Duncan McCargo, Visiting Professor of Political Science at Columbia University and Professor of Political Science at the University of Leeds, wrote a July 4, 2017 article in the Nikkei Asian Review titled “Rebranding the Marcos Legacy,” about the recent nostalgia in the Philippines for the once-discredited Ferdinand Marcos regime.
“…in recent years, the post-1986 narrative of the Marcos era as a time of rampant corruption and political repression has been increasingly challenged by a set of alternative facts promoted by his supporters, in which Marcos, the most brilliant Filipino of the 20th century, led a heroic struggle to modernize the country’s politics, economy and society, only to be ousted by the small clique of elite families that have dominated the nation since independence,” Professor McCargo writes. “This narrative is valorized in a Marcos trail of three Ilocos Norte museums, where highly partisan displays celebrate his leadership during a 1960s era of Asian strongmen. But even in Manila, pro-Marcos views are becoming increasingly commonplace, often among those too young to remember the realities of his long and troubled presidency.”
Read the full article here.
