FM: The Great Ilocano

THE great bard William Shakespeare wrote in an epigrammatic tone: “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” It is typical of Filipinos to have short memories of another’s good deeds, but long memories of the other’s bad or perceived wrongs. This is the tragic irony in the case of the late President Marcos. The perceived illegal acts of FM have been incessantly tautologized. They were designed protuberantly to submerge or marginalize his landmark contributions to our legal system. But, as the painter Salvador Dali once said, “The difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for jewels: it is always the false ones that look the most real, the most brilliant.”

FM’s secure place in history

The beneficiaries of the February 1986 event – remarkable only for being unremarkable in Constitutionalism – have fashioned and sustained a barrage of adverse publicity to efface President Marcos from the tapestry of history. They are pursuing what Maitland sharply observed: “The essential matter of history is not what happened but what people wrote or said about it”. However, if we were to speak or write only about the bad of the dead, history would be even littered with more inaccuracies than it is now.

Marcos’ achievements and contributions are a matter of record. To obliterate or adulterate Marcos’ achievements/contributions from the pages of history is to distort the past and mislead the future. Succeeding administrations have employed laws and the media to destroy or consign Marcos to oblivion notwithstanding his solid achievements for the good of the nation and its people. Good deeds, no matter how the doer is judged, rightly or wrongly, cannot be effaced or expunged. Good triumphs always in the end. FM’s place in history is secured. The Marcos’ laws abound around us. They are embedded in our legal system. They continue to govern and guide the nation and the government functionaries. The vision and foresight of FM in law-making for governance are richly illustrated by the varied and numerous vital legal issuances.

Number of FM issuances

From September 21, 1972 up to February 26, 1986, a span of 14 years, President Ferdinand E. Marcos crafted and formulated, with the assistance of experts, 7,883 Presidential Decrees and other legal issuances. These issuances covered almost every phase of human life or conduct – from birth to the grave, so to speak. They are categorized as follows: a) Presidential Decrees (1 to 2036) b) Letters of Instruction (1 to 1525) c) Letters of Implementation (1 to 157) d) General Orders (1 to 61) e) Executive Orders (366 to 1093) f) Administrative Orders (349 to 504) g) Proclamations (1081 to 2486) h) Memo Circulars (599 to 1297) These legal issuances were designed not only for the yesteryears, but also for today and tomorrow. Gifted with legal acumen, President Marcos adorned his legal issuances with wisdom and justice, embellished with compassion and concern for the people’s welfare. They are exclusive of the hundreds of laws that he authored and/or sponsored as congressman and senator for almost two decades.

FM: leader of phenomenal vision

President Marcos was a leader of phenomenal global vision. He dreamed of greatness and he relentlessly pursued its realization. He was a man ahead of his time. Perhaps it is for this reason he was often misunderstood and misappreciated. But in time, after the winds of hatred and vengeance shall have flown away, he will be remembered as the greatest Filipino law-giver and lawmaker.

Minimal percentage of FM issuances repealed

Significantly, out of the 7,883 Presidential issuances, only 67 PDs or less than .01 percent have either been repealed or modified. The minimal percentage of 67 PDs either repealed or modified by EO No. 187 of President Corazon Aquino were the decrees increasing the penalties for certain offenses against public order and security, e.g., PDs 38, 1735, 1834, 1974 and 1996. Interestingly, the rationale and purpose of the PDs repealed or modified were resurrected in enacting Art. 134-A of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by R.A. 6968 (law on Coup d’etat). Notably, 7,816 FM issuances are still effective and enforced up to the present. FM’s laws still apply and govern the nation today. In a manner of speaking, FM, the corpus, is dead. But FM, the law-giver, lives, pulsating vibrantly. FM laws are eloquent proof of the wisdom, vision, and foresight he possessed in formulating them as instruments of good and effective governance. Marcosian codes

No president has codified more laws on the same subject as President Marcos did, that are still effective and are being enforced. Worth mentioning are the 17 codified laws issued by President Marcos that are still effective: the Local Tax Code (PD 231); Labor Code of the Philippines (PD 442); Code of Agrarian Reforms (PD 444); Real Property Tax Code (PD 464); Child and Youth Welfare Code (PD 603); Insurance Code (PD 612); Revised Forestry Code (PD 705); Code of Sanitation (PD 856); Coconut Industry Code (PD 961); Water Code (PD 1067); Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines (PD 1083); National Building Code (PD 1096); Philippine Environment Code (PD 1152); Fire Code (PD 1185); Government Auditing Code (PD 1445); Tariff and Customs Code (PD 1464); and Property Registration Code (PD 1529). More importantly, there is the Judiciary Development Fund, the wellspring of the financial benefits of the members of the judiciary; and the Pagcor, the mother of revenues, to fund odd activities, to right the wrong, wrong the right and double the wrong. Multitudinous concerns addressed

To demonstrate the breadth, width and depth of FM legal issuances, hereunder are some of the significant and multitudinous government concerns addressed by his laws.

(a) To attract foreign investments, he established, under PD 66, the Export Processing Authority and enacted Investment Incentives Act under PD 485;

(b) To address the sourcing, supplying and distribution of oil requirements, he established the Department of Energy and its subsidiaries and affiliates;

(c) To develop and promote agricultural products, he created the National Irrigation Administration under PD 552;

(d) To address the problems of the coconut industry, since coconut is a major export product, he established the Philippine Coconut Authority under PD 232;

(e) As an alternative source of revenues, he planted the seeds for local and foreign tourists by establishing the Philippine Tourism Authority under PD 564;

(f) As an alternative source of revenues, he established Pagcor to operate gambling;

(g) To upgrade the banking system and invite foreign banks to do business in the Philippines under certain incentives and guarantees, FM caused the establishment of Offshore-Banking System in the Philippines under PD 1034;

(h) To legalize the Filipino trait of gambling through horse racing or cockfighting, he caused the establishment of the Philippine Racing Commission under PD 420 and the Cockfighting Law under PD 1140 to govern and regulate the same;

(i) To ensure that small depositors will not be deprived of their deposits by bank runs or closure of banks, he caused the establishment of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) under PD 1094 insuring the liabilities of the banks;

(j) He created the Philippine Retirement Authority under E.O. 1037, series of 1985;

(k) He created the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board under PD 1986; and

(l) He established Philippine Estates Authority under PD 1084. (To be continued)