Historical distortion regarding Ferdinand Marcos

One prominent form of historical distortion regarding the Marcos administration is the denial or trivialization of its human rights violations and economic plunder, as well as the denial of the roles{{which|date=October 2022}} played by the rest of the Marcos family and by various Marcos cronies in the administration. False claims have been made both by members of the Marcos family and by associates such as former Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile.{{cite web |author=Diana Lumpin |date=February 25, 2021 |title=After EDSA: Historical Revisionism and Other Factors That Led to the Marcoses' Return |website=Philippine Social Science Council |url=https://pssc.org.ph/after-edsa/ |access-date=October 18, 2022}}

{{wikiquote|Ferdinand_Marcos_Jr.|Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s 2016 Vice Presidential campaign |

• statements by Marcos Jr. during his 2016 Vice Presidential campaign
• Statements responding to Marcos Jr's campaign on the topic of Martial Law

}}

Various Marcos family members who have stayed in the public eye since their return to the Philippines have denied the atrocities of the Marcos regime and have made various false claims regarding the dictatorship, such as assertions that the country was self-sufficient in rice and that the Philippines had the highest literacy rate in Asia.{{Cite news |url=http://cmfr-phil.org/media-ethics-responsibility/journalism-review/edsa-people-power-inadequate-challenge-to-marcos-revisionism/ |title=EDSA People Power: Inadequate Challenge to Marcos Revisionism |date=March 10, 2016 |publisher=Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility |language=en-us |access-date=September 23, 2018}}

Bongbong Marcos, Marcos' son and namesake, has specifically been criticized for actively refusing to apologize for human rights violations and ill-gotten wealth during his father's administration.{{cite web |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/554620/news/nation/bongbong-marcos-unfazed-by-anti-martial-law-critics |title=Bongbong Marcos unfazed by anti-Martial Law critics |author=Elizabeth Marcelo |date=February 10, 2016 |publisher=GMA News Online}}{{cite news |url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/politics/elections/2016/102806-bongbong-marcos-2016-name |title=Bongbong on 2016: No downside to being a Marcos |author=Ayee Macaraig |date=August 16, 2015 |work=Rappler.com}}{{cite web |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/557219/news/nation/bongbong-marcos-to-critics-allow-young-voters-to-make-own-judgment |title=Bongbong Marcos to critics: Allow young voters to make own judgment |author=Elizabeth Marcelo |date=February 29, 2016 |publisher=GMA News Online}} In several instances, Marcos Jr. brushed aside the issue of martial law atrocities, he specifically belittled or denied{{cite news |url=https://www.rappler.com/nation/212494-family-jose-diokno-slams-distortion-truth-bongbong-marcos-enrile |title='Distortion of truth': Diokno family slams Bongbong Marcos, Enrile |last=Gavilan |first=Jodesz |date=September 21, 2018 |work=Rappler |access-date=October 1, 2018}} claims of Martial Law atrocities. Marcos used social media as a tool to distort history regarding his father's regime.{{cite news |last1=Beltran |first1=Michael |title=How a 'tsunami of disinformation' helped Marcos Jr win back power |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/29/disinformation-reigns-in-philippines-as-marcos-jr-takes-top-job |access-date=29 August 2024 |work=Al Jazeera |date=June 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629204026/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/29/disinformation-reigns-in-philippines-as-marcos-jr-takes-top-job |archive-date=June 29, 2022 |language=en}}

