Veteran author-journalist Cecilio T. Arillo, PhD, has just published a new book, “A Country Imperiled: Tragic Lessons of a Distorted History (IAME, 2011),” which presents a bold and factual perspective on the presidency of deposed leader Ferdinand Marcos, his wife Imelda Romualdez Marcos, the martial law period, the Edsa Revolt, the regime of President Cory Aquino and the subsequent administrations until that of Cory’s son, President Benigno Aquino III.
Like his previous books, “Breakaway (CTA Publishing, 1986)” and “Greed and Betrayal (CTA, 2000),” Arillo presents a factual recounting of history in “A Country Imperiled..” even as it breaks accepted norms on historical personalities and the traditional textbook view on the nation’s past and present. “A Country Imperiled” follows the same tradition of factual narrations of political history as it seeks to objectively demystify the Aquino couple, former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. who is hailed as a martyr, and Cory Aquino as an icon of democracy.
Some of Arillo’s observations especially on Cory, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and President Aquino curiously find parallels in the controversial Wikileaks supposedly coming from former Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney. He also dissects nasty allegations leveled at the Marcos couple through a fair recounting of their actions. These are based on declassified government documents and biased reporting of events.
Arillo says the book sets the record straight for the benefit of the new generation of Filipinos who may have to rely on historical accounts to appreciate the characters of the nation’s previous leaders. He adds that what prompted him to write the book were what came out mostly as distortions of historical events and the glorification of people who are supposed to be made to account for their sins of omission and commission.
Arillo, in the post-Marcos years, looks at the trail of plunders, corruptions, economic deprivation, gruesome human rights violations, insurgencies, hundreds of killings involving journalists and serious problems of brownouts, flooding and horrendous traffic.
He says the book also seeks to break the common notion that corruption is the root of all evils in the country. “While corruption is a valid issue, the mendicancy of the country and wrong economic policies were caused mostly by predation that the country’s leaders have allowed to persist,” he writes in the foreword.
In his incisive review of the ills of the economy, Arillo puts on the spotlight the collusion between the Cory Aquino regime and the mostly Makati-based big businesses and “corporate predators that thrive on political patronage with the Aquinos.”
The book also exposes the role of the Church in the downfall of Marcos and the restoration of the old oligarchy. It also examines the vindictiveness of the Cory Aquino administration that was exemplified by the targeting for demolition of the efficiently functioning ministries, the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Human Settlements, particularly its Technological Resource Center whose assets were dissipated and later abolished on the mere argument that these agencies were creations of Marcos.
Arillo’s deconstruction of events is an interesting guide for legal researchers as well as students out to write a factual recollection of the country’s historical events. The book is now available for worldwide distribution at Amazon’s Kindle and CreateSpace.