Preempted The Tallano Gold hoax, also known as the “Marcos Foundation”^[1] scam or the “Kingdom of Maharlika” hoax,^[2][3] is a pseudohistorical internet scam which claims former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos was given a massive amount of gold by a self-proclaimed ancient “royal family” of the Philippines - providing an fictional covery story for the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family in the Philippines,^[2] while baiting potential believers with the claim that “Marcos gold can save the Philippines”^[4] when the gold is supposedly distributed to Filipinos from foundations set up by the Marcos family.^[5]

The hoax is based on the legally dismissed claims of a Julius Tallano, who claims to be a descendant of a King Liusong Tagean, the supposed father of LapuLapu and Rajah Sulayman, “the Philippines, Brunei, South Borneo, Hawaii, the Spratly Islands, and Sabah” during precolonial era before European colonizers came to the Philippines.^[6] The hoax links then links this to a December 1969 propaganda announcement where Marcos claimed he would establish a Foundation which would distribute all of his personal wealth to the Filipino people.

Media accounts have documented various instances where groups of people have been been fooled into paying "registration fees" in order to become beneficiaries of the alleged wealth, althuogh the hoax has been disavowed by both Bongbong Marcos and Imee Marcos.

Student activism during the Marcos dictatorship

Student activism in the Philippines from 1965 to 1986 played a key role in the events which led to Ferdinand Marcos' declaration of Martial Law in 1972, and its eventual downfall during the events of the People Power Revolution of 1986.

University students during the social unrest of the late 1960s found themselves attracted to political movements from across the political spectrum, ^[7][8] ranging from "moderates" wanted to create change through political reforms, including church groups, civil libertarians, social democrats, and nationalist politicians;^[7] and "radicals" who wanted broader, more systemic political reforms, such as student groups associated with labor groups, or with the National Democracy movement.^[7][9]

The differences of political orientation between these groups became less pronounced during the period of social unrest known as the First Quarter Storm in 1970, when Marcos cracked down on protesting students. It became even less pronounced when Marcos suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in 1971,^[10] and when he finally placed the entire Philippine archipelago under Martial Law in September 1972.^[7]

Martial Law under Ferdinand Marcos saw the extensive use of military abuse to suppress of dissent, and captured activists often became the subject of the dictatorship's many human rights violations.^[8] Many activists concluded that the regime had to be fought through force, and joined the underground movement against Marcos.^[11] Others found organizations which retained some ability to question the dictatorship, including religious groups such as those organized under the influential Roman Catholic church, and lawyer's groups such as the Free Legal Assistance Group.^[12] It was through such groups that news of corruption, military abuse, and human rights violations was able to reach the international community, which put pressure on Marcos to enact reforms.^[8]

The prominence of student groups continued into the eighties when the economic nosedive and the assassination of Marcos' political rival Ninoy Aquino forced Marcos to declare a snap election in 1986, in which Ninoy Aquino's wife Corazon Aquino ran against Marcos.^[9] When news of election rigging during that election began to come out, the Philippine public began to rally behind Aquino. When a failed military coup provided the impetus for people to gather en masse, the gathering quickly snowballed into the People Power Revolution which removed Marcos from the presidency and put a revolutionary government under Aquino in power in his place.^[9]

Student activist groups active from 1965-1986

The media reports of the time classified the various student groups opposing Marcos into two categories.^[7][8] The "Moderates", which included church-based groups, civil libertarians, and nationalists, were those who wanted to create change through political reforms.^[7] The "radicals", including a number of labor and student groups associated with the National Democracy movement, wanted broader, more systemic political reforms.^[7][9]

The "moderate" opposition

With the Constitutional Convention occupying their attention from 1971 to 1973, statesmen and politicians opposed to the increasingly more-authoritarian administration of Ferdinand Marcos mostly focused their efforts on political efforts from within the halls of power.^[13]

Student demonstrators, for example, made a manifesto for the constitutional convention, containing the following provisions:^[14]

• the non-partisan election of delegates to the national convention
• the non-partisan composition of poll inspectors and provincial board of canvassers
• public officials who will run as candidates should be made to resign or forfeit their seats upon filing of candidacy
• the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) must regulate the election propaganda and expense of the candidates
• the delegates to the convention must be made ineligible to run for any public office in the elections immediately after the convention
• the age requirement of delegates should be lowered from 25 to 21 years old.

