Talk:Ferdinand Marcos

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Ferdinand Marcos article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7: 6 months

view · edit

Frequently asked questions

Q1: Why does the opening describe Ferdinand Marcos Sr. as a dictator and a kleptocrat?

A1: Several discussions have already been held, with the consensus being that reliable sources support that Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was a kleptocrat and a dictator. Wikipedia is written in a neutral point of view and facts overrule personal views and opinions. As such, Wikipedia does not censor nor whitewash these facts, regardless of the other works and accomplishments of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

The prior discussions can be found here:

Talk:Ferdinand Marcos/Archive 5 § Discussion on improvements to the lede per the WP:BRD process
Talk:Ferdinand Marcos § Consistency with Wikipedia's use of the term "kleptocrat"
Talk:Ferdinand Marcos § RfC for the use of the term "kleptocrat" in Wikivoice on a political figure

Any change to these titles will require a new consensus to be reached on the talk page.

The subject of this article is controversial and content may be in dispute. When updating the article, be bold, but not reckless. Feel free to try to improve the article, but don't take it personally if your changes are reversed; instead, come here to the talk page to discuss them. Content must be written from a neutral point of view. Include citations when adding content and consider tagging or removing unsourced information.

Please stay calm and civil while commenting or presenting evidence, and do not make personal attacks. Be patient when approaching solutions to any issues. If consensus is not reached, other solutions exist to draw attention and ensure that more editors mediate or comment on the dispute.

This article is written in Philippine English, which has its own spelling conventions (color, realize, center, travelled) and some terms that are used in it (including jeepney and cyberlibel) may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

Biography: Military / Politics and Government

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography
	This article is supported by the military biography work group (assessed as High-importance).
	This article is supported by the politics and government work group (assessed as High-importance).

Cold War Mid‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Cold War, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the Cold War on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Cold WarWikipedia:WikiProject Cold WarTemplate:WikiProject Cold WarCold War
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Crime and Criminal Biography Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Crime and Criminal Biography, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Crime and Criminal Biography articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Crime and Criminal BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject Crime and Criminal BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Crime and Criminal BiographyCrime-related
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Tambayan Philippines: History Top‑importance

	Philippines portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Tambayan Philippines, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics related to the Philippines on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Tambayan PhilippinesWikipedia:Tambayan PhilippinesTemplate:WikiProject Tambayan PhilippinesPhilippine-related
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by the Philippine history task force.

Hawaii Low‑importance

	Hawaii portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Hawaii, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Hawaii on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.HawaiiWikipedia:WikiProject HawaiiTemplate:WikiProject HawaiiHawaii
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

International relations Mid‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject International relations, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of International relations on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.International relationsWikipedia:WikiProject International relationsTemplate:WikiProject International relationsInternational relations
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Law Mid‑importance

	Law portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Law, an attempt at providing a comprehensive, standardised, pan-jurisdictional and up-to-date resource for the legal field and the subjects encompassed by it.LawWikipedia:WikiProject LawTemplate:WikiProject Lawlaw
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Military history: Biography / Asian / Southeast Asia / World War II C‑class

This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history

C

This article has been rated as C-class on the project's quality scale.

This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
Referencing and citation: criterion not met Coverage and accuracy: criterion met Structure: criterion met Grammar and style: criterion met Supporting materials: criterion met

Associated task forces:
/
	Military biography task force
	Asian military history task force
	Southeast Asian military history task force
	World War II task force

New York City Low‑importance

	New York City portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject New York City, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of New York City-related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.New York CityWikipedia:WikiProject New York CityTemplate:WikiProject New York CityNew York City
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Politics Mid‑importance

	Politics portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Politics, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of politics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PoliticsWikipedia:WikiProject PoliticsTemplate:WikiProject Politicspolitics
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article has been marked as needing immediate attention.

Southeast Asia Mid‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Southeast Asia, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Southeast Asia-related subjects on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Southeast AsiaWikipedia:WikiProject Southeast AsiaTemplate:WikiProject Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Switzerland Low‑importance

	Switzerland portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Switzerland, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Switzerland on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SwitzerlandWikipedia:WikiProject SwitzerlandTemplate:WikiProject SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

United States Low‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

A fact from this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the On this day section on December 30, 2004, December 30, 2005, December 30, 2006, January 17, 2011, December 30, 2011, December 30, 2014, and December 30, 2015.

