Rolex 12 is the collective name of twelve of the closest and most powerful advisers of President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

during the martial law years in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

from 1972 to 1981.

History

During the latter years of his second elected term, Marcos conspired with various leaders of the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

and

Philippine Constabulary The Philippine Constabulary (PC; , ''HPP''; ) was a gendarmerie-type military police force of the Philippines from 1901 to 1991, and the predecessor to the Philippine National Police. It was created by the Insular Government, American occupat ...

. The goal was for Marcos to gain full authoritarian control of the country during his declaration of

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

in 1972. Marcos gave the military leadership powers during martial law, taking over from democratically elected officials and court judges. The twelve were responsible for many

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

atrocities, although the extent of their responsibility is still being investigated. These atrocities include torture, murder, seizures of property, displacement from homes, and arrest and detention without due process. Some of them fled with Marcos when he and his family left the Philippines in 1986, while Enrile and Ramos were instrumental in the coup against him.

Origin of the name

The origin of the name Rolex 12 came from accounts that each associate was gifted a luxury

watch A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of ...

from Marcos himself. A widespread story and some sources state that the brand was

Rolex Rolex () is a Swiss watch brand and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by German businessman Hans Wilsdorf and his eventual brother-in-law Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex ...

while some contend that they received

Omega Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...

watches instead. While it is true that the associates received gifts from Marcos, the brands remain unverified, and despite this confusion, the Rolex name became the most common identifier used to refer to these twelve Marcos associates.

Members of the "Rolex 12"

*Tomas Diaz, PMA-Cl '51 - Vice Chief of the

Juan Ponce Enrile Juan Valentin Furagganan Ponce Enrile Sr., (born Juan Valentin Furagganan; February 14, 1924), also referred to by his initials JPE, is a Filipino politician and lawyer who served as 21st President of the Senate of the Philippines from 2008 to ...

- Minister of National Defense *Romeo Espino UP-

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) *Romeo Gatan - Chief of the

Rizal Rizal most commonly refers to: * Rizal (province), a province of the Philippines * José Rizal, Filipino national hero whom the province is named after Rizal may also refer to: People * Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli, Malaysian footballer * Atep Ri ...

*Alfredo Montoya, PMA Cl-'51 -Chief of the Philippine Constabulary Metropolitan Command (METROCOM) *Ignacio Paz, PMA Cl-'51 - Chief of the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) *

Fidel Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer to reached ...

USMA The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

Cl-'50; Honorary PMA Cl-51 - Commanding General of the

(PC),

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the Philippines (1992–1998) *Jose Rancudo - Commanding General of the

Philippine Air Force The Philippine Air Force (PAF) () is the aerial warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Initially formed as part of the Philippine Army as the Philippine Army Air Corps (PAAC) in 1935, the PAAC eventually saw combat ...

(PAF) *Hilario Ruiz - Flag Officer in Command of the

Philippine Navy The Philippine Navy (PN) () is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an estimated strength of 24,500 active service personnel, including the 10,300-strong Philippine Marine Corps. It operates 91 combat ...

(PN) *Gen. Rafael Zagala - Commanding General of the

Philippine Army The Philippine Army (PA) () is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), responsible for ground warfare. , it had an estimated strength of 143,100 soldiers The service branch was established on December ...

(PA) *

Fabian Ver Fabian Crisologo Ver (born Fabian Maria Trinidad Juan Cirilo Crisologo Ver; January 20, 1920 – November 21, 1998) was a Filipino military officer who served as the Commanding Officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under President Fer ...

, Honorary- PMA Cl '51 - Chief of National Intelligence Security Authority (NISA) * Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr., Honorary PMA Cl-'51 - Governor of

Tarlac Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac (; ; ; ; ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. It had a population of 1,503,456 people according to ...

(1967–1969), Chairman of

San Miguel Corporation San Miguel Corporation (), abbreviated as SMC, is a Philippine multinational conglomerate with headquarters in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. The company is one of the largest and most diversified conglomerates in the Philippines. Originally fo ...

(1998–2020) Three Rolex 12 members were buried in

Libingan ng mga Bayani Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB, , ) is a national cemetery within Fort Bonifacio (formerly Fort William McKinley) in Barangay Western Bicutan, Taguig, Philippines. First established in May 1947 as a fitting resting place for Philippine mili ...

before Marcos: Espino, Gatan, and Zagala. Ramos followed in 2022.

References

Presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Rolex {{Philippines-hist-stub

History

Origin of the name

Members of the "Rolex 12"

See also

References