page_title: Economic history of the Philippines (1965–86)
section_title: Background: Economy of the Philippines before 1965
hierarchical_section_title: Economic history of the Philippines (1965–86) / Background: Economy of the Philippines before 1965
caption_attribution_description: English: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos with Vice President Fernando Lopez
context_page_description: The 21-year period of Philippine economic history during Ferdinand Marcos’ regime – from his election in 1965 until he was ousted by the People Power Revolution in 1986 – was a period of significant economic highs and lows.
  The early part of Ferdinand Marcos' administration continued the rising growth rate which characterized the previous administrations of the Third Philippine Republic, peaking at nearly 9 percent in 1973 and 1976. However, Marcos' later years in power saw the worst recession in Philippine history, with the economy contracting by 7.3% in 1984 and 1985.
  The dramatic rise and fall of the Philippine economy during this period is attributed to the Marcos administration's heavy dependence on foreign loans, its policy of establishing monopolies under Marcos cronies which resulted in significant income inequality, corruption by government officials, and the capital flight which has historically been attributed to the Marcos family's economic plunder.
context_section_description: Before Marcos first became President in 1965, the Philippines was already the second largest economy in Asia, behind only Japan at a time when the entirety of Asia was still recovering from the ravages of World War II. 
  Following an economic strategy of import substitution industrialization, the Philippine economy before Marcos was characterized by growing industrial production in sectors including textiles, clothing, metalworks, machinery and petroleum products.
  New, high-yielding crop varieties new irrigation and mechanization techniques brought growth to the Agriculture sector. International collaboration for new agricultural technologies was pursued, most notably with the International Rice Research Institute was founded in 1960 under the administration of Carlos P. Garcia.
  However, many sectors of the Philippine economy were controlled by the traditional elite, who had become powerful during the Spanish and American occupations of the Philippines and had since become major players in Philippine politics.
  Within this sociopolitical climate, Ferdinand Marcos, the scion of a political clan from Northern Luzon, was able to deftly portray himself as an outsider, using his finely honed ortatorical skills to promise what one historian would describe as "dazzling visions of rapid growth, impending development, and the alleviation of poverty."
  By picking Fernando Lopez as his running mate, gaining early support from the Iglesia ni Cristo voting bloc, and drawing on the propaganda value of his beauty queen wife Imelda, who charmed the rich vote rich provinces of her native Visayas, Marcos won the 1965 Philippine presidential election against incumbent Diosdado Macapagal and independent challenger Raul Manglapus.
caption: Ferdinand Marcos with Fernando Lopez, whom he would later tap as vice president during his first presidential campaign.
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