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The Marcos File: Was He a Philippine Hero or Corrupt Tyrant?
An Engrossing New Expose in Three Parts on the Rise and Fall of Ferdinand Marcos A case study on how absolute power corrupts. Soldier--Ferdinand Marcos claims to be his country's most decorated soldier. He wasn't. But how did he get all those medals for bravery? Statesman--The Marcos presidency lasted for over 20 years. Most of it was marked by rampant corruption and human rights abuses. How did he get away with it for that long? Shaman-- In addtion to Marcos the soldier and statesman, there appears to be a sinister third personality that he tried to hide. Was the is the real Marcos--a sorcerer who believed he had supernatural power? --A Comprehensive, Fascinating History of Marcos and 50 years of Philippine History. Stars & Stripes --No-nonsense style that is terse and spartan. Max Soliven, Star --Concise, simple and well documented. Recommended reading. Philippine News
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Published January 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 2, 2016
Readers of this book may be surprised to know that despite the pain inflicted on the Philippines by Ferdinand Marcos, he still retains a lot of support within the country, especially in the Illocos north region where he came from. As I write this (May 2016), the elections are within a week ago, and Bongbong, the son of the dictator is favorite to become Vice President.
$25 billion of Philippine’s present day foreign debt of $59 billion was incurred during Marcos’s reign. That is the tangible legacy of his profligacy which affects ordinary Filipinos to this day, and is reflected in the debt servicing component of the government budget. This book describes in detail the different ways in which waste manifested itself. Crony capitalism existed whereby close associates of Marcos were given preferential access to funds for business, many of which failed or were bailed out with government funds. The author states that bailout funds for crony corporations exceeded $3billion. So much expenditure was ostentatious and wasteful in nature, and especially when sanctioned by Imelda. For example, 14 luxury hotels were built in 1976 just for an IMF conference in Manila at a cost of $300m which was borrowed. The cronies benefited at the expense of the poor. Number one crony was probably Eduardo Cojuangco who controlled the infamous Coconut Bank. Set up and purchased by coconut farmers from a levy on their produce. It was supposed to benefit them, but Cojuangco, through corporate slight of hand ended up with a controlling interest along with other minority shareholders. Not surprisingly he made good his getaway, along with Ver and others who joined Marcos when he was overthrown and flown out of the country in 1986
Charles McDouglas, the author, is ex-military, and is at his best when considering Marcos’s war record. He undertook painstaking research to prove conclusively that Marcos fabricated his war experiences – his medals for bravery, his war injuries and his promotions. As with most things in Marcos’s life, he relied on lies and the law. According to him, he was the most decorated Filipino soldier, in fact one of the most decorated soldiers of the Second World War, with over 30 medals for bravery, surpassing even the most decorated American soldier, Eddie Murphy, who had 27. In all cases his awards were based on affidavits after the fact. There were no source documents ever to substantiate his claims. Normally one is recommended for a reward by one’s commanding officer, and usually within a few weeks of a particular event occurring. But in not one instance was this the case with Marcos. In the detailed descriptions of events at Bataan and elsewhere, which McDouglas examined, for example, at the Office of the Chief of Military History, in Washington, there is no mention of Marcos being involved in any heroic activity. Nor is there any record anywhere of Marcos being promoted from his original position of 3rd Lieutenant. Strange for someone who claimed to have been awarded over 30 medals for bravery! McDouglas also noticed that the description of events in the official records often differed markedly from those described in the citations of Marcos’s affidavits. The few times Marcos is mentioned, seldom was it in a flattering light. At the time when McArthur returns and Marcos tries to join a particular unit, there is an order for his execution. The reason was unclear, but there were rumours that he may have been a Japanese collaborator. Not surprising considering his father was cruelly put to death for just that by a local Pinoy gorilla unit.
I haven’t much time for the Catholic Church in the Philippines, a legacy for good or for ill of their Spanish colonial past. The Church, for example, fought their utmost and delayed for many years family planning legislation from being enacted, and are still fighting a rear-guard action. But I have to applaud the part they played in opposing the Marcos regime from the start and their decisive role in helping to oust Marcos at the end, when priests and nuns faced down Marcos’s troops in Manila. And when the Catholic Radio Veritas was one of the few ways the opposition had of communicating with each other and the public.
