WHY ARE THEY REWRITING THE

HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES?

 by VMRTN
 April 23, 2022

The only way a history of the Philippines can be written by a Filipino is to focus on the
sufferings of the Filipino people. Other factors, such as the entire emancipation of the
people, rectifying details from the perspective of locals, and so on, compelled our
historians to rewrite the history that truly makes sense now for us learners for Filipinos
to learn from our past. 

In the years since there has been a concerted attempt to rewrite history and improve the
image of the Marcos family. Numerous false claims have been made suggesting that
the Philippines was rich during its “golden era” during the Marcos years, in order to
highlight the splendor and high-profile achievements of the time, as one observer put it. 

Coronel detailed the alleged efforts of a well-funded disinformation machine to mislead

Filipinos and make them forget the reasons for the popular uprising 36 years ago that
resulted in the ouster of a dictator, former President Ferdinand Marcos, during his
speech at this year’s Adrian Cristobal Lecture Series. 

‘Make history, and then write it,’ Marcos said in his journal in 1971. Ferdinand Marcos,
(born September 11, 1917, in Sarrat, Philippines—died September 28, 1989, in
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States), was the President of the Philippines from 1966 to
1986. 

Manuel Roxas, the son of a politician, was a trial lawyer before becoming the first
president of the independent Philippines. In 1966, he was elected President of the
United States. 

During his first term, Marcos made improvements in agriculture, industry, and
education, but he imposed martial rule in 1972, and his last years in office were marked
by immense government corruption, economic stagnation, political repression, and the
steady formation of a communist insurgency. 

Following the widespread outcry over the assassination of opposition leader Benigno
Aquino (1932–83) and Marcos’ allegedly manipulated electoral victory against Aquino’s
widow, Corazon Aquino, Marcos was driven into exile in Hawaii. 

He and his wife, Imelda, were charged with racketeering in the Philippines for diverting
billions of pesos from the country’s economy. 

She returned to the Philippines following his death, where she was charged and
convicted of corruption; the conviction was later overturned. Marcos’s family has been
wrongly demonized, that President Ferdinand Marcos was not a corrupt kleptocrat who
delivered pride, riches, and infrastructure to his nation during his two-decade reign while
downplaying human rights atrocities. 

The legacy of Marcos has also gotten support from presidential administrations loyal to
the family. Bongbong and his sister Imee both served as governor after Imelda before
being elected as senators at the national level. 

The Marcos family not only survived but prospered, as they participated in political
bargaining, particularly during President Rodrigo Duterte’s tenure, who even permitted
the late dictator’s burial in the National Heroes’ Cemetery in 2016, thereby changing
perceptions of Marcos’ legacy. 

After being mired down in legal disputes, the underfunded Presidential Commission on
Good Government, tasked with retrieving the ill-gotten money of the Marcos regime,
has recovered just approximately a third of the cash. Bongbong portrays himself in this
year’s election as a steady hand on a sentimental quest to recapture the country’s
previous greatness. 

Bongbong Marcos has attempted to capitalize on Filipinos’ dissatisfaction with the

democratic government failures that followed his father’s dictatorship. Democracy and
political liberties were restored during the 1986 People Power Revolution that overthrew
Ferdinand Marcos. Surprisingly, Duterte’s daughter Sara is running for vice president
with Bongbong. 

The popularity of Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte demonstrates that a disillusioned
population may vote for politicians merely based on their political ancestry once more.
Bongbong’s presidential bid symbolizes a spectacular turnaround in the Marcos family’s
political fortunes from pariahs to a dynasty. 

Ferdinand Alexander, his eldest son, is standing for Congress and is at the center of the
campaign. The 27-year-old, known as Sandro, is a rising online star. Fan cams of him
have their own accounts, with photographs and videos flowing through filters and love
songs. 

Some threads are fan fiction, with viewers posing as being in an arranged marriage with
him or being fought over by Sandro and his siblings. TikTok users are mostly young
people who aren’t burdened by the baggage of martial law. 

The Marcos family will now benefit from that paradigm, especially because Duterte’s
daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio is running for vice president with Marcos Jr. Instead, they
behave like actual individuals, with individualized profiles, photo and video sharing, and
group membership. 

Candidates select them based on socioeconomic class, age, and region, according to
the population that the political client seeks to attract. The young heartthrob fits
Marcoses’ ambition to raise their family’s celebrity status. According to Pro-Marcos
TikTok, the video displays the family having fun and stressing their connection, but it
also depicts a golden life that is entirely aspirational for Filipinos. 

She expressed concern that Filipinos are once again enamored with the Marcoses, and
that the country is on the verge of another Marcos presidency, allegedly by propagating
the myth of his electoral invincibility and the inevitability of his presidency, allegedly
using disinformation as their main weapon. 

If Marcos had such a grip on our collective imagination, it is due, in part, to his lies and
half-truths. The one who is now dominating in recent presidential choice polls,
allegedly paints a negative picture of Filipinos as passive receptacles of Marcos
propaganda and social media manipulation? We’ve either been duped or captivated by
the Marcoses, or we’re pawns in a game we didn’t make, she explained. 

She said that the Marcoses had managed to claw their way back to power, ostensibly
due to a failure to hold the dictator’s family accountable. We exile the Marcoses and
then welcome them back. 

According to a report released by Dela Salle University professor Julian Teehankee, the
country’s political elite may also be partly to blame, as they allegedly helped return the
Marcoses and their friends to power through prior elections. 

Which of the two families would Filipinos choose to reflect their society’s character?
After all, democracy is about expanding the public’s access to options. The decisions
Filipinos make in the next elections, and the many ones that will follow will determine
their character as a nation.