In his column in today’s Inquirer, Richard Heydarian invents another term for the Marcos resurgence; Macoyismo. This is a spinoff from the Dutertismo which was coined by Randy David, to describe the “populist” Rodrigo Duterte’s brand of politics. The two make it sound like a cult without even bothering to look at themselves as members of the Yellowidiots, who do behave more like a cult than those who support Duterte and Marcos.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has been leading in most surveys conducted after Inday Sara Duterte begged off from running as President. He has benefited the most from the post-declaration bounce in polling numbers and this has been evident on the ground and on social media. Thirty-five years after their unceremonious ouster from Malcanan, it appears that the Marcos’ are again popular. Why is this so?
There has been much debate over Marcos’ record when he was in power from 1965-1986. Heydarian makes comparisons to South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan as examples of successful industrialization models. The Philippines never got off the ground and instead went on to become the sick man of Asia. Thus the question, is all this on Marcos?
How an academic of Heydarian’s caliber with this educational background can so simple-minded is what I like to refer to as Yellowidiot cognitive bias. This is what leads Heydarian and his cohorts to pull a fast one on the average Pinoy and convince them that Yellow is the only way to go if you want freedom, democracy and good governance. Yeah right.
The simplest explanation as to why the Philippines never became as successful as the countries Heydarian mentions is because of the Americans and oligarchs control of our politics and the economy. If you analyze the historical background, there are two twenty-year blocks worth noting; 1945 – 1965 and 1965 – 1986.
The Americans granted us independence in 1946 but didn’t put into place a financing scheme to rebuild what was destroyed during the war. Japan became the focus of US interests in the region and was spared from paying huge reparations for the death and destruction it caused in its bid to create the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
The oligarchs focused on recouping their lost fortunes during the war and the fastest way to do so was to get into any profitable racket in and out of government. It wasn’t until 1965 when Marcos became President that there was a focus on rebuilding what was destroyed during the war.
Unlike the other countries Heydarian mentions, the Philippines has the distinction of being the only country in the region which granted its former colonial masters parity rights; Americans engaged in business in the country had the same rights as Filipino citizens. The British didn’t enjoy such privilege in their former colonies. The same is true with the Japanese in South Korea.
The parity rights granted to Americans only expired in 1974 and Marcos didn’t renew it much to the chagrin of the Americans. Then there is the insurgency and the secessionist movement which Ninoy Aquino foisted on Marcos. The opposition keeps on carping about martial law but conveniently forget that it was one of their own who manufactured the circumstances leading to its declaration. Why have they been silent on this issue?
The excesses of the Marcos regime cannot be denied. That is of historical record. It is the product of hubris which most leaders cannot avoid because of the heady effect of absolute power. But what also cannot be denied is the effort Marcos put in to keep his cronies at bay as opposed to the system pre-martial law where the oligarchs controlled the government. We have seen a repeat of this since 1986 when the old system was put back in place by Cory with the 1987 Constitution.
The opposition has no one else to blame except themselves for the restoration of the Marcos’. Their repudiation began in 2016. It looks like it will continue through 2022. Duterte’s victory in 2016 was providential. He demonstrated what political will and the choice of qualified Cabinet members are capable of achieving in six short years.
So to the public, what’s it for you? Did you succumb to the “historical revisionism” of the Marcos’? Have you been awakened to the reality of the Yellowidiots failures? Or are you nostalgic over the infrastructure that Apo Lakay and Imeldific built which bears mute testimony to their accomplishments?
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