"The Filipino, it seems, has lost his soul...We have come upon a phase of our history when ideals are only a veneer for greed and power...We are in crisis. You know that the government treasury is empty. Only by severe self-denial will there be hope for recovery within the next year..."
Sound familiar?
He won re-election easily. How could he not have? He used his first term to take over the TV stations, radio, and news media, effectively turning them into his ministry of information. It was all Marcos news all the time. By this time too his cult of personality was in full swing (he was behind Obama by one term in this regard!). There were religious groups devoted to him in the more obscure pockets of the archipelago. He was not just the president; he was a father figure, a healer, the benevolent uncle. His wife, the infamous Imelda eagerly took on the role of Mother. His popularity among the faithful did not wane despite his administrations overspending and corruption that lead to inflation and a dramatic devaluation of the Philippine Peso.
To add insult to injury, the oil producing nations of the Middle East decided to cut production as a rebuke to the West taking Israel's side. Philippine industry, dependent on oil, continued to decline as a direct result. And if THAT weren't enough, the country was continuously battered by natural calamity in the form of typhoons and floods. Marcos' cult of personality was not enough to stave off the dissatisfaction of his faithful citizens, and neither could it stop the growing anti-Marcos movement (mostly college radicals with their own ideas for 'change').
This led to Martial Law in 1972. Marcos suspended the freedom of assembly, instilled a curfew, and prohibited citizens from carrying and owning firearms. By 1976 he transformed the house and senate into a Parliament, and declared himself Prime Minister. Oh, he was still president...but now he had legislative powers as well as executive.
Of course, he was a benevolent Godfather. So in the spirit of a new era, and coming together, he created a new party that joined the two major parties in sweet harmony, (the Liberal Party and the Nacionalista Party) into the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (or "New Society Movement) better known as KBL. Bi-partisanship is ALWAYS a good thing isn't it? It means, if two parties don't agree, the way to bring them together is to make one party abandon its ways and serve the other party. Everyone's happy.
Being the skilled politician that he was, he used the economic crisis as an excuse for MAJOR and very EXPENSIVE government reform, by taking over companies and utilities. It wasn't a socialist country in name, but for all intents and purposes, the government owned the major corporations and ran all the utilities. It wasn't socialist, but Marcos ran it as such, without spreading the wealth.
My advice, my fellow Americans: beware of charismatic politicians, that use economic uncertainty as a reason to bring on Bigger Government. And watch those that enthusiastically praise said charismatic politicians as they take on the form of religious zealotry.