President marcos, multinationals, the world bank, and the u.S. government: Domestic and international political economy of philippines' coconut industry

President Ferdinand Marcos had given authority to a group of technocrats, who would plan the nation’s path to economic development, and to the military, which had been given free reign to impose order and to prevent strikes or economic disruptions. Under President Corazon Aquino, the Philippines is trying to recover from the economic crisis created by the Marcos regime. The Philippines, with the full support of the World Bank, has retreated to a model of economic development based on increasing agricultural exports. The May 1984 elections, unlike other elections held undermartial law, became “an opportunity to express popular dissatisfaction with the Marcos government”. The economic planners had begun implementing policies which would shift incentives away from producers for the domestic market and toward producers for the world market. The Philippines is the world’s largest producer and supplier of coconut products. In 1976, the country supplied 82 percent of the world’s total requirements for coconut products.