“Paradoxically, martial law, the instrument of the colonizer to preserve the status quo, has brought true freedom to the countryside for the first time in centuries,” Marcos said after three years of his rule.

The Filipino farmers were the main beneficiaries of major government programs launched over the first 1,000 days of the New Society.

For centuries, whether under the Spaniards or the Americans, or the politicians and feudal tyrants of the old order, the Filipino farmer was a virtual slave, bereft of self-respect and dignity.

He was bound to the soil, tilling land that belonged to another man, taxed of both goods and money, deprived of an education, with little access to credit and exploited by unscrupulous money lenders, manipulated by politicians and landlords, and isolated from modern technology.

Today, however, the farmer has rediscovered himself and attained a new identity.

Where before he was an abject tenant, today he is a proud landowner.

Where before he had to beg his landlord and usurer for a loan to plant, send his children to school, and feed his family, today he has a far-flung system of rural credit eagerly providing his financing needs at low-interest rates.

Whereas prices for his produce used to plunge at harvest time because of the unbridled forces of supply and demand under an unbridled free-enterprise system, today, he has a well-funded price support program that guarantees profitable farm-gate prices for his major crops.

Before, he was left alone to contend with the high cost of production inputs; today, he is insulated from the impact of escalating world prices through government subsidies of key production inputs, such as fertilizer and animal feed.

Before, he relied solely on antiquated farming methods. Today, he can count on an army of over 6,000 farm management technicians and rural broadcasters who use every technique known to provide media instruction and guidance on modern agricultural technology.

Before, he used to have to contend with market forces that sapped the profits from his produce. He can now depend on a nationwide network of “Samahan Nayon” that gives him greater bargaining power and assures him of a fair price for his produce.

Today, we find unprecedented prosperity in the rural areas, an obvious upsurge in the purchasing power of Filipino farmers, and a general air of confidence and optimism in the countryside.

After three years of government under martial law, President Marcos ordered a performance audit of local and national officials.

He observed that while the machinery of government had remodeled and redesigned its structure and operations to fit development goals, the human factor of government had not kept pace with the reforms.

“We face here the danger that our society is giving birth to a new government elite, who resurrect in our midst the privileges we fought against in the past, who employ the powers of high office for their enrichment, as well as of their business colleagues, relatives, and friends,” the president said.

“I have, as you know, ordered a performance audit of all local officials as a way of compelling the accountability of many insensitive officials at the local level. This audit is not confined to local officials. The national office holders are not exempt. This has been my painful duty as the head of the government and of the state.

“For the last three years, I have been watching the conduct of officers and employees in the national as well as the local government. It is my duty as President of the Republic of the Philippines to reward what is proper, dedicated, and devoted service by a public servant, and by the same token, to punish for violation of the sacred trust of a public official.”

(To be continued)