This includes a 2012 interview with Jackie Dent of The Sydney Morning Herald, where Dent recounts: "I put it to him that it has been documented that people were tortured, money was appropriated and a Hawaiian court has found against the family. He laughs. 'Well, that is one opinion and that is what the prosecutors would say,' he says."{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/a-dynasty-on-steroids-20121119-29kwy.html |title=A dynasty on steroids |date=November 23, 2012 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=September 1, 2018}} In the same year, Marcos dismissed calls for him to apologize for atrocities experienced by human rights abuses during his father's administration commemorated the 40th year of the proclamation of Martial Law, dismissing their calls as "self-serving statements by politicians, self-aggrandizement narratives, pompous declarations, and political posturing and propaganda."{{cite news |last1=Tan |first1=Kimberly Jane |title=Martial Law in the eyes of the late strongman Marcos' son |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/275044/martial-law-in-the-eyes-of-the-late-strongman-marcos-son/story/ |publisher=GMA News |date=September 21, 2012}}{{cite news |last1=Quimpo |first1=Susan |title=Enrile's memoir gives me sleepless nights |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/opinion/content/278235/enrile-s-memoir-gives-me-sleepless-nights/story/ |publisher=GMA News |date=October 14, 2012}}

During his 2016 campaign to become Vice President of the Philippines, he also attempted to dismiss the events, saying Filipinos should "leave history to the professors,"{{cite news |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/769064/bongbong-let-historians-not-politicians-judge-marcos-rule |title=Bongbong: Let historians, not politicians, judge Marcos rule |author=Leila B. Salaverria |date=February 27, 2016 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer}}{{cite web |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/556933/news/nation/bongbong-to-pnoy-let-history-judge-marcos-era |title=Leave it to Professors – Bongbong to PNoy: Let history judge Marcos era |date=February 26, 2016 |author=Elizabeth Marcelo |publisher=GMA News Online}}{{cite news |url=http://news.abs-cbn.com/video/nation/v1/02/26/16/bongbong-let-historians-judge-my-fathers-regime |title=Bongbong: Let historians judge my father's regime |date=February 27, 2016 |publisher=ABS-CBN News}} prompting over 500 faculty, staff and history professors from Ateneo de Manila University to issue a statement condemning the act as part of "an ongoing willful distortion of our history," and a "shameless refusal to acknowledge the crimes of the Martial Law regime."{{cite web |url=http://www.ateneo.edu/news/ateneo-de-manila-community-stands-against-historical-revisionism-martial-law |title=Ateneo de Manila Community Stands Up Against Historical Revisionism of Martial Law |date=March 3, 2016 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University |access-date=February 3, 2022 |archive-date=April 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405125743/http://www.ateneo.edu/news/ateneo-de-manila-community-stands-against-historical-revisionism-martial-law |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.ateneo.edu/sites/default/files/attached-files/Ateneo%20Community%20Response%20to%20Senator%20Marcos%20Jr.%20-%20526%20signatories%20as%20of%204%20March%202016%20%28English%29.pdf |title=We are not blind to the darkness and oppression of Marcos years! Statement of concerned members of the Ateneo de Manila University on the Martial Law regime and Bongbong Marcos' revision of history |date=March 4, 2016 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University |access-date=February 27, 2017 |archive-date=January 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114055510/http://www.ateneo.edu/sites/default/files/attached-files/Ateneo%20Community%20Response%20to%20Senator%20Marcos%20Jr.%20-%20526%20signatories%20as%20of%204%20March%202016%20%28English%29.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/politics/elections/2016/124969-ateneo-presidents-marcos-statement-signatures |title=Ateneo presidents slam Bongbong Marcos 'revision of history' – Heads of Jesuit-run universities join nearly 530 other signatories against 'the darkness and oppression of the Marcos years' |author=Paterno Esmaquel II |date=March 7, 2016 |work=Rappler}}{{cite news |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/770125/ateneo-professors-slam-bongbong-marcos-revision-of-history |title=Ateneo professors slam Bongbong Marcos' 'revision of history' |author=Yuji Vincent Gonzales |date=March 2, 2016 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer}}{{cite web |url=http://www.interaksyon.com/article/124748/ateneo-professors-thumb-down-historical-distortion-of-martial-law-regime |title=Ateneo professors thumb down historical distortion of martial law regime |author=Filane Mikee Z. Cervantes |date=March 2, 2016 |publisher=Interaksyon.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307232953/http://www.interaksyon.com/article/124748/ateneo-professors-thumb-down-historical-distortion-of-martial-law-regime |archive-date=March 7, 2016 }}

