Whitlam – Visit to the Philippines

Clip 2: Manila Bay cruise

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

The then Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda Marcos host a Manila Bay Cruise on 12 February 1974 for the then prime minister Gough Whitlam and his wife Mrs Margaret Whitlam.

Curator’s notes

On the third (second full) day of his busy Philippines schedule in February 1974, Gough Whitlam and a selection of his touring party were taken on a cruise on Manila Bay to historic Corregidor, aboard the Philippines presidential yacht ‘Ang Pangulo’. It was the second of two meetings with President Marcos and a brief chance for some relaxation. Marcos exhibited his water skiing prowess, while the Whitlams took a swim.

Gough had been a member of the forces which liberated the Philippines from the Japanese in the Second World War and Marcos was also a war veteran. At a stop off on the Bataan Peninsula, the party came across some ex members of General Douglas MacArthur’s staff, who were there on a sentimental pilgrimage. At Corregidor the party toured the batteries and paid homage to the island’s monumental wartime role. The cruise ended and it was back to Manila for more scheduled engagements.

Adrienne Parr, curator

Teachers’ notes

provided by The Le@rning Federation

This page is printer friendly

This clip shows the then prime minister, Gough Whitlam, during the third day of his visit to the Philippines in February 1974 on the final leg of a six-nation tour of South-East Asia. It shows Gough and Margaret Whitlam on a cruise on Manila Bay, hosted by Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda Marcos. During the cruise the party stops at Corregidor Island, which was one of the last Asian defences to fall to the Japanese during the Second World War. The clip shows the Whitlams attending a function that evening with local and foreign press. The narrator says that during the cruise Whitlam and Marcos held talks on bilateral and regional cooperation, and that later in the day Whitlam visited the Asian Development Bank.

Educational value points

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 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 which 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.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), which has its headquarters in Manila, was established in 1966 to improve the welfare of people in Asia and the Pacific, where two-thirds of the world’s poor live, through the provision of loans and technical assistance. The ADB is owned by 66 member economies, 47 of whom come from the region, including Australia, which is the fifth-largest shareholder and has contributed $2.93 billion in capital subscription and $1.42 billion to special funds since joining the ADB in 1966. The ADB staff, a number of whom are Australian, include academic and other experts in the areas of agriculture, civil engineering, economics, public policy and finance.

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, leaving Parliament in 1978.

Ferdinand Marcos (1917–89) 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 he himself embezzled millions of dollars. Eventually he was ousted by a popular uprising. Marcos was committed to regional cooperation and in 1967 helped found the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Corregidor is an island fortress at the entrance to Manila Bay that during the Battle of the Philippines (1941–42) was the site of Allied Headquarters under the command of US General Douglas MacArthur and the temporary location of the Philippine Government. After the Philippines fell into Japanese hands 13,000 US and Philippine troops held out at Corregidor for 27 days against a 75,000-strong Japanese force before surrendering on 6 May 1942. The action may have thwarted Japanese plans to invade Australia.

During the Second World War, Whitlam served in the Royal Australian Airforce as a navigator–bomb aimer, and was initially stationed at Gove in eastern Arnhem Land, where his squadron protected convoys off northern Australia. He took part in bombing raids on Japanese-held positions and shipping as far away as the Philippines. Marcos served in the Philippine army and maintained that he had led a guerrilla unit against Japanese forces. However, it was later revealed that his service had been far less distinguished than he claimed.