The historical fact is that in 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. saved the Philippines from a communist takeover.
Under a communist government, fundamental freedoms like press freedom, free speech, freedom of expression, free assembly and the like are inexistent.
The media in a communist government are state-owned, and disseminate only such information that suits the communist rulers. Dissenters are considered threats to national security and are thrown in prison.
Religion is outlawed because communists consider it irrelevant. If the communist government wishes it (for propaganda purposes), an official church is allowed, but the official church must conform religious worship to authoritarian communist dogma.
Children will be taught to spy on their own parents, and to report them to the state for any behavior that does not sit well with communism.
Incidental prosperity and a few economic comforts for some of the citizenry may be tolerated, but those in high posts in the government, the military establishment, and the state-controlled media enjoy extravagant, comfortable lives, lived in secret, away from the eyes of the common folk.
Education is strictly monitored by the State for the purpose of keeping people uninformed and unenlightened. Communist officials fear that a truly educated population will ultimately want to overthrow their totalitarian government.
Industry, creativity, spirituality and kindness are discouraged under a communist state.
Communism, the creation of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, is the most evil menace to contemporary civilization. As the late American President Ronald Reagan put it, "A communist is one who reads Marx and Lenin, while an anti-communist is one who understands Marx and Lenin."
Eastern European countries that fell under the communist yoke of the Soviet Union after World War II and thereafter ended up in dire economic straits. They recovered their prosperity only after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989.
Communist China may look prosperous today, but its citizens do not enjoy genuine freedom. Look at what happened to Hong Kong. Press freedom and freedom of assembly are inexistent there. Many living in the north and northwestern regions of this communist bully remain marginalized. Muslims there are persecuted.
North Korea is afflicted with the most serious communist disease. The communist government in Pyongyang prefers to spend its money on its nuclear arsenal for its blueprint to invade South Korea, rather than provide food security to its own people. There is no freedom in North Korea, and North Koreans must worship its megalomaniac leader like a god.
Since 1968, Filipino communists led by Jose Maria Sison had been planning to destabilize the duly-constituted government of the Philippines under President Marcos Sr., and to overthrow it and replacing it with one subservient to Communist China.
Sison's master plan was to be executed by a troika composed of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People's Army and the National Democratic Front (which is hardly democratic at all).
The CPP-NPA-NDF troika infiltrated the ranks of workers and labor unions, peasants and farmers, students and teachers, and even the media. Communist cadres armed by Beijing used violent means to stir social unrest in Manila and its suburbs. They even bombed a rally of the political opposition party at Plaza Miranda in Manila to instigate the people to blame President Marcos for the incident.
By the middle of 1972, the Philippines was nearly ripe for a communist takeover.
Sison's master plan was nipped in the bud in September 1972 when President Marcos Sr. placed the entire country under martial law.
The emergency measure, authorized by the Constitution, allowed the government to arrest and detain communist rebels and to dismantle their insurgency. Communist elements who escaped arrest fled to the mountains or went abroad.
Ultimately, President Marcos Sr. saved the Philippines from a communist takeover.
It is the reason why even today, the communists hate him.
Tomorrow marks the 105th birth anniversary of President Marcos Sr. Freedom-loving Filipinos have good reason to mark this day with appreciation.