Student groups considered "moderate" at the time included:

• the National Union of Students in the Philippines (NUSP),
• the National Students League (NSL), and
• the Young Christian Socialists Movement (CSM), communitarian-socialist organization.^[9]

A few days before the rally on January 26, Manuel F. Martinez, former Dawn (the weekly student newspaper of the University of the East) editor commented:

Now is the time for all trouble makers to come to the aid of the country. For the only chance for exploiters to triumph is for revolutionaries to do nothing [...] We must make trouble in the constitutional convention, trouble for vested interest, trouble for the profligate rich, trouble for the denizens of this detestable establishment and abominable status quo [...] The convention must be scuttled or wrecked if it is dominated by the very same interests against which stands the very spirit of change inherent in convening a constitutional convention. For conceived in greed, born in mischief and nurtured in iniquity, the spirit of wanton capitalism has never failed to bend human institutions to the service of injustice and sin.^[15]

To clarify, he explained that the word 'trouble' was used not in its literal sense, but rather that the youth should get involved in the coming convention, which they have been striving to do.

Later "moderate" groups would include the Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties or MCCCL, led by Senator Jose W. Diokno.^[8] The MCCCL's rallies are particularly remembered for their diversity, attracting participants from both the moderate and radical camps; and for their scale, with the biggest one attended by as many as 50,000 people.^[8]

The "radical" opposition

The other broad category of student groups who participated in the first quarter storm were those who wanted broader, more systemic political reforms, usually as part of the National Democracy movement. These groups were branded "radicals" by the media,^[7][9] although the Marcos administration extended that term to "moderate" protest groups as well.^[15]

Groups considered "radical" at the time included:^[9]

• the Kabataang Makabayan (KM),
• the Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan (SDK),
• the Student Cultural Association of the University of the Philippines (SCAUP),
• the Movement for Democratic Philippines (MDP),
• the Student Power Assembly of the Philippines (SPAP), and
• the Malayang Pagkakaisa ng Kabataang Pilipino (MPKP).

Kabataang Makabayan

Kabataang Makabayan (KM) is a political organization founded by Jose Maria Sison on November 30, 1964, intended to be a nationwide "extension" of the Student Cultural Association of the University of the Philippines (SCAUP), which is also an organization of student activists founded by Sison in 1959 that moved towards "academic freedom in the University against the combined machinations of the state and the church."^[16][17] The KM advocated for liberation from American imperialism, which "made the suffering of [the] people more complex and more severe." Their first demonstration, which took place at the U.S. Embassy on January 25, 1965, was held to this effect. The KM had since been active in various rallies and demonstrations such as those condemning the Laurel-Langley agreement, Parity Amendments, Mutual Defense treaty, the state visit of South Vietnam Premier Cao Ky in 1966, the state visit of President Marcos to the U.S., the Oct. 24, 1966 Manila Summit conference, the killings of Filipinos in American bases, and the visit of President Nixon—events which they believe contribute to the feudalistic nature of the country.^[16]

The rally held against the Manila Summit Conference on October 24 to 25, 1966, was among those that ended in violence.^[18] The media and government officials reminded the public to be polite to the country's visitors and display 'traditional Filipino hospitality,' expecting the KM to stage a demonstration. Furthermore, the Manila mayor's office announced that permits to demonstrate against the Manila Summit will not be issued. On the day before the beginning of the summit, as summiteers began to arrive, a group of students waved around name-calling placards, defending that they were not demonstrating, just picketing. They were taken by police and informed that they would be charged with demonstrating without a permit. On October 24, KM held a demonstration in front of Manila Hotel to protest against American involvement in Vietnam which resulted in a violent dispersal. One student had died, several were injured, and seven were arrested, charged with breach of the peace.^[15]