Although the author is an American, he is critical of his own country’s support of the Marcos regime throughout, not unlike their support for corrupt undemocratic regimes in Southern America. At the height of Marcos’s authoritarian rule, Vice President George HW Bush could say ‘we love your adherence to democratic processes.’ McDougald claims that US support of the regime was detrimental to the Filipino people as it seemed to give it fresh impetus to clamp down on the opposition. Marcos had ‘almost worn out the film footage of his state visit showing Reagan praising him to the heavens, and, thereby endorsing his rule’. But although the US State Department was well aware of human rights abuses, for the US Government, ‘the bases came first’. Since the fall of Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam, Subic Naval Base and Clark Air Base were the two most essential overseas US bases in the world.
‘America’s Boy’ by James Hamilton - Patterson is a much superior book about Marcos, and the Philippines, and explores to a greater degree the American dimension. But this book by Charles C McDouglas, ex soldier and not a full time writer, is to be commended for producing in such detail the excesses of Marcos and his regime.
$25 billion of Philippine’s present day foreign debt of $59 billion was incurred during Marcos’s reign. That is the tangible legacy of his profligacy which affects ordinary Filipinos to this day, and is reflected in the debt servicing component of the government budget. This book describes in detail the different ways in which waste manifested itself. Crony capitalism existed whereby close associates of Marcos were given preferential access to funds for business, many of which failed or were bailed out with government funds. The author states that bailout funds for crony corporations exceeded $3billion. So much expenditure was ostentatious and wasteful in nature, and especially when sanctioned by Imelda. For example, 14 luxury hotels were built in 1976 just for an IMF conference in Manila at a cost of $300m which was borrowed. The cronies benefited at the expense of the poor. Number one crony was probably Eduardo Cojuangco who controlled the infamous Coconut Bank. Set up and purchased by coconut farmers from a levy on their produce. It was supposed to benefit them, but Cojuangco, through corporate slight of hand ended up with a controlling interest along with other minority shareholders. Not surprisingly he made good his getaway, along with Ver and others who joined Marcos when he was overthrown and flown out of the country in 1986
Charles McDouglas, the author, is ex-military, and is at his best when considering Marcos’s war record. He undertook painstaking research to prove conclusively that Marcos fabricated his war experiences – his medals for bravery, his war injuries and his promotions. As with most things in Marcos’s life, he relied on lies and the law. According to him, he was the most decorated Filipino soldier, in fact one of the most decorated soldiers of the Second World War, with over 30 medals for bravery, surpassing even the most decorated American soldier, Eddie Murphy, who had 27. In all cases his awards were based on affidavits after the fact. There were no source documents ever to substantiate his claims. Normally one is recommended for a reward by one’s commanding officer, and usually within a few weeks of a particular event occurring. But in not one instance was this the case with Marcos. In the detailed descriptions of events at Bataan and elsewhere, which McDouglas examined, for example, at the Office of the Chief of Military History, in Washington, there is no mention of Marcos being involved in any heroic activity. Nor is there any record anywhere of Marcos being promoted from his original position of 3rd Lieutenant. Strange for someone who claimed to have been awarded over 30 medals for bravery! McDouglas also noticed that the description of events in the official records often differed markedly from those described in the citations of Marcos’s affidavits. The few times Marcos is mentioned, seldom was it in a flattering light. At the time when McArthur returns and Marcos tries to join a particular unit, there is an order for his execution. The reason was unclear, but there were rumours that he may have been a Japanese collaborator. Not surprising considering his father was cruelly put to death for just that by a local Pinoy gorilla unit.
