Cover image via SAYS Philippines
1. He received death sentence for premeditated murder of his father's rival in politics
In 1938, Ferdinand, along with his father, brother and brother-in-law, was prosecuted for the murder of their political rival, **Julio Nalundasan.** Ferdinand and his brother-in-law received the death penalty but were acquitted by the Supreme Court, because they were able to defend themselves.
2. He reviewed for the Bar Exams while he is in prison and he's a memory whiz
Marcos was imprisoned for the murder of Nalundasan, preventing him from attending his classes in his school for 27 days. But this did not stop him from acing the exams. He bailed himself out in order to take the exam.
According to late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Marcos has exceptional memory. He served as his speech writer back in the days.
"One time, the Secretary of Justice forgot to tell me that he requested a draft speech…"
"And then, on the day the President was to deliver the speech, he suddenly remembered because the Palace was asking for a speech, so he said, 'This is an emergency. You just have to produce something.'
He (Marcos) liked long speeches. I think that was 20 or 25 pages. And then, in the evening, I was there, of course. President Marcos recited the speech from his memory."
3. He got the HIGHEST score in the Philippine Bar exam history
Believe it or not, he topped the 1939 Bar Exam with a score of 98%. His score was **so high some quarters** that even raised rumors of the possibility of cheating, prompting the Supreme Court to step-in and re-calibrate his score to only 92.35%.
4. He is the last Senate President who became the President of the country
Marcos was a Senator, a former member of the House of Representatives, and Minority Floor Leader before climbing up on the country's most powerful position.
5. He was inaugurated four times
He was inaugurated as President of the country on 1965, 1969, 1981 and 1986. His last inauguration was held at the Malacañang Palace.
6. He delivered lots of SONAs (State Of The Nation Address)
President Marcos delivered 20 SONAs. The second placer is President Arroyo with 9, in her two terms.
7. He claimed he was a war hero
President Marcos has portrayed himself as a heroic guerrilla leader, and the and that created his political appeal. However, U.S. records show that they found no foundation for Marcos's claims.
Marcos earned a total of 33 medals and awards throughout his career. His opponents believed otherwise. According to Bonifacio Gillego (military officer who resisted martial law) that 11 of the medals were given 20 years after the war, when Marcos was already a Senate President, and gearing up for Presidential campaign. Eight of these awards on the other hand, were actual campaign ribbons "in the defense of Bataan and in the resistance."
8. He didn't like Voltes V, so he banned it
The anime was aired in the Philippines in 1978 but was banned by Marcos a year later, saying that it was too violent for children. Some believe it was because Marcos was afraid that Voltes V's storyline will encourage children to break the aristocratic empire and its oppressed masses that reflected his dictatorship in the country.
9.
He made a large bust to immortalize himself
It was built in a mountainside in Benguet province. The concrete bust was destroyed by unknown perpetrators. They said it could possibly left-wing activists, local tribes or looters hunting for Marcos's legendary treasure.
10. He had an affair with with actress Dovie Beams
The president's romantic affair with American actress Dovie Beams turned to public scandal that same year, prompting a torrent of denials to his diary and to Imelda. "I am being blackmailed," Marcos wrote in his diary, calling it "a diabolical plot" that he blamed variously on his political rivals and the CIA.
11. He has lots of achievements, that match up with his crimes
Marcos' dream is build a new society. During 1968 SONA, he said that the country is self-sufficient in rice and corn that can solve the food shortage.
In 1980, the Marcos government reached another Milestone. The Gross National Product (GNP) of the country climbed up to 39.9 billion pesos in 1965 to 86.7 billion pesos in 1979, that translates the country's growth at 6.6%.
From September 21, 1972 to February 26, 1986, Marcos was able to formulate 1,883 presidential decrees and 5 other legal issuances. All the country's specialty hospitals (Kidney Center, Philippine Children Center, Philippine Heart Center and Lung Center of the Philippines) were built during his time.
However, according to the Akbayan party-list group, the Marcos administration was responsible for 35,000 torture cases, 70,000 incarcerations and 3,257 murders. He was also said to be responsible for the arrest of more than 50,000 people including the "desaparecidos" or those who victims of enforced disappearances.
Peso also dropped from P1 = US$ 1 to P25. From $360 million in 1962, our country's debt reached a huge P28.3 B by the time Marcos left his office in 1986.
