False Nostalgia

Was the Philippines really the wealthiest country in Asia during the 1970s and 1980s? Did martial law eradicate hunger and poverty? Did the Marcos regime produce a “golden age” of infrastructure? And did the Marcoses really fight the oligarchy and own a million tons of gold?
For decades, a myriad of myths about the Marcoses have proliferated and are being spread exponentially today in social media. So pervasive are these myths that the prevailing notion now—even among the youth—is that martial law was the “golden age” of the Philippines.
False Nostalgia aims to set the record straight. Weaving together hard data and facts in clear and accessible prose, this book aims to debunk the “golden age” myths one by one. In the process, it paints a clearer, more complete, and therefore more honest picture of the Philippine economy at that time. More than anything else, this book reminds us why—in this time of mangled histories and fragile memories—it has never been more crucial to fight for the truth and to never forget.