The Marcos years were not the PHL's golden era historianSeptember 18, 2015 11:03pmTags: martiallaw, ferdinandmarcos, marcospresidency, batasmilitarWith the 43rd anniversary of the declaration of martial law coming up on September 21, Ateneo de Manila historian Dr. Leloy Claudio on Friday reminded viewers of GMA News TV's News To Go that the years President Ferdinand Marcos was in office were not the Philippines' golden years.

"Sa akin, malinaw na dapat ang tinuturo sa Martial Law ay ito ang panahon kung saan maraming nanakaw sa kaban ng bayan, maraming na-torture, maraming na-imprison na political detainee, at ito talaga ang bumali sa ekonomiya at demokrasya ng Pilipinas," explained Claudio.

Claudio qualified that he was not anti-Marcos and urged millenials and others to do their research.

The historian, who is also the author of "Taming People's Power", said that the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita during 1972, the year martial law was declared, was $211.40, which was just 10 percent of Japan's GDP of $2,917.66.

By 1982, Philippine per capita GDP $741, while Japan was at $9428.87.

"Kung trending ang pinag-uusapan, 1983 was the worst crisis in the Philippines. Tumaas iyong inflation. Tumaas din iyong unemployment. At nag-slow down ang GDP growth. All economic indicators were down in 1983," Claudio added. "Moreover, and utang natin lumulobo na to $27 billion. So kung may napapatayo si Marcos, inutang niya iyon sa mga kabataan ng Pilipino at binabayaran natin iyon hanggang ngayon."

But more than economic woes, the historian also pointed to the human rights violations during the Marcos years.

Claudio shared that there were over 80,000 political detainees during the Marcos' presidency. "Hindi ito (mga detainees) nag-stand ng trial. Marami rito pinakulong lang dahil may nasabi sila sa media. Iyong mga extrajudicial killings for the entire period, lumagpas ng 3,500... These are statistics that are harrowing dahil marami talaga ang naghirap ng mga panahong iyon," he said.

The historian also pointed out that New People's Army membership ballooned under the Marcos regime. "Kung sinasabi ng mga pro-Marcos na walang gulo ng panahon ni Marcos, eh bakit noong 1972 noong nagdeklara ng Martial Law, 2,000 lang ang miyembro ng NPA. By 1986, 20,000 na ang miyembro ng NPA. Si Marcos actually ang number one recruiter ng NPA," he added.

Unfortunately, Claudio lamented, teachers and the parents have disregarded all the data, and have given young Filipinos a false impression of the Marcos era.

"Ang iba sinasabi mga magulang. Pero ang pinakanatatakot diyan ay iyong iba sinasabi guro. Maging kami merong kasalanan talaga dito at kailangan talagang ayusin iyong education when it comes to Martial Law," Claudio emphasized.Trisha Macas/DVM, GMA News- See more at: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/537490/news/nation/the-marcos-years-were-not-the-phl-s-golden-era-historian#sthash.SZhqChZl.dpuf