A revolt notwithstanding, the Marcoses have never left usโand may never will. This forum explores an answer to why this is so. An answer that is more rooted in catching a glimpse of displays and signages than in the brute intramurals of elite politics; an answer found in naming and placemaking, in how power alters memory to erase vestiges of its corrupt history.
๐๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ? ๐๐ฏ ๐๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ is a project of the Marcos Regime Research of the UP Third World Studies Center. It catalogs Marcos sitesโthose that mention, in celebratory or โneutralโ terms, the supposed excellence and benevolence of the Marcosesโand by extension, the Romualdezesโduring their conjugal regime. Through this inventory, we hope to render in bold relief the network of sites where life for almost the past half-century must every day reckon with what the Marcoses have left behind.
So far, we have identified over 250 Marcos sites. Across Luzon and the provinces of Leyte and Samar, we have visited nearly 150 of these: museums, parks, government buildings, houses of worship, barangays, schools, historical markers, and even a stadium and an airport.
To ground the lecture on the publicized โprivate spacesโ of the Marcoses and how these contribute to their image-making, we revisit two mansions that the conjugal dictators built at the height of their power: the Malacaรฑang of the North in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, and the Santo Niรฑo Shrine and Heritage Museum in Tacloban, Leyte.
An ArcGIS StoryMaps webpage detailing the sites is available here.