More than 1,400 Catholic Schools through the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) later joined the call of the Ateneo faculty,{{cite news |url=http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/125012-catholic-educational-association-philippines-admu-bongbong-marcos |title=1,400 Catholic schools back call vs 'Marcos snares, Imeldific lies' |date=March 8, 2016 |work=Rappler}}{{cite news |url=http://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/03/08/16/1400-catholic-schools-slam-marcos-snares-imeldific-lies |title=1,400 Catholic schools slam 'Marcos snares, Imeldific lies' |date=March 8, 2016 |publisher=ABS-CBN News}} followed by the Department of History of the University of the Philippines Diliman, which released a statement decrying what they called a "dangerous" effort for Marcos to create "myth and deception."{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/historyadorngbayan/photos/a.1576182815979034.1073741828.1575947242669258/1673354259595222/?type=3&theater |title=Malakas at Maganda: Marcos Reign, Myth-Making and Deception in History |author=University of the Philippines Department of History |website=Facebook |date=March 28, 2016}}{{cite news |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/776985/marcos-deception-seeks-to-evade-accountability-up-dept-of-history |title=Marcos deception seeks to evade accountability—UP Dept. of History|author=Aries Joseph Hegina|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=March 30, 2016}}{{cite news |url=http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/03/30/1567657/history-profs-slam-mythical-golden-era-under-martial-law |title=UP history profs slam 'mythical' golden era under martial law |author=Rosette Adel |newspaper=The Philippine Star |date=March 30, 2016}}

Imee Marcos has also issued similar statements, which include her 2016 statement that she was "too young" to have any power during her father's administration (although she was already 30 years old when her father was ousted in February 1986),{{cite web|url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/21/16/imee-still-a-child-during-martial-law-of-course-not-says-fvr|title=Imee, still a child during martial law? Of course not, says FVR|last=Placido|first=Dharel|date=November 21, 2016|website=ABS-CBN News|access-date=March 9, 2019}} and her 2018 assertion that critics should just "move on" regarding the crimes and excesses of the martial law era.{{cite news |last1=Villamor |first1=Felipe |title=Ferdinand Marcos's Daughter Tells Filipinos to 'Move On' Beyond Father's Misdeeds |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/22/world/asia/imee-marcos-ferdinand-marcos-philippines.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 22, 2018}}

On September 20, 2018, Marcos Jr. released a YouTube video depicting a "tête-à-tête" between him and Juan Ponce Enrile,{{Cite news |url=http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/09/21/1853435/fact-checking-enriles-tete-tete-bongbong-marcos |title=Fact-checking Enrile's tete-a-tete with Bongbong Marcos |last=Viray |first=Patricia Lourdes |date=September 21, 2018 |newspaper=The Philippine Star |access-date=October 1, 2018}} in which Enrile made a number of claims denying the unlawful arrests and killings of critics during the Marcos administration. These were quickly refuted and denounced by martial law victims, including former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr., former Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, former Commission on Human Rights chair Etta Rosales, and Palanca award-winning writer Boni Ilagan, among others. It was also denounced by families and friends of Martial Law victims, such as former President Noynoy Aquino, and former Senator Rene Saguisag.

