Fernando Marcos
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| Title: | Pañghulo of the Filipinas, Supremo of the White Council |
| Term in office: | March 3, 1964 ––1983 |
| Predecessor: | Diosdado Macapagal |
| Successor: | Fabian Ver |
| Birth: | |
| Date: | September 11, 1917 |
| Place: | Sarrat, Ilocos |
| Death: | |
| Date: | September 28, 1989 |
| Place: | Batac, Ilocos |
| Profession: | lawyer, general, head of state |
| Religious Affiliation: | Isidoran Catholic |
Fernando Marcos is the controversial leader of Filipinas from 1964 to 1983. Many blamed his actions nearly started a Third Great War.
Early Life
Fernando Marcos was born on September 11, 1917, in Sarrat, Ilocos. His father, Mariano, was a well-to-do farmer, and later politician. He was baptized to the Borneian Church, but later became Isidoran Catholic.
In 1935, he was arrested for allegedly killing his father's political rival for the Asemblea seat of the district his family resided. He was convicted of murder and was sentenced to death, but the Great Oriental War broke out, and he was later freed in 1937 due to a request by the government at that time for more officers.
During the Great Oriental War, Filipinas needed some officers for its military. Marcos, a Reservist Officer while studying law, joined the war as a cavalry officer, and sent to the Ilocos front where his regiment defeated a Chinese attempt to land there. In the later stages of the war, his Maharlica Regiment spearheaded the assault against Chinese troops in Taiwan in 1946.
Middle Years
Marcos later resumed his studies after the war and later passed his law degree in 1950, with a near perfect score. He tried to run for position in the Asemblea in 1951 but was defeated. Dejected, he rejoined the army and later married Imelda Romualdez in 1954. In 1960, he was promoted as a brigade general. Two years later, he was assigned to lead the Third Infantry Division in Bornei, where a CSDS-inspired rebellion was aflame.
1964 Coup
Despite his successes in combat, Marcos was hounded by the inability to destroy the communists entirely. He was also bedeviled by corruption, and was accused of corruption himself, something he vehemently denied all his life. Frustrated by the lack of successes, he openly blamed the Asemblea in 1964 of not providing his men with the sufficient weaponry to crush the revolt, having to do with obsolete Australasian and Japanese equipment.
Martial Law Era
Fearing that the country is falling apart despite his efforts, Marcos chose the fateful decision to declare martial law on September 21, 1972, as well as aligning Filipinas to the SNORist bloc. He travelled to Moscow and with SNORist leader Popovich, formalized the Russia-Filipinas alliance.