12. He thinks Ninoy was the most qualified to take his position as president of the country
Philippine Daily Inquirer released a report, that revealed Marcos as considering Ninoy Aquino as one of the most qualified, prepared and could be presidents of that era.
According to some, "Marcos may have already considered Aquino as a potential successor even before he allowed the Tarlac politician to have an open heart surgery in the United States on May 8, 1980."
Ex- Master Sgt. Pablo Martinez, one of those who were convicted of murder, confessed that Ninoy was indeed chosen by Marcos to be his successor. The president's decision reportedly irked some of his allies, and so, plans to assassinate Ninoy were made afterwards.
The same report also discussed that there was a covenant with Marcos and Ninoy. A travel companion of Ninoy confessed that "the position of prie minister in the National Assembly, provided that Aquino won a seat in the 1984 elections."
13. The 'Omega 12' was actually behind Martial Law
Of course, the martial law was not a one-man effort. In fact, these '12 apostles' later known as the "Rolex 12" (named after the Rolex watches that Marcos gave to them as gifts).
In a confidential memo back in 1974, the 12 officers were given Omega gold watches and not Rolex. The proper term should be "Omega 12".
**The following officials are members of the "Omega 12"**
Defense Minister
Philippine Constabulary chief Maj. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos
National Intelligence Security Authority Chief Maj. Gen. Fabian Ver
Lt. Col Eduardo "Danding" Cojuanco, Jr.
Army Chief Maj. Gen. Rafael Zagala
Constabulary vice-chief Brig Gen Tomas Diaz
Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Espino
Air Force chief Maj. Gen. Jose Rancudo
Navy chief Read Admiral Hilario Ruiz
ISAFP chief Brig. Gen. Ignacio Paz
Metrocom chief Brig. Gen. Alfredo Montoya
Rizal Province Constabulary head Col. Romeo Gatan
14. Marcos and the Yamashita treasure
Late treasure hunter Rogelio Roxas sued Marcos in 1988 for allegedly ordering the April 5, 1971, theft of a "Golden Buddha," containing diamonds and jewels, from his house in Aurora Hill here. Rogelio and a group of men, with the help of their Japanese sources, unearthed the statue near a hospital in Baguio.
Rogelio's story, as retold in books, online articles, blogs and a 1989 movie ("Ang Lihim ng Golden Buddha"), eventually turned into a tale of alleged Marcos cruelty committed before martial law was declared in 1972.
[Reports said](http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/720070/yamashita-treasure-70-years-after) that Rogelio was allegedly tortured by Marcos' men who wanted to know the location of the treasure. Freed in 1974 after a brief incarceration, he hid and then resurfaced to file cases through the Golden Buddha Corp. in the United States.
Rogelio died in 1993 but his family won the lawsuit in 1996, which was heard in a Hawaii court, and upheld in the Hawaii State Supreme Court.
15. The president bought the Kalayaan Island for P1
Philippines' claim over the Spratlys started when Tomas Cloma landed at its biggest island in 1956. A seafaring adventurer and owner of a fishing business, Cloma made a "Proclamation to the whole world" that a new state called "The Free Territory of Freedomland" was created. He asserted sovereignity over the area although no country formally recognized his claims.
Cloma, who was also the founder of the Philippines Maritime Institute was jailed during the martial law for fraudulent use of the "admiral" title.
He was released after he surrendered all his claims on the island for only P1. Then, Marcos transformed the island into "Pag-asa Island" into a fortification, the first and probably the last time our country was able to add a new territory.
16. He was able to launch the country's first-ever Phiippine-made rocket "Bongbong"
Bongbong was a Philippine liquid-propellant rocket developed under Project Santa Barbara. The rocket is an experimental system developed by the Philippine Navy and a group of scientists. The rocket was named after the son of then President Ferdinand Marcos, Bongbong Marcos. The rocket was first successfully launched on March 12, 1972 and the rocket was successfully retrieved from the South China Sea.
17. People thinks he's a GOD
A group peasants from Ilocos Norte and in the mountains of Abra province worship Ferdinand Marcos, and thinks of him as a saint.
In fact, they gather every month in their own chapel dressed in white flowing robes to worship the long-dead Marcos. Inside the Chapel, they face an altar where the picture of the sacred heart of Jesus is displayed with Jesus Christs' face replaced by that of Marcos.