Enrile eventually backpedalled from some of his claims, saying they were the products of "unlucid intervals," but continuing to claim that the extent of the atrocities was subject to debate.{{Cite news |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/10/26/1863327/enrile-apologizes-martial-law-victims-blames-unlucid-intervals |title=Enrile apologizes to Martial Law victims, blames 'unlucid intervals' |last=Romero |first=Paolo |date=October 26, 2018 |work=The Philippine Star |access-date=October 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20181031115244/https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/10/26/1863327/enrile-apologizes-martial-law-victims-blames-unlucid-intervals |archive-date=October 31, 2018 |url-status=dead }}

{{See also|Ibalik ang Philippine History sa High School Movement}}

Under the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education are mandated to teach human rights violations during the martial law dictatorship.{{Cite news |last=Bernardo |first=Jaehwa |date=September 21, 2020 |title=Human rights abuses during martial law taught in schools: DepEd |url=https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/3/6/-we-feel-betrayed-canadian-business-faces-uncertainty-amid-trump-tariffs-0810 |access-date=March 6, 2025 |work=ABS-CBN News}} However activists, history teachers, scholars, and students have noted a failure to teach the economic hardships, political repression, Marcos's plunder, and the murder and detention of victims during martial law.{{Cite web |last=Islam |first=Saima |title=Revisionist Narratives and the Revival of the Marcos Family in the Philippines |url=https://www.asiapacific.ca/publication/election-watch-philippines-dispatch-6-marcos-legacy-and-youth |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada |language=en}}

History teachers noted how Philippine history was removed as a junior high school subject under the K-12 curriculum.{{Cite news |last=Umil |first=Anne Marxze |date=September 27, 2014 |title=History teachers, activists teach the youth on the lessons of Martial Law |url=https://www.bulatlat.com/2014/09/27/history-teachers-activists-teach-the-youth-on-the-lessons-of-martial-law/ |access-date=March 6, 2025 |work=Bulatlat}} Some observers such as Akbayan Youth have proposed the strengthening the educational system's teaching of martial law to address historical denialism.

Teachers, historians, sociologists, and journalists organized Tanggol Kasaysayan to address historical disinformation.{{Cite web |last=Ellao |first=Janess Ann J. |date=2019-09-18 |title='Tanggol Kasaysayan' relaunched to combat historical revisionism, disinformation |url=https://www.bulatlat.com/2019/09/18/tanggol-kasaysayan-relaunched-to-combat-historical-revisionism-disinformation/ |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=Bulatlat |language=en-US}}

Philippine history textbooks might say little about martial law, exclude its abuses, or make false claims that extol life during the period.{{Cite web |last=Go |first=Antonio Calipjo |date=2017-09-17 |title=‘Kuri-kulam’: Are textbooks sanitizing martial law? |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/931174/history-textbooks-ferdinand-marcos-marcos-martial-law-ferdinand-marcos-jr-bongbong-marcos-millennials-philippine-history |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=Philippine Daily Inquirer |language=en}} Youth group Anakbayan criticized the K-12 program as well as DepEd's Learning Resource Management and Development System for modules that glorified the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.{{Cite web |last=Umil |first=Anne Marxze |date=2016-03-09 |title=‘DepEd, K to 12 further whitewash Martial Law’ - youth group says |url=https://www.bulatlat.com/2016/03/09/deped-k-to-12-further-whitewash-martial-law-youth-group-says/ |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=Bulatlat |language=en-US}}

In 2018, Senator Risa Hontiveros criticized the DepEd for the existence of textbooks that supposedly either praise martial law or "whitewash the atrocities committed during the Martial Law years".{{Cite news |date=September 20, 2018 |title=Hontiveros slams textbooks 'whitewashing' Martial Law |url=https://www.abs-cbn.com/focus/09/20/18/hontiveros-slams-textbooks-whitewashing-martial-law |work=ABS-CBN News}} Hontiveros said that "DepEd must take a more proactive role in fulfilling the mandate of integrating Martial Law atrocities in our curriculum and ensuring that our instructional materials are factual, up-to-date and error-free".

In the House of Representatives, Deputy Minority Leader France Castro in 2023 criticized DepEd's order to revise textbooks to remove the term "Diktadurang Marcos" (Marcos dictatorship) and replace it with just "diktadura" (dictatorship).{{Cite web |last=Cruz |first=Beatriz Marie D. |date=2023-09-10 |title=Lawmaker cries 'revisionism' in textbook order |url=https://www.bworldonline.com/the-nation/2023/09/10/544684/lawmaker-cries-revisionism-in-textbook-order/ |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=Business World |language=en-US}} The Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy called the DepEd order an attempt to "rehabilitate the dark history of the Marcos family."

