Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralín Marcos (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives (1949-1959) and a member of the Philippine Senate (1959-1965). During World War II he was the leader of the Ang Maharlika guerrilla force in northern Luzon. In 1963 he became Senate President. As Philippine president and strongman, his greatest achievement was in the fields of infrastructure development and international diplomacy. However, his administration was marred by massive government corruption, despotism, nepotism, political repression and human rights violations. In 1986 he was removed from power during the People Power Revolution after it was revealed he had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the United States.
Marcos was born on September 11, 1917 in Sarrat, a small town in Ilocos Norte. Named by his parents, Mariano Marcos and Josefa Edralin, after Ferdinand VII of Spain, baptized into the Philippine Independent Church, Marcos was a champion debater, boxer, swimmer and a wrestler while in the University of the Philippines.
Marcos graduated cum laude with a law degree from the U.P. College of Law in 1939 and was elected to the Pi Gamma Mu international honor society. As a young law student of the University of the Philippines, Marcos was indicted and convicted of the murder of Julio Nalundasan, the man who twice defeated his father for a National Assembly seat. While in detention, he studied for and passed the bar examination with one of the highest scores in history. He appealed his conviction and argued his case before the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Impressed by his legal defense, the court unanimously acquitted him.
When the Second World War broke out, Marcos was called to arms in defense of the Philippines against the Japanese. He was a combat intelligence officer of the 21st Infantry division. He fought in the three-month Battle of Bataan in 1942, and was one of the victims of the Bataan Death March, a Japanese war crime in which thousands of prisoners of war were forcibly transported after being defeated. He was released later. Though he was captured once more at Fort Santiago, he escaped and joined the guerrilla movements against the Japanese. He claimed to have been one of the guerrilla leaders in Luzon and that his greatest exploit was the Battle of Besang Pass, though the veracity of his claims had been widely questioned. However, genuine photos taken right after the war showed Marcos with decorations on his chest: a Distinguished Service Cross, a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Subsequent claims to other awards proved to be a point of contention among historians.