Mythos and Melodrama in the Philippines

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NPR

Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 16.4K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2023

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Corruption. Wealth. Authoritarianism. Torture. These are the words many people associate with Ferdinand Marcos, the former dictator of the Philippines, and his wife, Imelda. But in 1965, on the day of his presidential inauguration, clad in bright white traditional Filipino clothing, Ferdinand and Imelda were the picture of hope and progress: the Camelot of the Philippines. They styled themselves as mythical figures with a divine right to rule, even as their democratic ascent reached a dictatorial peak.

Ferdinand Marcos ruled for two decades. And then, in 2022, more than thirty years after his death, the Philippines elected a new president: Ferdinand's son, Bongbong. Both in his campaign and since taking office, Bongbong has evoked the Marcos era as a golden age — effectively, rewriting history.

Welcome to the "Epic of Marcos." In this tale of a family that's larger than life, Ferdinand Marcos is at the center. But the figures that surround him are just as important: Imelda, his muse; Bongbong, his heir; and the United States, his faithful sidekick. The story of the Marcos family is a blueprint for authoritarianism, laying out clearly how melodrama, paranoia, love, betrayal and a hunger for power collide to create a myth capable of propelling a nation.

Today on the show, the rise, fall, and resurrection of a dynasty — and what that means for democracy worldwide.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	In the very beginning, the start of time, there were only three things.
0:11.9	The ocean, the sky, and a single bird in constant flight.
0:19.7	One day, the bird grew tired.
0:22.5	It swooped down, flying over the sea, looking for a place to land.
0:33.0	Its wings stirred up the sea so much that the waves rose and crashed against the sky.
0:45.4	Desperate to calm the sea, the sky rained down boulders.
0:50.0	As boulders became the islands of the Philippines.
0:58.4	The sky told the tired bird to build its nest on one of these islands.
1:04.1	Once on land, the bird was struck by a bamboo stock that was blowing in the breeze, annoyed,
1:10.5	it pecked at the bamboo.
1:12.5	And then the bamboo split.
1:15.0	The first fellow humans emerged from these bamboo stocks.
1:18.8	The first man, Malakas, which means strength.
1:22.7	And the first woman, Magandah, who was beautiful.
1:26.1	And that's how the world began, with Malakas and Magandah, the first man and woman, according
1:33.2	to Filipino legend.
1:36.9	The legend was passed down for generations from person to person year to year.
1:42.7	But in the 20th century, Malakas and Magandah would come alive again, resurrected by two people.
1:50.8	They're almost raw wildest.
1:52.5	If you will allow me, I'll marry you right now.
2:00.4	Ferdinand, Marcus, and Imelda Romales.
2:06.4	Marcus was very fond of projecting the two of them in the role of the first man and woman
	...

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