Whitlam – Visit to the Philippines

Clip 1: Whitlam backs Marcos’s Asian forum idea

Taken from the historical footage Whitlam – Visit to the Philippines (1974)

Original title classification not rated – this clip chosen to be PG

Curator’s clip description

Then prime minister, Gough Whitlam, addresses the State Dinner at Malacañang Palace, Manila, hosted by President Ferdinand and Mrs Imelda Marcos on 11 February 1974. The dinner is followed by a performance from the Bayanihan Dance Company. The next day a busy schedule of engagements begins with the laying of flowers at the Rizal Monument.

Curator’s notes

Gough Whitlam’s 14-day tour of six South-East Asian nations, in early 1974, wound up in the Philippines. Positive regional media coverage of the preceding stopovers had by then given the trip considerable political momentum. In the first of two meetings with President Marcos – a state dinner at Malacañang Palace on 11 February – Marcos spoke of Gough as ‘a fresh new wind of innovation’ and ‘a creative energy, symbolic and representative of the character and strength of Australia and its people’.

Philippine-Australian relations had their beginnings as early as 1788 when, under Spanish rule, the Philippines supplied sugar to the new British colony of Sydney. In Gough’s speech, he acknowledged the two countries’ shared history and major religion, before going on to endorse Marcos’s proposal of an Asian forum, a concept that the Philippines president had been advocating since the mid 1960s.

Adrienne Parr, curator

Teachers’ notes

provided by The Le@rning Federation

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This clip shows newsreel footage of the then prime minister, Gough Whitlam, addressing a state dinner at Malacanang Palace, Manila, on an official visit to the Philippines in February 1974. Whitlam speaks about greater cooperation in the Asia–Pacific region and endorses the proposal of a Pacific forum made by Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos. The clip then shows Gough and Margaret Whitlam along with Marcos and his wife, Imelda, taking their seats to watch a performance of the Bayanihan Dance Company. In the final sequence Whitlam lays a wreath on a memorial to the Philippine national hero José Rizal, who inspired the revolution that led to the overthrow of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines. The clip includes narration.

Educational value points

The clip shows Australia’s growing relationship with nations in South-East Asia, in this instance the Philippines. Prior to the election of the Whitlam Labor government in 1972, Australia’s foreign policy was closely aligned firstly with that of Britain, and after the Second World War with that of the USA. However, while Whitlam sought to maintain a close relationship with the USA, he pursued an independent foreign policy that emphasised regional engagement. Whitlam believed that Australia’s foreign policy should address the nation’s interests rather than be tied to the global objectives of the USA. The focus on the Asia–Pacific region was prompted by Australia’s location in the region and a desire to strengthen relationships with neighbouring countries in the interests of national security and trade.

During his period in office (1972–75), Whitlam strengthened trade relations with and increased overseas aid to the countries of Asia, including the Philippines. His government also withdrew the remaining Australian military units from the Vietnam War, established diplomatic relations with the communist governments in North Vietnam and North Korea, and formally recognised the People’s Republic of China. The removal of the last remnants of the White Australia Policy, which used a dictation test to exclude non-European migrants and was perceived within Asia as being racist, also sent a signal that Australia wanted to be an equal and active partner in the Asia–Pacific region.

Edward Gough Whitlam (1916–) travelled overseas more extensively than had any previous Australian prime minister, and while the federal opposition and tabloid press dismissed these trips as junkets, visits to Asian countries were a symbolic and practical means of cementing relations in the region. In September 1973, 10 months after becoming prime minister, Whitlam travelled throughout South-East Asia, and in October he became the first Australian prime minister to visit the People’s Republic of China. During the 1974 trip shown here he visited Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Burma and Laos.

Ferdinand Marcos (1917–89) helped found the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967 and was an advocate of regional cooperation. The members of ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Whitlam supported the proposal of a Pacific forum that would include the People’s Republic of China and Japan and would strengthen economic and political ties between countries in the Asia–Pacific region. However, it was not until 1989, under the leadership of the then prime minister, Bob Hawke, that the first meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum took place.

Gough Whitlam, a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), was elected the federal Member for Werriwa, New South Wales, in 1952. He was prime minister from December 1972 until 11 November 1975, leading the ALP to a historic win with an ambitious social reform program after 23 years in opposition. In 1975 he was dismissed as prime minister in controversial circumstances by the then governor-general, Sir John Kerr, and after losing the subsequent election he remained as opposition leader until 1977, retiring from Parliament in 1978.

Margaret Whitlam’s active support for her husband’s political career is evident in the clip and through her work in his electorate. Her outspoken manner was a departure from the norm at a time when women in this role were, in her words, expected to be ‘seen and not heard’ (www.oph.gov.au, November 2006). Margaret accompanied Gough Whitlam on official visits overseas, including to China, Japan, India, North America and Europe, but also wrote a column for a women’s magazine and regularly appeared as a guest on television and radio, where she discussed political and social issues such as women’s rights and conservation. Her political activism has continued throughout her life, which was documented in a 2006 biography by Susan Mitchell.

Ferdinand Marcos was president of the Philippines between 1965 and 1986. While he was initially elected by popular vote, a deteriorating economy led to social unrest and in 1972 he declared martial law and assumed dictatorial control of the country. Marcos’s presidency was marked by government corruption and political repression, and Marcos himself embezzled millions of dollars. Eventually he was ousted by a popular uprising.

Dr José Rizal (1861–96) is a national hero in the Philippines. His execution by the Spanish inspired the Philippine Revolution, which brought an end to 333 years of Spanish colonial rule. Rizal trained as a medical doctor in Madrid and was also a prolific writer whose two novels, Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, which were critical of the Spanish colonialists, inspired nationalist dissent. In 1892, after founding the non-violent reform society La Liga Filipina, Rizal was exiled to the island of Mindanao, where he spent the next four years conducting scientific research and setting up a school and hospital. He was executed in 1896 on charges of sedition.