I haven’t much time for the Catholic Church in the Philippines, a legacy for good or for ill of their Spanish colonial past. The Church, for example, fought their utmost and delayed for many years family planning legislation from being enacted, and are still fighting a rear-guard action. But I have to applaud the part they played in opposing the Marcos regime from the start and their decisive role in helping to oust Marcos at the end, when priests and nuns faced down Marcos’s troops in Manila. And when the Catholic Radio Veritas was one of the few ways the opposition had of communicating with each other and the public.
Although the author is an American, he is critical of his own country’s support of the Marcos regime throughout, not unlike their support for corrupt undemocratic regimes in Southern America. At the height of Marcos’s authoritarian rule, Vice President George HW Bush could say ‘we love your adherence to democratic processes.’ McDougald claims that US support of the regime was detrimental to the Filipino people as it seemed to give it fresh impetus to clamp down on the opposition. Marcos had ‘almost worn out the film footage of his state visit showing Reagan praising him to the heavens, and, thereby endorsing his rule’. But although the US State Department was well aware of human rights abuses, for the US Government, ‘the bases came first’. Since the fall of Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam, Subic Naval Base and Clark Air Base were the two most essential overseas US bases in the world.
‘America’s Boy’ by James Hamilton - Patterson is a much superior book about Marcos, and the Philippines, and explores to a greater degree the American dimension. But this book by Charles C McDouglas, ex soldier and not a full time writer, is to be commended for producing in such detail the excesses of Marcos and his regime.
April 20, 2015
This is an interesting take on the life of Marcos. The book exposes an inferior and flawed leader--someone whose inferiority led to the country's horror. For sure, we cannot certainly say that this account is the "truest." After reading this, I find it imperative to read another book on the life of Marcos which counters the view in this book.
August 8, 2025
This book to say the least is the most Objective book I've read about Marcos the dictator.
Yes he may be a dictator but you cannot deny the fact that he wasn't always like this. his first term was objectively fine. It's just that the 2nd term really showed his authoritarian and dictatorial fangs.
My criticism towards Marcos that he killed off the young and promising leaders that inevitably ruined the cycle of leaders in the Philippines. If you want to know why our politics to this day is still filled with Political dynasties well who's gonna replace them? the young leaders? OH WAIT They're dead, who killed them? The Marcos regime.
the Marcos regime in the Philippines is basically the DDR phenomenon in Germany where the one half people had a normal experience during the communist rule while the other half got tortured, beaten up, and interrogated, basically had a bad experience. I see this same phenomenon every time I talk to people who actually lived during the time of martial law some of them had a frankly normal experience during the time of martial law nothing really changed except that they had a curfew, while the other half experienced the horrors of martial law, why? because they criticized Marcos they got beaten up, tortured, interrogated, and repeat. Just because he criticized marcos.
overall this is a good book sorry for my rant I will put this a 5/5 I have a lot more to say about this topic but I must hold myself back before I go into a rant about My sadness towards reading modern Philippine history.
Yes he may be a dictator but you cannot deny the fact that he wasn't always like this. his first term was objectively fine. It's just that the 2nd term really showed his authoritarian and dictatorial fangs.
My criticism towards Marcos that he killed off the young and promising leaders that inevitably ruined the cycle of leaders in the Philippines. If you want to know why our politics to this day is still filled with Political dynasties well who's gonna replace them? the young leaders? OH WAIT They're dead, who killed them? The Marcos regime.
the Marcos regime in the Philippines is basically the DDR phenomenon in Germany where the one half people had a normal experience during the communist rule while the other half got tortured, beaten up, and interrogated, basically had a bad experience. I see this same phenomenon every time I talk to people who actually lived during the time of martial law some of them had a frankly normal experience during the time of martial law nothing really changed except that they had a curfew, while the other half experienced the horrors of martial law, why? because they criticized Marcos they got beaten up, tortured, interrogated, and repeat. Just because he criticized marcos.
overall this is a good book sorry for my rant I will put this a 5/5 I have a lot more to say about this topic but I must hold myself back before I go into a rant about My sadness towards reading modern Philippine history.
April 29, 2025
An interesting read drawing a line from Marcos Sr's youth to his sunset years in power illustrating that the tiger never changes it's stripes. Rather it just becomes more prominent and audacious.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews