https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/777754/imee-3-sons-on-panama-papers-list-jv-ejercito-too

“Add the civic virtue of Al Capone, the greed of Ivan Boesky, the gentility of a China Seas pirate. Wed this paragon to a bimbo on the make with the vanity of a Marie Antoinette and a shopping lust that would turn a Beverly Hills divorcee envy-green. Multiply by ten and you have, approximately, the portraits of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos that Sterling Seagrave paints in this merciless account of the Filipino dictator’s rise and fall.”

“What drove them to accumulate billions they could never have spent in three lifetimes? What possessed her to buy those infamous closetsful of unworn shoes?”

” Lyndon Johnson, no mean connoisseur of cads, may serve as final witness. After one encounter with the self- glorifying Marcos, L.B.J. called in Assistant Secretary of State William Bundy and warned, “If you ever bring that son of a bitch within 50 miles of me again, I’ll have your job.””

Mercenary Monsters From Manila THE MARCOS DYNASTY
https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,148047,00.html

”It is widely believed in the Philippines that Marcos’s father was killed by Filipino guerrillas during the war because he was helping the Japanese,” said Dr. Salvador R. Gonzalez, a Filipino professor of philosophy who taught at the University of the Philippines and is now a fellow at Princeton.” https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/29/world/documents-on-marcos-cite-collaboration-reports.html?pagewanted=all

I was not born yet during martial law and a toddler during the People Power Revolution so I never bore witness to these atrocities but when I listened recently to millennials’ insights that we were probably better off then and we ought to bring back the “glory days of the Marcos era” (some well-educated Ateneo and UP college/law students were interviewed by Boy Abunda on ANC), I cringe and writhe in pain (and I could only imagine that those who actually suffered through the dictatorship would rather slash their wrists and squeeze calamansi juice on their wounds in disbelief).

Indeed one should not let the children suffer for the sins of their father. But esmyuskeee, BONGBONG WAS NO CHILD DURING THE REGIME. He was a fullfledged adult in his late 20s (even much older than the student activists who were tortured and jailed), and became a public official during his father’s reign, Governor of Ilocos no less.

And while he has masterfully tried to remain elusive on the systematic human rights abuses, and has somewhat distanced himself subtly from his dark past through his ads and PR (“hindi tayo ang ating nakaraan”– ok dude, props to your ad agency–masterful slogan and this scares the shit out of me), neither he nor his family has shown any repentance. He benefitted from that ill-gotten wealth that his father pilfered from our coffers. And continues to hold on to it to date.

I don’t know if Napoles is more “relatable” to the millenials since she’s a more recent crook in our history, but her spendthrift kid (who is barely out of college or I’m not even sure if she attended) is persecuted relentlessly by her peers on social media. And not to come to the girl’s defense, (since she should definitely rot in jail like her mother), but judging superficially just from the looks of it, she does seem pretty clueless with how corrupt her mother was and I wouldn’t be surprised if her feigned ignorance was somewhat genuine (Her mother was not in public office and by sheer circumstance she could’ve been a thriving businesswoman with oodles of money). Nevertheless, Napoles’ kid is being held liable for tax evasion, and even all the more, is most deservedly bashed in social media.

I just don’t understand how it’s not the same banana with Bongbong. There’s absolutely no way he could feign the same ignorance (with a father as President and his bejewelled mother in public service, and his entire family basking in wealth), and if he were to be so pretentious and were to make outrageous claims “I had no idea,” (that really ought to trump Leo’s Academy Award)— then millenials should nonetheless see through this glaring BS (ok fine, so there’s the DepEd to blame; the forgotten stortyelling or complacency that such a tragedy must’ve been etched in the collective memory for generations; the past and current admins that haven’t really been that admirable for the youth to begin with etc. But enough of the blame game– how do we fix it (and fix it quick) to prevent history from repeating itself, and from allowing ourselves to become the laughingstock of the world come May 2016?)

Please MM start an effective campaign to make the kids remember that the Marcoses were, and still are very evil, before it’s too late. I’ll sign up. And thousands more will. I know you can get the ball rolling.

https://systemisbroken.blogspot.com/2014/07/on-collective-amnesia-of-philippine.html