Ferdinand Marcos

Marcos was born in Ilocos Norte in 1917; his father, a politician, was later executed for collaborating with Japanese forces during World War II. In 1940, both were convicted of assassinating a political rival, though the conviction was overturned. Marcos fought in World War II, was held as a prisoner, and afterward built a political career on an inflated military record, falsely claiming to be "the most decorated war hero in the Philippines." Elected president in 1965 and again in 1969, he launched massive infrastructure projects funded by foreign debt, but economic crisis and unrest during the Vietnam War led him to declare martial law in 1972. For nine years he ruled as dictator, silencing media and opposition, using violence against Muslims and suspected communists, and revising the constitution to entrench his power. After martial law formally ended in 1981, the 1983 assassination of opposition leader Ninoy Aquino and an economic collapse eroded his support. Snap elections in 1986, challenged by Aquino's widow Corazon, ended in allegations of massive fraud and the People Power Revolution that forced him to flee to Hawaii, where he died in 1989.