December of the same year, Sison was in Ateneo de Manila University to talk about the events of the October 24 movement. Sison highlighted the parallels between the state at current time and the state during the 1896 Philippine Revolution against Spain:

If the brilliant students - Dr. Jose Rizal, Emilio Jacinto and Gregorio del Pilar - had merely concentrated on stale academic studies, and pursued successful professional careers and married well - in the accomplished style of Señor Pasta in El Filibusterismo - they would be worthless now to this nation, as worthless [...]. Our elders who take pride on their sheer age and their sense of caution should learn from the [...] revolutionary and nationalist youth movement of 1896 and of today. The elders [...] should not now assume the function of censors and the black judges who condemned [...] patriots of the old democratic revolution as subversive heretics.^[15]

In general, during 1968, there have been many local student demonstrations trying to address internal issues, "ranging from stinking toilets to increased tuition fees."^[18] "At the Araneta University, for example, according to Cesar Bercades, president of its student council, the demonstrations there resulted in the damage of school property amounting to P56,920.34 and the dismissal of eight students from the university and all schools."^[19]

Events

Student activism in the late 1960s

Marcos had originally been a popular candidate both among students and in the broader public,^[20] handily defeating the incumbent, Diosdado Macapagal, in the 1965 presidential election.

Boosting his popularity by launching a plethora of public works projects, he became the first postwar Philippine President to be reelected, winning the November 1969 election by a landslide. However, Marcos's massive spending during the 1969 presidential campaign had taken its toll and triggered growing public unrest.^[20] During the campaign, Marcos spent $50 million worth in debt-funded infrastructure, triggering a balance of payments crisis.^[21]

First Quarter Storm

Students groups' reactions to the inflationary effects of the Balance of Payments crisis took the form of the First Quarter Storm, a period of civil unrest which took place during the "first quarter of the year 1970". It included a series of demonstrations, protests, and marches against the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, mostly organized by students and supported by workers, peasants, and members of the urban poor, from January 26 to March 17, 1970.^[22][23][24] Protesters at these events raised issues relating to social problems, authoritarianism, alleged election cheating, and corruption under Marcos.^[9][25] Violent dispersals of various FQS protests were among the first watershed events in which large numbers of Filipino students of the 1970s were radicalized against the Marcos administration. Due to these dispersals, many students who had previously held "moderate" positions (i.e., calling for legislative reforms) became convinced that they had no choice but to call for more radical social change.^[26]

1971 Suspension of the priviledge of the writ of Habeas Corpus

Marcos used the Plaza Miranda bombing, as a reason to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.^[10] This forced many students from the moderate opposition, including figures like Edgar Jopson, to join the ranks of the radicals.

In the aftermath of the bombing, Marcos lumped all of the opposition together and referred to them as communists, and many former moderates fled to the mountain encampments of the radical opposition to avoid being arrested by Marcos' forces.^[27][28]

Rise of the Moro conflict

Declaration of Martial Law

1974 Sacred Heart Novitiate Raid

The military raid on the Sacred Heart Novitiate in the Novaliches district of Quezon City in the Philippines on August 24, 1974^[29][30] is considered an important turning point in the Philippine Catholic church's resistance to the Marcos dictatorship.^[31] It was one of the key contributors to the emergence of the "middle force" of the opposition to Ferdinand Marcos, which were willing to work towards the dictator's ouster but were not part of the leftist opposition which had led the movement against Marcos up until that point.^[32]

ADD THAT THIS INVOLVED JAILING OF STUDENTS

Southern Tagalog 10

Assassination of Ninoy Aquino

People Power Revolution

Notable student leaders and human rights victims

• Lean Alejandro
• Edgar Jopson