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.
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.
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