Former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. campaigns in Mandaluyong. Photo from his official Facebook account
MANILA, Philippines — In the mind of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., he was the one who was at the receiving end of widespread disinformation and victimized by fake news.
During Go Negosyo’s KandidaTalks interview on Monday, Marcos said that while there are fact-checkers, some of them have their own agenda.
“Meron naman tayong tinatawag na fact-checker pero yung mga fact-checker naman kung minsan ay may sariling agenda. Kaya’t finafact-check lang nila yung one side of the story, yung kabila hindi nila ginagawa,” Marcos said.
“Kami biktima kami dyan e. Maraming finafact-check ako na sinasabi hindi totoo ‘yung sinasabi ko. Wala naman akong sinabing ganun pero fake news daw yung sinabi ko. Wala akong sinabing ganun… Iniimbento nila yung sinabi ko tapos sasabihing fake,” he added, without citing a particular instance.
Based on the preliminary findings of Tsek.ph, an academe-based fact-checking initiative, released in February, Marcos is the beneficiary of positive but misleading messaging on social media.
On the other hand, Marcos’ closest rival in the presidential elections, Vice President Leni Robredo, is the “biggest victim” of disinformation, Tsek.ph added.
READ: Robredo is biggest disinformation victim; Marcos gains from ‘misleading’ posts — fact-checker
Marcos, however, did not agree that he was the biggest beneficiary of disinformation on social media.
“I don’t see how that is. Para sa akin, ako ang nabibiktima ng fake news. Dahil ang dami-daming sinasabi sa akin na di naman talaga totoo,” he said, again without citing a specific instance.
Marcos, while clearly a frontrunner in popularity surveys, is running his campaign on the shadow of his father Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.’s legacy as a strongman and whose administration had been riddled with rampant corruption and human rights abuses until the Edsa People Power Revolution topped his 20-year rule.
“Maraming nagtatanong sa akin tungkol sa aking ama dahil syempre nagsasagutan yan sa social media… So sinasagot ko, sasabihin ko ‘alam ko ito yung sa aking pagkaalam, ito ang nangyari dyan at ang dahilan kung bakit yan ang ginawa ng aking ama o kung sinuman sa gobyerno nya dahil ganito, ganyan,’” Marcos Jr. said.
“Pero lagi kong tinatapos ang usapan, na sinasabing ‘pero wag lang kayo makinig sakin dahil may agenda din ako e. Ama ko yan e, Syempre kakampi ko siya.’ Mag-aral kayo, mag-research kayo ng mabuti, ang daming libro dyan,” he further said.
Recently, Marcos claimed that there were a lot of “fake news” going about his family’s ill-gotten wealth and estate tax cases. These, however, are amply supported by verified evidence and numerous court convictions and decisions.