines, The Pacific Review, 3:4, 349–362, DOI: 10.1080/09512749008718886
  3. ^ Bautista Maximiano, Jose Mario (July 17, 2018). "Strongmen Hitler, Stalin, Marcos – a character study". INQUIRER.net USA. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  4. ^ Raymond, Walter John (1992) Dictionary of Politics: Selected American and Foreign Political and Legal Terms. ISBN 9781556180088
  5. ^ "File No. 60: A family affair". Philstar.com. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NikDeYnchausti20160923 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b Buruma, Ian (January 16, 1986). "Who Can Redeem Mother Filipinas?". The New York Review of Books. ISSN 0028-7504. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  8. ^ Guerrero, Eileen (September 10, 1993). "Cults Began as Political Weapon, Ended Up Deifying Ferdinand Marcos With AM-Marcos Funeral".
  9. ^ Kessler, Richard John (1989). Rebellion and repression in the Philippines. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-04406-5. OCLC 19266663.
  10. ^ San Juan Jr., E. (1978) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03064227808532787
  11. ^ Lico, Gerard (2003). Edifice Complex: Power, Myth, and Marcos State Architecture. University of Hawaii Press.
  12. ^ Navera, G.S. (2019). "Metaphorizing Martial Law: Constitutional Authoritarianism in Marcos's Rhetoric (1972–1985)". Philippine Studies. 66 (4).
  13. ^ Romero, Jose V. Jr. (2008). Philippine political economy. Quezon City, Philippines: Central Book Supply. ISBN 978-971-691-889-2. OCLC 302100329.
  14. ^ Curaming, Rommel A. Power and Knowledge in Southeast Asia: State and Scholars in Indonesia and the Philippines ISBN 9780429438196
  15. ^ McCallus, J. P. (1989): "The Myths of the New Filipino: Philippine government propaganda during the Early Years of Martial Law." Philippine Quarterly of. Culture and Society 17(2): 129–48.
  16. ^ Gerth, Jeff; Brinkley, Joel (January 23, 1986). "Marcos's Wartime Role Discredited in U.S. Files". The New York Times.
  17. ^ "File No. 60: Debunking the Marcos war myth". Vera Files. July 4, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  18. ^ "The art of deception | 31 years of amnesia".
  19. ^ Rafael, Vicente L. (April 1990). "Patronage and Pornography: Ideology and Spectatorship in the Early Marcos Years". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 32 (2): 282–304. doi:10.1017/S0010417500016492. ISSN 1475-2999. S2CID 144809573.
  20. ^ Cimatu, Frank; Santos-Doctor, Joya (January 1, 2003). "Philippines's 'Ozymandias's still haunts". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  21. ^ "Philippine government faces backlash amid claims it is trying to whitewash history of late dictator Marcos". The Straits Times. September 12, 2016.
  22. ^ Villamor, Felipe (November 8, 2016). "Philippines Can Give Hero's Burial to Ferdinand Marcos, High Court Rules". The New York Times.
  23. ^ "A Manual for Historical Revisionists". Esquiremag.ph.
  24. ^ "Martial law and historical revisionism: A holistic understanding". April 30, 2016.