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Never Again, Never Forget: Four Persisting Effects of the Marcos Dictatorship

Sep 29, 2025 | Campus Life, Features, SDG 16

Written by Kyle Zenith Durano, BA Communication IV | Photos by Zhyreen Toledo/Tug-ani & Jessa Capadngan/PIO

In the midst of the torrential rain that hit Cebu in the evening of September 19—two days shy from the date of Martial Law’s declaration—students and guests convened in front of UP Cebu’s Entrance Gate as they echo the longstanding calls of the masses: to end the corruption and impunity that plagues the government, decaying it from the inside out. The calls forwarded on this very night are remnants of the systemic damage left by the 14-year dictatorship of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.. These remnants have grown and affected the Filipino populace 53 years after the fact, flourishing under the consecutive regimes of former President Rodrigo Duterte and current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who have not provided solutions to these issues.
The Philippines’ Personal Brand of McCarthyism
Sarthak Gupta of Columbia University’s Global Freedom of Expression project said in an article that the practice of red-tagging in the Philippines is comparable to American McCarthyism, where the government falsely accuses critics and others of treason and threatening the government’s security as terrorists. In the Philippines, red-tagging as a phenomenon gained prominence during the Duterte administration after the alleged Red October plot, where the government accused the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) of spearheading a plot that aimed to oust Duterte and overthrow the government, of which the CPP actively denied. Since then, the government’s weaponization of red-tagging has been widespread, calling critics “subversives” and “terrorists”, which eventually culminated in the creation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in 2018 and the passage of the Anti-Terror Law in 2020. Despite the prevalence of red-tagging in recent politics, it first gained footing in the Marcos dictatorship 53 years ago. After all, Martial Law was declared as, according to Marcos Sr., a response to the growing Communist insurgency. Whistleblower Primitivo Mijares and other top Martial Law officials—including Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile—exposed that the violent events and the alleged insurgency were all a ploy by Marcos Sr. to declare Martial Law, keep the presidency for life, and to round up dissenters and critics. The fear-mongering and anti-Communist propaganda, legitimized by the United States government, has continued to plague our country until the current time, where it is being used as a weapon to smear the names of opposition politicians and candidates, which prevents them from occupying seats in the government. Instead, allies of the administration—many of whom are themselves controversial and linked to corrupt practices—now fill the government.

Caging the People’s Watchdogs

Aside from the prominence of red-tagging in modern Philippine politics, there is also a deep problem that affects the press. During the Duterte administration, ABS-CBN—one of the largest media networks in the country—was shut down after the government refused to renew its legislative franchise to operate. This comes after the threats of Duterte to shut the network down for various reasons, ranging from his promise to take down the “oligarchs” that control the economy to ABS-CBN not airing his political campaign videos. ABS-CBN was not the only victim of the crackdown on journalists that challenged him, but it also extended to online news outlets and alternative media like Maria Ressa’s Rappler, Vera Files, and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). Under his regime, the Philippines was named one of the countries that is least safe for journalists with around 20 killed according to Reporters Without Borders, as well as raids on alternative publications they deem “subversive”. The situation under Marcos Jr. barely improved. The overall ranking of the Philippines in the World Press Freedom Index rises to 116 out of 180 countries, yet it is still in the bottom half of the index. The NTF-ELCAC also constantly red-tags journalists—both mainstream and alternatives—and imprisons them on fabricated, trumped-up charges. Like the previous section, this phenomenon has ties to the Marcos dictatorship, which was also marked by heavy censorship and control of the media by the state through the issuance of the Letter of Instruction No. 1, using red-tagging tactics to justify the state’s censorship and acquisition of these entities. Those that were allowed to broadcast freely were owned by Marcos cronies, thereby limiting news reports to biased ones that hid the misdeeds of the administration. However, the media continued to persist through the creation of the mosquito press, aimed to dismantle the lies peddled by Marcos-controlled media and expose the truth of the dictatorship. The steadfastness of the press, in the end, contributed greatly to the downfall of the dictatorship. In the modern day, this manifests in the form of alternative media outlets that report news stories that combat those peddled by the propaganda machineries of the repressive administration.

“Corruption kills the most vulnerable”

One of the most pressing issues of today, however, is the extensive and systemic corruption that has robbed the Filipino people of their right to live and right to safety. This comes in the wake of the controversy behind the multi-billion mismanagement and corruption of flood control projects all over the country.

