Reinventing Marcos: From Dictator to Hero

It is rare for an international correspondent to re-argue the truth of stories filed decades ago. But when history is twisted to restore the reputation of a deposed dictator, an angry correspondent can return to relive the long-ago fight. That is the battle Keith Dalton wages in Reinventing Marcos: From Dictator to Hero​, cramming two stories into one — his life as a foreign correspondent and his reporting on former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos.

Marcos was a politician who became a dictator and a kleptocrat, ruling for two decades until he was driven out of Manila by the People Power revolution of February 1986. History's thumbs-down for Marcos seemed settled when he died in exile in 1989.

But Ferdinand's widow, Imelda, and son, Bongbong, spent years rinsing and remaking the Marcos legend, and their efforts were crowned when Bongbong was elected president in 2022. The family and its followers proclaim that Ferdinand was the nation's best-ever president who gave the Philippines a "golden age."

Dalton does not agree: Reinventing Marcos takes aim at the apologists, fantasists and propagandists who have weaponised the internet to concoct a revisionist history aimed at swinging public opinion from vilification to veneration.

Veteran journalist Graeme Dobell will introduce Keith's book, and Keith will address us on the Marcos legacy and his experiences as a journalist in Asia.

Copies of the book will be available on the night @ $30.00 each.

Registration is necessary for catering purposes.

REGISTRATION CLOSES AT 4:00PM AEST ON TUESDAY, APRIL 15.

We welcome participants in-person at the Glover Cottages, tickets to be pre-paid . Once the limit for in-person attendees is reached, tickets will no longer be sold on the website or at the door.

Refreshments will be served from 6pm.

For further information please email nswexec@internationalaffairs.org.au