This article has been mentioned by multiple media organizations:

Lamb, Kate (August 2, 2017). "Wiki warriors: activists fighting to keep truth of brutal Marcos regime in Philippines alive". The Guardian (Guardian Media Group). Retrieved August 2, 2017.
Manglinong, Dan (April 12, 2018). "A 'fake news' list and an edit war on Mocha Uson's Wikipedia page". InterAksyon. Twitter users who posted and commented on screenshots of the revised Wikipedia entry for Uson also noticed the Wikipedia page of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Krixia Subingsubing, Mariejo S. Ramos (February 25, 2021). "'Editing' Edsa: Battle rages online vs trolls, revisionists". Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Ferdinand Marcos page alone has had over 7,170 edits since 2002. It's also host to pro-Marcos revisionist accounts who "often cause a big headache and great damage to the article,"
"How Marcos Family & Supporters Are Rewriting History Online: Digital Activists Fight Misinformation". CNA Insider (Mediacorp). 12 June 2024. Confronting historical lies in cyberspace is a battle being fought on Wikipedia too... On average more than 376 edits are made on the Ferdinand Marcos Senior Wikipedia page every year.

Text has been copied to or from this article; see the list below. The source pages now serve to provide attribution for the content in the destination pages and must not be deleted as long as the copies exist. For attribution and to access older versions of the copied text, please see the history links below.

Copied Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos (history) → Ferdinand Marcos on 2020-04-07
Copied First Quarter Storm (history) → Ferdinand Marcos on 2020-04-07
Copied Masagana 99 (history) → Ferdinand Marcos on 2020-06-19

Section sizes

Section size for Ferdinand Marcos (84 sections)
Section name	Byte count	Section total
(Top)	39,933	39,933
Early life	5,822	5,822
Education	4,206	4,206
Julio Nalundasan assassination	4,456	4,456
World War II (1939–1945)	77	77
Post-WWII (1949–1965)	2,931	5,005
Presidential campaign	2,074	2,074
Administration and cabinet	321	321
First term (1965–1969)	3,849	14,292
Defense expansion	814	814
Vietnam War	3,024	3,024
Loans for construction projects	1,073	1,073
Jabidah exposé	4,106	4,106
1969 campaign	129	129
Balance of payments crisis	105	105
Informal diplomacy	1,192	1,192
Second term (1969–1972)	5,417	35,752
Social unrest after the balance of payments crisis	959	9,942
"Moderate" and "radical" opposition	1,279	3,253
Moderates	976	976
Radicals	998	998
Radicalization	5,730	5,730
First Quarter Storm	3,969	3,969
Constitutional Convention of 1971	5,500	5,500
CPP New People's Army	1,980	1,980
Rumored coup d'état and assassination plot	2,526	2,526
Plaza Miranda bombing	4,461	4,461
1971 suspension of habeas corpus	1,867	1,867
1972 Manila bombings	90	90
Martial law era (1972–1981)	5,233	29,108
Arrests	692	692
Bagong Lipunan (New Society)	4,584	4,584
Filipinization of Chinese schools	1,844	1,844
1973 referendum	236	236
Rolex 12 and the military	2,122	2,122
US foreign policy	4,205	4,205
Switch from Taiwan to the People's Republic of China	4,071	4,071
1978 parliamentary election	3,693	3,693
Prime minister	968	968
Proclamation 2045	1,460	1,460
Third term (1981–1986)	1,876	12,659
Armed conflict with the CPP–NPA	1,871	1,871
Recession	1,722	1,722
Aquino assassination	4,679	4,679
Impeachment attempt	1,190	1,190
Physical decline	1,321	1,321
Economic performance	1,397	1,397
Snap election, People Power Revolution, and ouster (1986)	64	10,844
1986 snap election	7,817	7,817
1986 RAM coup and People Power Revolution	2,963	2,963
Exile in Hawaii (1986–1989)	34	14,678
Fleeing to Hawaii	8,535	8,535
Plans to return and "The Marcos Tapes"	3,004	3,004
Legal cases	3,105	3,105
Personal life	3,926	3,926
Death and burial	7,438	7,438
Trials and reparations	28	9,280
Roxas v. Marcos	1,131	1,131
Sandiganbayan, Supreme Court, and international trials	1,582	1,582
Reparations	6,539	6,539
Legacy	306	69,407
Human rights abuses	9,127	28,918
Abductions	2,455	2,455
Killings	5,926	15,587
Civilian massacres	5,486	5,486
Muslim massacres	4,175	4,175
Family denial	1,749	1,749
Ill-gotten wealth	12,315	12,401
Overseas investments	86	86
Monopolies	155	155
Infrastructure and edifices	12,932	12,932
Logging and deforestation	2,891	2,891
Heavy industrialization	2,942	4,685
Nuclear Power	1,743	1,743
Educational system	2,393	2,393
Metro Manila	2,136	2,136
The US–Marcos relationship	2,590	2,590
Books	2,604	2,604
Recognition	4,435	4,435
See also	508	508
Notes	24	24
References	362	362
Further reading	688	688
External links	6,154	6,154
Total	283,376	283,376