{{Excerpt|Ferdinand Marcos's cult of personality|Institutions, monuments, and museums}}

In 2018, Dr. Jason Cabañes of the University of Leeds School of Media and Communication and Dr. Jonathan Corpus Ong of the University of Massachusetts Amherst released a study of organized disinformation efforts in the Philippines, titled "Architects of Networked Disinformation: Behind the Scenes of Troll Accounts and Fake News Production in the Philippines."{{Cite web |url=https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news-society-politics/news/article/4184/fake-news-production-and-social-media-trolls |title=Fake news production and social media 'trolls' |website=University of Leeds |date=February 12, 2018 |access-date=October 20, 2021 |archive-date=August 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826123715/https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news-society-politics/news/article/4184/fake-news-production-and-social-media-trolls |url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/02/12/1787103/ad-pr-execs-are-chief-architects-disinformation-philippines-study|title=Ad, PR execs are 'chief architects' of disinformation in Philippines — study|first=Gaea Katreena|last=Cabico|website=Philstar.com|access-date=September 24, 2021|archive-date=August 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826124207/https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/02/12/1787103/ad-pr-execs-are-chief-architects-disinformation-philippines-study|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/disinformation-architects-philippines|title=Chief disinformation architects in the PH: Not exactly who you think|website=Rappler|date=February 11, 2018|access-date=September 24, 2021|archive-date=August 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826120511/https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/disinformation-architects-philippines|url-status=live}} Based on participant observation in Facebook community groups and Twitter accounts, as well as key informant interviews with 20 "disinformation architects," conducted from December 2016 to December 2017, the study described a "professionalized and hierarchized group of political operators who design disinformation campaigns, mobilize click armies, and execute innovative "digital black ops" and "signal scrambling" techniques for any interested political client." This network had "ad and PR strategists at the top."

The Ong and Cabañes study also described how techniques for "personal branding" were used to "tell a revisionist account of the 20-year Marcos regime as 'the golden age of the Philippines,'" using such tools as YouTube videos, "in a bid to restore the political luster of the Marcos family."

{{see also|Burial of Ferdinand Marcos}}

One of the revelations from the Ong and Cabañes' 2018 study was the existence of "Ilibing Na" ("Bury now") campaign designed to create public support for a hero's burial for Ferdinand Marcos using "diversionary tactics to elude allegations of human rights violations and corruption during the term of Ferdinand Marcos" and launching "digital black ops that targeted prominent critics" of the Marcoses, particularly vice president Leni Robredo.

According to historian Francis Gealogo, President Bongbong Marcos relied on "mythmaking" and benefited from "historical distortion about his father’s regime that presented false narratives about the past".{{Cite web |last=Juan |first=Ratziel San |date=July 12, 2022 |title=One page at a time: Youth fight Marcos historical distortion by archiving Martial Law texts |url=https://www.altermidya.net/one-page-at-a-time-youth-fight-marcos-historical-distortion-by-archiving-martial-law-texts/ |access-date=August 20, 2022 |website=AlterMidya |language=en-US}}

Philippine researchers said that "networked political manipulation" on social media played a role in the 2022 presidential elections.{{Cite web |last=Macaraeg |first=Pauline |date=February 2, 2022 |title=Study finds signs of 'networked political manipulation' on social media |url=https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/study-finds-sign-networked-political-manipulation-social-media-digital-public-pulse-project/ |access-date=August 20, 2022 |website=Rappler |language=en-US}} The study by the Philippine Media Monitoring Laboratory said that through Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, "anti-democratic" actors were able to influence political discourse by mimicking survey organizations and news media.

