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<img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-9/dr-ferdinand-marcos-sm.webp" alt="President Ferdinand E. Marcos" />
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(President Ferdinand Marcos being conferred with a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa degree during the investiture of the first Filipino president of Central Philippine University, Rex. D. Drilon, April 21, 1967.)
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Much more has been uttered by Leftists, communists and Marcos haters on what they call the dark pages of history. They recite alleged atrocities and violation of human rights and civil liberties.
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All these bring to fore the question: Is Marcos a heel or a hero?
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I would like to quote Justice Manuel Lazaro, former Marcos Government Corporate Counsel and Court of Appeals Justice. He wrote the foreword to "The Marcos Legacy" which my colleague Cecilio Arillo wrote as an objective narration and exposition of events. Lazaro is now president of the Philconsa (Philippine Constitution Association) chaired by former Rep. Martin Romualdez.
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Lazaro wrote: 
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"He [Marcos] is a hero to those who are aware and appreciative of his remarkable performance and achievements. However, he is heel to those who envy his ingenuity, vision and foresight and to those who take revenge and hatred."
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Thus, the answer depends on who is talking. It is a matter of perspective. Some may say that Lazaro being with the Marcos government is biased. But I myself look at the entire picture of what Marcos did.
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History tells us that Marcos was not only facing the threat of communism. Communists were acting in connivance with the Liberal Party opposition and civil society in media, labor academe, the Church and in parliament where legislators and their sympathizers were already knocking on the gates of Malacañang.
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He was also facing the separatist movement of the Muslims in Mindanao.
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In other words, Marcos was fighting on several fronts and he had to do something when Mao Tse Tung-inspired communists were already having their arms brought to Northern Luzon.
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If it were not for martial law, God knows what could have happened to the country! The Supreme Court upheld martial law because it was allowed by the 1935 Constitution to suppress rebellion. Public safety required it.
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People often forget that Marcos was responsible for the North and South Expressways, the Marcos Highway to Baguio, and the Marcos Maharlika Highway that extends from Leyte to Luzon.
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Significantly, out of the 2,036 presidential decrees issued by Marcos, only 67 have been repealed or modified. Santa Banana, the Marcos laws still govern us today!
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Lazaro put it very well when he said: 
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"In a manner of speaking, Marcos the corpus is dead. But Marcos the law giver lives, pulsating vibrantly. His laws are eloquent proof of his wisdom, vision and foresight in crafting policies for good and effective governance."
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Marcos also crafted and issued signal laws that have been hailed and lauded by all succeeding administrations.
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Marcos - a great man unjustly judged at the wrong time by the wrong minds