How Marcos recruited his economic managers

[In the following, the statement of the speaker is captured as fully, although abbreviated in the interest of space. To break long paragraphs, I introduce a double-slash – Source: In Dialogue: The Economic Managers of the Marcos Administration, National Historical Commission of the Philippines, 2020, pp. 1-7.//. GPS, Crossroads.]

The dialogue began with each one of us explaining how they were recruited. This is highly instructive for history and for the practice of governance. Vicente Paterno (former chairman, Board of Investment, Secretary of Industry and Senator) who organized the meeting, presided the first meeting.

Vicente Paterno. This is a gathering of five men who worked together during much of the Marcos government. In my own case, I joined the Philippine government in 1970, one and a half years before Proclamation 1081. I owe to my friends Cesar [Virata] and Cedito Mapa the invitation to join government. I’d like to ask each one of us to tell each other when we joined the government of Mr. Marcos.

Placido Mapa, Jr. I was already in government under Pres. Diosdado Macapagal as the deputy director general under Armand Fabella of the Program Implementation Agency (PIA) and as undersecretary of finance under Feny Hechanova. And then, when there was a transition from the Macapagal administration to the Marcos Administration, I was asked to stay on and head the PIA, but the name was changed to the Presidential Economic Staff.

Cesar E. A. Virata. In my case I was already in government because I was in UP from 1960. I became dean up to 1968. But in 1967, Dr. Mapa and Cesar Zalamea recommended me to President Marcos to take charge of his plan to create an investment office. // So I was called by the President to a dinner to discuss his plans about investments. He told me he wanted the 11 bills in Congress to be passed into law, and the chairman of the economic affairs committee then in the House was Cong. Lorenzo Sarmiento, and in the Senate was Sen. Jose Diokno. // The President also told me that he wanted the other matters to be cleared, like the termination of the Laurel Langley which was, at that time about six more years to go, so he wanted a discussion with the US panel on how we could transition American companies enjoying parity rights to transition out. And of course, he also told me that there was this pending ratification of the treaty with Japan, the so-called Amity Navigation and Commerce which was pending in the Senate for about 13 years already and so he wanted all of these things cleared. And so I chose to be one of the deputies of Cedito in the PES rather than organize immediately a new office, so I worked as deputy director general for investments in Arlegui (very near Malacanan). Our office then was in Arlegui… // That was March 16, 1967. I had to transition out also from SGV because I was doing consulting work with SGV at the same time I was faculty of the College of Business Administration and Engineering.

Gerardo P. Sicat. … I came in July of 1970 as chairman of the National Economic Council. That was a very prestigious, as well as very high, post at the time and I felt that I was too young ….// [in answer to a question about his age from V. Paterno] I was 34 years old. I was essentially the pure economist of the whole group I think. I had no experience in signing off any agency payroll before. And I did not have any previous experience in government at a low level position. But I was a firm critic of government economic policy at that time. Cedito Mapa and Cesar Virata were then already in their own posts, and they had noticed the way I was criticizing government policy, as well as trying to suggest ways and means the government could improve the directions. My career had been in the School of Economics. // It was a very funny thing when I was asked to join the government because on that very day, my wife was preparing to buy our whole family tickets to go abroad. I had already accepted an appointment at Yale University. I was going to be away. But I decided eventually to change course because I felt that the challenge of serving the government was by far more important.

Jaime Laya. I guess almost all of us kind of almost dragged in another person. It was Gerry (Sicat) who took me in to government. When Prime Minister Virata joined government I succeeded him as the dean of the College of Business Administration. I was dean of the college from ’67 until ’74 (when) Gerry recommended me to President Marcos (as) deputy director general for programs and projects. // When Martial Law was declared I was really at the University of the Philippines as dean of the College of Business and was also a partner at SGV…In January ’74 when Gerry took up my appointment with Pres. Marcos, he said, should I not at least meet him first? And so Gerry took me to the President’s office. There were just the three of us. I had a growing family so I really wasn’t so sure if I, you know, wanted to join the government. But it doesn’t really happen to many 34-year olds, you know, that the Commander-in-Chief was persuading you to join government. // We talked for about 40 minutes. And finally I said “sige ho, I will join for one year if that’s okay with you.” So he said “Yes.” And then, if I remember right, he said “O sige, when do we swear you in?” He was using the plural. And that’s why I said “Sir, I’m not in a hurry.” And then he said “We are.” And so he asked for an oath of office form and he called in people from outside. Sec. Cesar Virata who was outside waiting to see the President on something and Gerry and others who came in were witnesses.

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