A 2020 study from the University of the Philippines Diliman found that "the Marcoses, their loyalists, and their allies" had produced and reproduced disinformation for years, intending to create an impression that the propaganda had actually come from a reputable community of scholars.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rappler.com/moveph/disinformation-researchers-unpack-lies-social-media-impact-democracy|title=Disinformation researchers unpack the game of lies and its impact on democracy|website=Rappler|date=December 10, 2020|access-date=September 24, 2021|archive-date=September 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924170554/https://www.rappler.com/moveph/disinformation-researchers-unpack-lies-social-media-impact-democracy|url-status=live}}

A related study published that year by Vera Files found 119 claims about the Marcoses that had been debunked by various news organizations, and examined how they were distributed.{{Cite news |last=Berdos |first=Enrico |date=December 11, 2020 |title=Propaganda web: Pro-Marcos literature, sites, and online disinformation linked |language=en |work=ABS CBN News and Public Affairs |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/12/12/20/propaganda-web-pro-marcos-literature-sites-and-online-disinformation-linked |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=March 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305171007/https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/12/12/20/propaganda-web-pro-marcos-literature-sites-and-online-disinformation-linked |url-status=live }} Although a number of pro-Marcos propaganda "sourcebooks" had been published in 2000, the study found that about 72% of confirmed Marcos disinformation originated directly from social media, rather than print sources. Specifically, it found out that 21% of these were "distributed via social media" and "not attributable to pro-Marcos books"; 20% of them came from a person quoted by media, which cannot traced to a preexisting text; and about 31% were about recent events. Only about 15% could be traced to text in various propaganda books, while a remaining 13% consisted of "general claims."

Researchers from the University of the Philippines Third World Studies Center noted that after Bongbong Marcos announced in October 2021 his candidacy for the presidency, claims praising his father's regime increased significantly.{{Cite news |date=December 18, 2021 |title=VERA FILES FACT CHECK YEARENDER: Marcos Jr.'s presidential bid props up pro-Marcos propaganda |work=Vera Files |url=https://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-check-yearender-marcos-jrs-presidential-bid |access-date=March 24, 2022}} In addition to spreading disinformation, pro-Marcos posts also vilified post-Marcos administrations by falsely claiming that the Philippine economy was better under Marcos. Most of the propaganda used photos and videos and were widely shared. Pro-Marcos propaganda are often spread through Facebook pages by self-proclaimed Marcos Sr. loyalists who support Bongbong Marcos. Among the celebrities who have helped amplify pro-Marcos disinformation are singer Richard Poon, comedian Isko Salvador, vlogger Tricia Arias and director Darryl Yap (director). Videos with false claims have also been spread by political party Katipunan ng Demokratikong Pilipino. Fact checks done by mainstream media tend to have limited effects partly due to distrust of the media sown by Juan Ponce Enrile, columnist Rigoberto "Bobi" Tiglao, officials of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, and pro-administration bloggers.

Common propaganda approaches associated with Marcos-related historical distortion{{Cite web |last=Mendoza |first=Gemma B. |date=November 22, 2019 |title=Networked propaganda: False narratives from the Marcos arsenal |url=https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/245540-networked-propaganda-false-narratives-from-the-marcos-arsenal/ |access-date= |website=Rappler |language=en-US}} include:

