No other word but perfect timing could describe the attendance of President Marcos to the United Nations General Assembly in New York as the country celebrated the 50th anniversary of Martial Law that his father imposed and used to rule for the longest time until his expulsion to Hawaii.
Numerous activists-- victims of his father’s abusive military rule—and human rights advocates took to the streets to vow to never forget all the atrocities, disappearances, killings, repression and suppression that prevailed during those dark days.
Bearing placards that said resist historical revisionism, surface all desapericidos, kabuhayan, kapakanan at Karapatan ng mamayan ipaglaban, were raised at Plaza Miranda (the planted bombing of which began the clamp down of those opposing the oppressive regime).
Outside Quiapo Church, progressive groups performed a cultural number depicting Martial Law atrocities, while raising placards on various modern-day issues.
Another group of protesters also held their rally in the historic Mendiola thoroughfare. Under Marcos’ martial rule, 70,000 people were detained, 34,000 were tortured, and 3,240 were killed, based on numbers from Amnesty International.
In 2022, Marcos’ son Ferdinand Jr. won by a landslide in the presidential elections, ending a decades-long project by the family to rehabilitate the Marcos’ brand of politics through what critics believe are networked propaganda, disinformation, and historical distortion
Their familial Cabinets
A special feature of Rappler showed the children of Marcos Sr.’s Cabinet now in the official family of Marcos Jr. The late dictator built his Cabinet with trusted people who helped him implement his martial rule and mitigate its consequences.
As Marcos, the dictator, lost his grip on power during the last years of his administration, some members of his Cabinet broke off while others stayed loyal. Some of them have relatives who are now part of Marcos Jr.’s Cabinet, while others have lived long enough to serve under two Marcos presidents.
Foremost in the list of Marcos Sr.’s Cabinet now with the sitting president is Juan Ponce Enrile whose last position in Marcos Sr.’s Cabinet was defense minister. He is now chief Presidential Legal Adviser.
At 94 Enrile is the oldest and longest serving Cabinet member of the elder Marcos having served him for 20 years. He planned, implemented and ended Martial Law. His supposed “ambush” in 1972 was one reason for justifying the declaration of Martial Law. In 1986 he publicly withdrew his support for Marcos Sr. and launched a coup triggering People Power Revolution that ended the dictatorial rule.
Another is Jaime Laya, who was with Marcos Sr.'s economic team but in later administrations agreed to serve in his lifelong passion and love for arts and culture. He was formerly secretary of budget and management, then Central Bank governor and then minister of education, culture and sport. Now with Marcos Jr., he is the chairman of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
After the 1986 People Power Revolution, Laya left public office and established his own accounting firm. He has since ventured into other private businesses, including GMA Network, Philtrust Bank, Ayala Land, and Calata Corp. He returned to government as chair of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts and now as chair of CCP.
Blas F. Ople served as Marcos Sr.’s Labor Secretary (1967-1971 and then 1972-1986). He is considered the Father of the Labor. He initiated overseas employment in 1976. In 1987 he ran and won for the Senate and later became Foreign Affairs Secretary under former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo until his death in 2003. Now his daughter, Susan “Toots” was appointed by Marcos Jr. as secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers.
Rodolfo del Rosario of Davao City served as Marcos Sr.’s Minister of Natural Resources (1984-1986). His relatives appointed by Marcos Jr. are Antonio Manuel Lagdameo Jr., special assistant to the president and is the grandson of banana king Tony Boy Floirendo Sr. Del Rosario is the brother- in- law of Lagdameo Jr.’s father, Antonio Manuel Lagdameo, now under Marcos Jr. as permanent representative to the United Nations.
Del Rosario and his relatives, including Floirendo Jr. and Lagdameo Jr., pledged support to Marcos Jr. in 2016 when he (Marcos) ran for (and lost) the vice presidency. The family also continued to fund campaigns. Floirendo Jr. was allegedly the biggest campaign donor of former president Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, while Lagdameo Jr. was Marcos Jr.’s top contributor in the 2022 elections.