Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Quotes

Ferdinand Edralin Marcos delivers blunt, bitter, desperate remarks about politics, cowardice, and survival that hit like a raw confession.

41 quotes

1. Elect me as your congressman today, I promise you an Ilocano president in 20 years.

2. The Filipino, it seems, has lost his soul, his dignity, and his courage. We have come upon a phase of our history when ideals are only a veneer for greed and power, (in public and private affairs) when devotion to duty and dedication to a public trust are to be weighted at all times against private advantages and personal gain, and when loyalties can be traded. :Our government is in the iron grip of venality, its treasury is barren, its resources are wasted, its civil service is slothful and indifferent, its armed forces demoralized and its councils sterile., We are in crisis. You know that the government treasury is empty. Only by severe self-denial will there be hope for recovery within the next year... This nation can be great again. This I have said over and over. It is my articles of faith, and Divine Providence has willed that you and I can now translate this faith into deeds.

3. You are repetitious and dumb.

4. I claim the right not to incriminate myself.

5. 'Hey, what's the name of that nice young girl, my loyalist supporter?' I said, Mr. President, her name is Annie Ferrer. 'Will you give that girl my regards and kisses?' he asked. I said yes, of course--it was really strange.

6. My countrymen, as of the twenty-third of this month, I signed Proclamation #1081 placing the entire Philippines under Martial Law.

7. No matter how strong and dedicated a leader may be, he must find root and strength amongst the people. He alone cannot save a nation. He may guide, he may set the tone, he may dedicate himself and risk his life, but only the people may save themselves.

8. Of what good is democracy if it is not for the poor?

9. When authoritarianism is no longer necessary to protect the welfare of the people, I will be the first to move for its dismantling. But the easy, casual wave of the hand dismissing the dangers that confront the worsening world situation and us is not for me. It is for those who insist that I dismantle martial law against my best judgment but, legally and morally, cannot be held liable for any Kampuchean-like tragedy that would be fall our people if I followed their advice. But I would be liable. I would be called all kinds of names. I would be called stupid, naive and obstinate. History and our people would hold me accountable not only perhaps for lack of wisdom, but for lack of courage if I followed such advice.

10. The foundation upon which our nation stands is much richer and firmer than the sympathies that may occasionally divide us. And we never know this more truly than in Christmas time. In good times or in bad, under clear skies or under the shadow of uncertainty, the Christmas message is the imperishable one of joy, hope and brotherhood.

11. I was reminded as I was reviewing my life, that I have been in too many conflicts, too many wars, political battles, military battles, civil strifes in government. And always one lesson stands out and that is, those whom you fight most passionately often turn out to be your best friends.

12. I have listened to you, to our people. I have heard your doubts, your anxieties, nay, outright opposition to the lifting of Martial Law. And I have prayed to the Almighty for guidance. And it is after deliberate, sober judgment and soul-searching that I come before you and say, it is now time to terminate martial law.

13. I pray now and I ask you to pray with me, as I prayed eight years ago, that I am doing, that we are doing, the right thing by our people; for the end of martial law does not mean the end of our efforts, of our needed reforms, of our struggles, of our sacrifices. The passing of martial law does not necessarily carry with it the passing of all the burdens especially the heavy ones. There will be more tests, for our capacity, for our resiliency, for our strength as a people. I say, we have just begun.

14. We cannot and we will not negotiate with terrorists. We have nothing but contempt for them. To conciliate differences with these people without them changing their objectives is to condemn our Republic to ultimate strangulation and death.

15. The Philippines is a nation of 40 million cowards and one son of a bitch.

16. We love your adherence to democratic principles and to democratic processes.

17. The second most corrupt head of government ever (after Suharto).

18. I think you should cut and cut cleanly. The time has come.

19. He was hanging on, looking for a life preserver. He was a desperate man clutching at straws.

20. The Man of Steal - headline, Hot Manila, 3 March 2000

21. Leadership is the other side of the coin of loneliness, and he who is a leader must always act alone. And in acting alone, accept everything alone.

22. There are many things we do not want in this world. Let us not just mourn them; let us change them.

23. If you find it, we'll split it.

24. President Reagan has no enemies in the Phillipines.

25. Let us not be so naive as to think that revolution is just a matter of social or economic discontent.

26. The one indisputable reality of dictatorship is that dissent, insult, and malevolent language do not go unpunished if it is allowed at all.

27. The challenge to Asia is to discard the dry, meatless bone of mysticism and fatalism.

28. The challenge to America is to extend to Asia the defensive shield of American power in forms consonant with Asian freedom and self-respect.

29. I can understand the Cultural Revolution of Mao Tse-tung.

30. Once a champion, always a champion.

31. My countrymen: we have reached a turning point in our history. The choice is yours. Shall we venture into this brave new world, bright with possibilities, or retreat to the safety of our familiar but sterile past? I am for crossing the frontier.

32. I often wonder what I will be remembered in history for. Scholar? Military hero? Builder?

33. Nobody is impervious to misfortune.

34. It is not true that I dictate what should be done. There is a dialogue.

35. For us, overseas employment addresses two major problems: unemployment and the balance of payments position.

36. It is easier to run a revolution than a government.

37. I can feel it in my bones that no matter what we do, even if we do not do anything, the revolutionary government of Madame Cory Aquino will collapse.

38. If it were true that special favors were given to some of these people because they are my cronies, then they should still be here, and they should be wealthy. But who are these cronies? If there be any cronies in government, point them out, and we will investigate.

39. To preserve our sovereign integrity, we must prove to them nobody need tell us how to hold a clean and democratic election.

40. In the Philippines, the host should always be willing to defer to the wishes of the guest.

41. My friends in the opposition have forgotten that the constitution of the Philippines was amended in 1973 with their participation. The constitution mandates the administration, including the Batasan, or legislature, to convert slowly into a semiparliamentary form of government. The president in such a situation can issue decrees and edicts.