Maria Rosa Henson, Ferdinand Marcos and Imelda Marcos rank among the most influential Filipinos who lived in the last century. The key events that shaped their adult lives all occurred in the last half of the 20th century and forever etched their names in the annals of history. Each of them responded to the life-shaping events in different ways and achieved different goals that had international implications.
In 1942, the Japanese army stationed in the Philippines forced Maria Rosa Henson, an ordinary 15 year-old girl, into prostitution at a brothel that it operated during the Second World War. For nine agonizing months she was repeatedly raped by up to 30 Japanese soldiers on some days and subjected to severe humiliation (Henson, 1999, p 40). After the war, she moved on, settled down and got married, working in a cigarette factory to sustain her family with her husband.
In 1992, she finally revealed what she and other women in Asia went through at the hands of the Japanese army during the war. This disclosure triggered a domino effect that prompted hundreds of women across South East Asia to come out and reveal their horrible experiences. The Japanese Government initially denied the claims but eventually agreed to compensate the victims of the atrocities. In 1996, a year before she died of a heart attack, Maria Rosa Henson released a book titled ‘Comfort Woman: a Slave of Destiny ’, in which she recounted in graphic detail the harrowing experiences she went through. Thus, current and future generations will always know what the forgotten past and silent victims never revealed.
Ferdinand Marcos was the tenth president of the Philippines, in power from 1965 to 1986 when the People Power Revolution swept him out of office. Imelda was his wife and first lady throughout that period. Mr. Marcos was the son of a prominent politician and lived a life of privilege but was nonetheless a brilliant young man who overcame great challenges on his way to the presidency.
The greatest triumph Mr. Marcos achieved in his early career was acquittal for the murder of Julio Nalundasan, a political opponent of his father. Mr. Marcos almost faced the death penalty but survived. The amazing thing was that even while he was in prison and waiting for the conclusion of the case, he still had the presence of mind and strength of character to complete his law degree cum laude, passing the bar exam with the highest scores on record.
Released in 1940, Mr. Marcos dived straight into politics with Imelda by his side and rose through the ranks to become the president only 25 years later. It is while in power that the other side of the Marcos couple emerged (Kuhlman, 2002, p 101 ). Mr. Marcos used the perceived communist insurgency threat to impose martial law from 1972 to 1981, during his second term in office (Celoza, 1997, p 49). His wife and cronies used this absolute power phase to plunder so many national resources that today; the exact amounts looted by the regime remain unknown (Guldimann, 2010, p 35).
In the aftermath of his tenure, it is widely acknowledged that Ferdinand Marcos was one of the best presidents the Philippines ever had. However, the misuse of his brilliance cost him and his country a lot. The Philippines revolution also triggered a growing sense of dissatisfaction with despots across the whole world. Over the next decade, revolutions swept through Asia, Africa and Europe, leading to the establishment of democracy in several countries.
Works Cited
Celoza, Albert F. Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippines: The Political Economy of Authoritarianism. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997. Print
Guldimann, Beat. Inside Swiss Banking. Beat Guldimann, 2010. Print
Henson, Maria Rosa. Comfort Woman: A Filipina’s Story of Prostitution and Slavery under the Japanese Military. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999. Print
Kuhlman, Erika A. A to Z of Women in World History. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2002. Print.