Ferdinand Marcos

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralín 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). During World War II he was the leader of the so-called "Ang Maharlika" guerilla force in northern Luzon. In 1963 he became Senate President. 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 government corruption, despotism, nepotism, political repression and human rights violations. In 1986 he was removed from power by a massive show of People Power after it was revealed he had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the United States. After the end of the war and the establishment of the Republic, President Manuel A. Roxas appointed Marcos as special technical assistant. Later, Marcos ran for Representative of the 2nd district of Ilocos Norte under the Liberal Party – the administration party. During the campaign he told his constituents “Elect me a Congressman now and I pledge you an Ilocano President in 20 years.” He was elected thrice as Congressman. In 1959 he was catapulted to the Senate with the highest number of votes. He immediately became its Minority Floor Leader. In 1963, after a tumultuous rigodon in the Senate, he was elected its President despite being in the minority party President Diosdado Macapagal, who had promised not to run for reelection in 1965 to support Marcos’ candidacy for the presidency, went back on this promise, causing Marcos to resign from the Liberal Party. With the support of his wife Imelda Romualdez Marcos, he joined the Nacionalista Party and became its standard-bearer with Senator Fernando Lopez as his running mate.