Suggested lede edit

Please would someone change: He was elected president of the Philippines in 1965 and presided over an economy that grew during the beginning of his 20-year rule[31] but would end in the loss of livelihood, extreme poverty for almost half the Philippine population,[32][33] and a crushing debt crisis.

to: "He was elected president of the Philippines in 1965 and presided over an economy that grew during the beginning of his 20-year rule[31] but would end in the loss of livelihood and extreme poverty for almost half the Philippine population,[32][33] together with a crushing debt crisis." ? 84.9.131.171 (talk) 17:23, 7 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 7 November 2024

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Please would someone change: He was elected president of the Philippines in 1965 and presided over an economy that grew during the beginning of his 20-year rule[31] but would end in the loss of livelihood, extreme poverty for almost half the Philippine population,[32][33] and a crushing debt crisis.

to: "He was elected president of the Philippines in 1965 and presided over an economy that grew during the beginning of his 20-year rule[31] but would end in the loss of livelihood and extreme poverty for almost half the Philippine population,[32][33] together with a crushing debt crisis." ? 84.9.131.171 (talk) 17:26, 7 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Done. —seav (talk) 19:25, 7 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Seav Don't forget to change the "|ans=no" parameter to "|ans=yes" when you complete an edit request. Shadow311 (talk) 21:22, 7 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, @Seav ! 84.9.131.171 (talk) 19:54, 9 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Mass murderer category

Would a mass murderer category be appropriate for him? 2600:100C:A218:9A7B:BC5E:E0AD:C8F9:553 (talk) 20:07, 1 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think Marcos himself carried out the murders, so no. Maybe state-sponsored killings or something else? Howard the Duck (talk) 05:13, 4 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The thing is: other dictators such as Bashar al Assad, Saddam Hussein, etc have mass murderer as a category. 2600:100C:A218:9A7B:70FE:16E:CEBB:85ED (talk) 06:42, 10 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Interestingly, Adolf Hitler does not have a mass murderer category but Benito Mussolini does. Ganmatthew (talk • contribs) 13:12, 10 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Has Hitler ever been accused of mass murder? Dimadick (talk) 13:42, 10 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I mean, it's an analogy considering Marcos is associated with widespread human rights violations, but probably not mass murder unless you count extrajudicial killings. Hitler would more likely be considered a mass murderer for the Holocaust alone. Ganmatthew (talk • contribs) 14:31, 10 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Marcos and other similar dictators may have caused an unquantifiable number of killings, but I'd suppose it's not mass murder but something else. Howard the Duck (talk) 10:27, 17 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Ex-President Marcos Sr.'s Dictatorship of 20 years Impacts: Estimated human rights abuses and stolen national wealth.

Ex-President Marcos Sr.'s Dictatorship of 20 years

Impacts: Estimated human rights abuses and stolen national wealth. 122.52.31.74 (talk) 06:43, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Torturer category

Would the torturer category be appropriate here? 2600:100C:A21D:971A:3DFA:A9B2:FCD8:A60 (talk) 06:00, 4 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Unless it was documented that it was Marcos himself who did the torturing, then no. Howard the Duck (talk) 22:48, 12 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

There are plenty of sources that state his regime was responsible for torturing. Why do other dictators have the mass murderer category as well? 2600:100C:A20D:BB75:D500:DBA6:3203:9CF9 (talk) 23:13, 28 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Marcos Legacy

Can you please right down all Marcos Projects and all of its cost so we can check everything how much did he really stole from the government. For 25 years in power he only spent 400B pesos. So i wondered where did he gets the funding and the resources. 2604:3D09:8885:D900:1032:B365:9111:8E4E (talk) 15:07, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]