I was deposed by a coup d'etat, by friends that I trusted and aided by the American Government.
Authority has to exist before it can be limited, and it is authority that is in scarce supply in those modernizing countries where government is at the mercy of alienated intellectuals, rambunctious colonels, and rioting students.
These statements about torture, about alleged misuse of power and things like that, insulted the Filipinos more than their leader because it was made to appear as if Filipinos would tolerate a leader who would torture his own people, who would utilize his executive prerogatives for abuses.
My friends in the opposition have forgotten that the constitution of the Philippines was amended in 1973 with their participation. The constitution mandates the administration, including the Batasan, or legislature, to convert slowly into a semiparliamentary form of government. The president in such a situation can issue decrees and edicts.
The U.S. State Department has a consistent record of error in the assessment of Asian situations and judging Red Chinese intentions.
We dare not supress thoughts, but when they are expressed through violence, like the idea that power comes from the barrel of a gun, they must be dealt with and met accordingly.
My countrymen: we have reached a turning point in our history. The choice is yours. Shall we venture into this brave new world, bright with possibilities, or retreat to the safety of our familiar but sterile past? I am for crossing the frontier.
I often wonder what I will be remembered in history for. Scholar? Military hero? Builder?
To write our constitution is for the past, the present, and the future to come together all at once in one single motion, in one single heave, one single cry. For we correct the errors of the past and chart a new course for the future, based on the experience of the present.
History should not be left to the historians. Rather, be like Churchill. Make history, and then write it.
Filipinos are not worse than any other colonized people except that our colonization was a little longer, and the independence movement was always dictated in political terms, never in social ones. We borrowed terms, but we didn't understand them.
In the Philippines, the host should always be willing to defer to the wishes of the guest.
I am ashamed to run against a lady. It's demeaning, very degrading. I have always refused to argue with a lady.
What we ask of the developed countries is to let the Third World find a third way.
The challenge to Asia is to discard the dry, meatless bone of mysticism and fatalism.
Let us not be so naive as to think that revolution is just a matter of social or economic discontent.
The one indisputable reality of dictatorship is that dissent, insult, and malevolent language do not go unpunished if it is allowed at all.
I do not care how brave a president is; I do not care how many medals he may wear. I do not care how well trained his guards may be. If he violates the will of the people, he shall be eliminated.
Filipino talents and skills are becoming ubiquitous in many parts of the world. Returning Filipino workers have helped improve our skills and technological standards.
I have been called brave in my time, but brave as I may have been against foreign invaders, I have no heart to shed Filipino blood.
