The Digital News Report 2021 for the Philippines found that during the pandemic, social media ranked #1 when it comes to the sources of news for Filipinos. Among the social media platforms that became a destination for news among Filipinos are TikTok (6%), Facebook (73%), YouTube (53%), Facebook Messenger (36%), and Twitter (19%). And as Filipino journalists including Maria Ressa of Rappler were red-tagged as state enemies, subversives, and even communists, GMA Network, ABS-CBN, Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), CNN, The Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin, TV5, PTV News, and other traditional media outlets suffered a decline in their weekly offline and online reach. The Philippine Trust Index (PTI), EON Group’s proprietary biennial research that looks into the levels and drivers of trust among Filipinos all over the Philippines, showed that from the collected responses of 1,200 Filipinos aged 18 and above from March to April 2017, more Filipinos who have access to the Internet trusted social media more than the traditional media: 9 out of 10 Filipinos (or 97.3%) trust social media while 7 out or 10 (or 73.4%) trust traditional media. Three out of 10 online Filipinos or 29.3% were also found to have extreme trust in the new media, higher than the 2 out of 10 people or 24.1% who have extreme trust in traditional media. And 5% of online Filipinos extremely distrust traditional media, far from the 0.5% who distrust social media.

          In connection with these sets of data, Filipinos have been debating on what sources to trust when it comes to the tale of the Marcoses. Some people distrust the country’s traditional media for being biased, by focusing too much on the bad side of the Martial Law and/or the Marcos family and by not covering the achievements of the late dictator and his family. Thus, many opt for other platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. Many resort to social media as their source of information about the Marcoses rather than trusting traditional media outlets.

          This then appears to be an advantage to the son of the late dictator and one of the front-runners of the 2022 Philippine presidential race - Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. - who has been utilizing social media for years trying to dominate digital spaces and shaping national opinion. Creation of pro-Marcos pages per month is reportedly to have started to ramp up in 2014 when former first lady Imelda Marcos first mentioned her wish for her son to run for presidency. And more fan pages were created after the 2016 elections and in 2019 when Imee Marcos ran for the Senate.

          Indeed, fortunately for him, social media became more accessible than ever due to the community lockdowns. As the majority of Filipinos became greatly indulged with the internet and gadgets including smart phones these past few years, social media became a prime platform for swaying public opinion. However, as some Filipinos might not realize it yet, with this great social media reliance regarding the Marcos narratives comes a threat regarding the quality of information Filipinos are exposed to. Today, social media is also a fundamental force for fake news and misinformation. Trolls are now endemic to Philippine cyberspace. And Bongbong as well as his family members are one of the major drivers in modernizing misinformation campaigns.

         With the fast-approaching 2022 elections, reports on disinformation, coordinated amplification, use of extensive networks of anonymously-managed pages and groups as part of the Marcos comeback playbook seems to continue growing in number. The content that these networks circulate online includes claims that sought to alter public perception of the Marcoses by either downplaying or denying kleptocracy and human rights violations during the Martial Law, exaggerating Marcos achievements, etc.nHence, a number of the most repeatedly posted and shared but also most debunked social media contents about the tale of the Marcoses are then discussed here and compared to the contents found in traditional media in the country. Both then will be compared to other sources to see which source such as fact-checking organizations, international media, and data from other institutions such as World Bank to see which shall gain more credibility.