Reporters desperate for a hint of interesting copy clustered around Aquino who, as usual, obliged. The senator regaled them with lively criticisms of the president. Laughter echoed through the near-empty

The First Lady often was unhappy with the river so near to her open veranda. Too often it had an unpleasant urban-industrial bouquet. Sometimes it had the stench of an open sewer. This night the Pasig

The young Harvard-trained attorney moved immediately into the cabinet. Always Enrile was particularly solicitous for the president’s safety, whispering warnings when he detected the slightest hints of

The regular Marcos column in the Expresscame from all the hours Tibo spent at the president’s side. Tibo’s extraordinary palace access made him privy to many high-level secrets.“Sir — ?” Another apprehensive

PROLOGUEFriday, September 22, 1972The day began with bomb threats against children. Manila schools were closed. After weeks of nerve-jangling rumors of coups and terror attacks, the entire city was on

Yes, throughout the diary Marcos lies to himself. All the same, it provides an extraordinary view of history and a rarely witnessed event: the advent of a dictatorship. Despite pages filled with calculated

The Diary: An IntroductionIn the regal isolation of Malacanang Palace, Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos had visions of grandeur. He imagined a place for himself alongside the world’s great figures.

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In the opulent isolation of Malacañang Palace, where the weight of power could often be felt in the very walls, Ferdinand E. Marcos imagined himself not just as a leader, but as a figure whose name would