• Exaggeration of the Marcos administration's achievements{{Cite web |last=Lamb |first=Kate |date=August 2, 2017 |title=Wiki warriors: activists fighting to keep truth of brutal Marcos regime in Philippines alive |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/02/wiki-warriors-activists-fighting-to-keep-truth-of-brutal-marcos-regime-in-philippines-alive |access-date= |website=The Guardian |language=en}}
• False dichotomies between Marcos and other presidents, notably the two Aquino presidents (Corazon Aquino and Benigno Aquino III){{Cite news |last=Cabato |first=Regine |date=February 25, 2017 |title=The story of martial law from Ferdinand Marcos' confidante and press secretary |work=CNN Philippines |url=https://www.cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/politics/2019/3/5/conjugal-dictatorship.html |access-date=May 9, 2022 |archive-date=February 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225020034/https://www.cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/politics/2019/3/5/conjugal-dictatorship.html |url-status=dead }}
• A narrative of a “hidden history” kept by a “biased” press{{Cite web |last=Lisandro |first=Claudio |date=June 2, 2016 |title=What you didn't know: Pro-Marcos propaganda too hip for its own good |url=https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/135054-pro-marcos-propaganda-too-hip-for-own-good/ |access-date= |website=Rappler |language=en-US}}
• Denial, belittling or justification of Martial Law abuses based on anti-communism, real or perceived.

{{see also|List of films about martial law under Ferdinand Marcos|The Kingmaker (film)|Respeto|Citizen Jake}}

Aside from films directly featuring the Marcos era itself, the theme of contemporary historical distortion regarding Ferdinand Marcos has been featured significantly in numerous films, including Philippine films Respeto, Citizen Jake, and ML.

A prominent international documentary on the same theme was Lauren Greenfield's The Kingmaker, which follows the events of Imelda Marcos' life, first exploring the time when the Marcoses were still in power, and then in the second half of the film, focusing on the political comeback of the Marcos family after Ferdinand Marcos had died, and highlighing the stories of those who had survived abuses during Martial Law.{{Cite web |last=Bentley |first=Jean |date=October 14, 2019 |title=Will Imelda Marcos Documentary 'The Kingmaker' Play in the Philippines? |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2019/10/imelda-marcos-documentary-the-kingmaker-1202179217/ |access-date= |website=IndieWire |language=en}} Greenfield's exploration characterizes Imelda Marcos as the documentary's unreliable narrator,{{Cite web |last=Enos |first=Morgan |date=November 8, 2019 |title='The Kingmaker' Tackles the Truths and 'Horrors' Surrounding Imelda Marcos |url=https://fortune.com/2019/11/08/the-kingmaker-lauren-greenfield-imelda-marcos-documentary/ |access-date= |website=Fortune |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Wilkinson |first=Alissa |date=November 14, 2019 |title=How to make a damning documentary about a world-class liar |url=https://www.vox.com/2019/11/14/20961554/kingmaker-interview-imelda-marcos-lauren-greenfield |access-date= |website=Website |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Julie |date=November 8, 2019 |title=The Kingmaker: Inside Imelda Marcos's Grand, Present-Day Delusions |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/11/the-kingmaker-imelda-marcos-lauren-greenfield-interview |access-date= |website=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}} but takes on what The New York Times calls a “dialectic” approach, allowing Imelda to literally tell her narrative and slowly introducing opposing viewpoints as the movie progresses.{{Cite news |last=Dargis |first=Manohla |date=November 6, 2019 |title='The Kingmaker' Review: The Power and Vainglory of Imelda Marcos |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/movies/the-kingmaker-review.html |access-date= |issn=0362-4331}}

Various universities in the Philippines have released various publications and have held numerous academic fora regarding the topic, referring to it as historical denialism, negationism, disinformation, or distortion.{{Cite news |last=Subingsubing |first=Krixia |date=September 22, 2020 |title=Revisionism, denialism: Academics explain views on Marcos era |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1338170/revisionism-denialism-academics-explain-views-on-marcos-era |access-date= |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |language=en}}

• Historical negationism
• Fake news in the Philippines
• Post-truth politics

{{reflist}}

{{The Marcoses}}{{Bongbong Marcos}}{{Falsification of history}}{{Disinformation}}

Category:Ferdinand Marcos

Category:Pseudohistory

Category:Conspiracy theories in the Philippines

Category:Fake news in the Philippines

Category:Historical negationism

Category:Far-right politics in the Philippines

Category:Bongbong Marcos administration controversies

Category:Disinformation in Asia