During Marcos Jr.’s 2025 State of the Nation Address (SONA), he declared an investigation into flood control projects after days of heavy rain brought by habagat (southwest monsoon) and flooding in several parts of the nation. The following month, investigations were launched into the scandal, uncovering a deep network of corruption through kickbacks, bid rigging, bribes, insertions and cuts—all involving contractors, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and the government itself.

Out of the ongoing investigation into this controversy, it has been estimated that approximately 1 trillion pesos have been lost to corruption, inciting deep anger in Filipinos. And rightly so, considering that this 1 trillion pesos comes directly from the taxpayers’ pocket. This is exacerbated by the gross display of wealth by contractors involved in the issue—particularly the Discayas—and their family members. 

This impunity, once again, has its roots in the regime of Marcos Sr., which had been infested with rampant corruption not only by capitalists and businessmen, but by the ruling family themselves.

Despite one of Marcos Sr.’s promises to end corruption and poverty, he was unable to truly dismantle the economic system that perpetuated this. Instead of eliminating the oligarchs, he has merely replaced them with businessmen who have familial closeness to the Marcoses–whether they be mere friends or relatives. This specific phenomenon was called crony capitalism and was marked by state monopolization of businesses, as well as kickbacks, bid rigging, bribes, insertions and cuts taken by Marcos Sr.’s cronies—a direct mirror of the present. 

Around the end of his dictatorship, the Philippines had suffered greatly: 74 percent of the population considered themselves poor (around 40 million) and wages for skilled and unskilled labor sunk to 35 and 23 pesos respectively—all in the backdrop of an economy whose national debt ballooned to approximately $28 billion. Today’s economy fares no better: 49 percent still consider themselves poor (around 55 million) and the minimum wage rests around 500 to 540 pesos in Central Visayas, an amount that can barely feed a family of five—in the backdrop of an economy that now struggles with a debt that has hit a record high of 16.31 trillion pesos (or around $280 billion, for comparison).

As said by one speaker in the protest action: “gilubong kami nila sa utang”—a debt that would last beyond the lifetime of the current labor force and will bleed onto the future labor forces for decades to come while we continue to struggle with wages that can barely put food on the table, as the elite continues to feed off the taxes that they are stealing from the country. (They [the government] are drowning us in debt.)

“Ang mga liso nga gitanum ni kanhing Marcos Sr. sa iyang diktadturya, nga sa pagkakaron nagbunga sa padayong pagpahimulos sa mapahimuslanon ug reaksyonaryong gobyerno nga gipanguluhan sa iyang anak nga si Marcos Jr.” (The seeds sown by the dictatorship of the late Marcos Sr have now borne fruit in the continued abuse of the predatory and reactionary government headed by his son Marcos Jr.) These words uttered during the protest action held that fateful evening perfectly captured the societal issues that the Filipino people are victim to from the time of the dictatorship until the present: from persecution of activists and the press, to employment issues, to systemic corruption. The Filipino people are tired of the abuse and have now begun to mobilize, gathering in droves to demand for the things that the government owes them: an end to corruption and oppression, genuine freedom and change, and the actual service that the politicians in power have promised the Filipino people over and over again. The masses now pose this question to the government—will they clean the filth of the governing bodies to make room for change, or will they continue to protect their own and profit off the backs of the toiling proletariat?

SOURCES

ABS-CBN News. (2025, August 20). Pasabog ni Lacson: Mga gumuho at guni-guning flood control projects, idinetalye [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duKi_bK4k-E 

Bolledo, J. (2022, April 10). Robredo is number one victim of red-tagging, says ex-AFP spokesperson. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/philippines/elections/leni-robredo-number-one-victim-red-tagging-says-former-afp-spokesperson/ 

Buan, L. (2021, December 1). ‘Napag-initan:’ Bongbong Marcos campaigns for plunder defendant Jinggoy Estrada. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/philippines/elections/bongbong-marcos-campaigns-jinggoy-estrada-senate-race-2022/ 

Bulaon Jr., O., Mendoza, G. A. S., & Mendoza, R. U. (2022). Cronyism, Oligarchy and Governance in the Philippines: 1970s vs. 2020s. Public Integrity, 26(2), 174-187. Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2022.2139656 

Bureau of the Treasury. (2025). National Government Debt Recorded at P16.31 Trillion as of End-January 2025. Bureau of the Treasury PH. Retrieved September 22, 2025, from https://www.treasury.gov.ph/?p=68919 

Chua, Y. (2020). Philippines: Media under increased attack from populist president and allies. Reuters Institute Digital News Report. https://www.digitalnewsreport.org/survey/2020/philippines-2020/