Notes on the New Society of the Philippines
By The Parodist | September 21, 2008
Photo© 2008 Sasha Manuel
I wonder how many of us remember the significance of September 21 in Philippine history. Personally, I haven’t really given it much thought until last month when I found this old book among old things while I was organising bookshelves in the den PLUS everyone commemorated Ninoy Aquino who was assassinated during the Marcos administration and I had chanced upon a documentary: Beyond Conspiracy, After 25 Years, The Aquino Assassination on telly.
For the clueless, 21 September 1972 was the day when Former President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed the proclamation placing the entire Philippines under martial law. Which, btw, Marcos likes to call “The September 21 Movement”.
And the old book I found is penned by the very same man who was responsible for it, Ferdinand E. Marcos, Notes on the New Society of the Philippines.
Photo© 2008 Sasha Manuel
Roughly, the book is around 34 years old and this is based on the last known printing stated in it, Fourth Printing May 1974. As you can see on the photos, it wasn’t preserved well (note the portion of the pages that were eaten away by mites). I remember seeing this book as a child and it had this blue book leaf (that is if I remember it correctly) now missing. I even started to tell off my mum for not taking better care of something that can be considered a relic. All she told me was she had forgotten that we had it. She even admitted to not having read it at all.
I guess since the memory of the martial law era, people don’t think kindly of the president or anything related to him. I was really young during the EDSA revolution but I remember bits, particularly being left alone with siblings and cousins cuz my parents and other relatives were all there. Anyway, that’s probably why the book was shoved at the back of some closet.
Of course, I also had asked my mum why we had copy and I found out that the book was given out for free. Imagine that.
Photo© 2008 Sasha Manuel
Kudos to the president, if that’s the case. Taking the responsibility of informing the people after a major decision has been made is a good thing. It allows the people to better understand what was in his mind esp leading up to the decision. Though, the downside with every published work, it most likely has gone through editorials and it’ll be difficult to determine the truth from fiction. But the idea that the president of a country would find the time to write a book is quite impressive.
“.. A leader cannot shirk his duty of explaining, elucidating, and educating, whenever he can.” — Ferdinand E. Marcos, Notes on the New Society of the Philippines
Talking to a friend’s father who was pretty active in the political scene during that administration, we agreed on how brilliant Marcos was. It was just too bad that his name has become synonymous to corruption and his administration’s reputation to dirty politics. And that’s even an understatement.
I haven’t finished the book yet but, so far, I’m quite fascinated. It feels like I’m reading Marcos’ thoughts. A little guarded but teaching myself to open my mind to what he has to say about the whole martial law debacle makes it a little challenging but still educational, nonetheless.
Contents
My Fighting Faith
Foreword
Chapter I
The Hour of DecisionChapter II
The September 21 MovementChapter III
The Rebellion of the PoorChapter IV
The Question of EqualityChapter V
The Political BondChapter VI
The Conquest of PovertyChapter VII
Theory and Practice in the New SocietyAppendix
Index
Believe me, this is one book that I appreciate even the Appendix and Index. Scratch that. Esp for the Appendix and Index. It allowed me to be on the same page with President Marcos (no pun intended).
Have any of you read this book or any of his published works? Share! I’d love to hear your thoughts on his writing.
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Topics: Books, Philosophy & Paradox, Quotes |
September 21st, 2008 at 9:25 pm
I would love to get a copy of that book. I am one of the warm bodies in EDSA 1, and I admired Marcos for choosing not to harm the people, though it cost him his political career and legacy.
He allowed history to judge him amd his presidency.
Maybe when all the politicians and the generations that are directly involved in the Marcos-Aquino rivalry have passed, the real score will surface.Including who is behind the Aquino assassination.
This is a shameless plugging, but I made a post about the Martial Law era as I remember it as a kid. You may read it here:
http://sesantos.com.ph/2008/09/19/pilipinas-circa-70/
* Sonnie’s last blog post.. The 2nd Wealthiest Nation In Asia
September 22nd, 2008 at 3:23 am
Personally, i don’t think democracy is right for the Philippines at the moment.
But then, that’s just me
September 26th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Sonnie: I wonder if there are still copies being sold out there. Hope you find one!
I actually am starting to feel the same way after pouring over pages of the book. It certainly wasn’t easy for him. On the last bit, I hope you’re right.
Btw, I enjoyed reading your post!
Lia: As much as I want to agree with you, I just don’t see anyone in the government whom I can trust my freedom to.