A June 24 post revived an unproven claim about ousted president Ferdinand Marcos admonishing his successor Corazon Aquino on the Bataan nuclear power plant.
The article, posted by the website lucisphilippines.press, bore the headline:
“Ferdinand Marcos: 20 Years From Now Bagsak Na Ang Pilipinas Statement (Ferdinand Marcos: 20 years from now, the Philippines will fall statement),”
It carried a recording, supposedly of Marcos during his exile in Hawaii in 1987, criticizing Aquino for politicizing the Bataan power plant, and warning of dire consequences for the country in 20 years.
A 2014 Interaksyon article by veteran journalist Joel C. Paredes contains almost the exact quote, but does not vouch for its authenticity, only saying it is being shared by “so-called Marcos loyalists” in social media:
“So-called Marcos loyalists have recently begun blasting social media networks with a renewed campaign to revive the (Bataan nuclear power plant). They even quoted the late strongman as having supposedly said, while in exile in Hawaii after his downfall in the 1986 People Power revolt (almost a similar quote as in the recording).”
No other legitimate media outfit has reported on the supposed Marcos recording, which appeared on social media as early as Feb. 27, 2012, uploaded by the Facebook page “Stunning and Interesting facts you didn’t know.”
An article on the Official Gazette describes the Bataan nuclear power plant as the “largest and most expensive construction project in the country’s history,” built at the cost of $1.2 billion but has “never generated a kilowatt of electricity under the Marcos regime.”
Aquino ordered the mothballing of the power plant in 1986 following the Chernobyl nuclear accident in the former Soviet Union.
The supposed Marcos recording, which could have reached over 3.5 million people, was published by Youtube channel Kwentology.
Kwentology was created Oct. 21, 2010, the website lucisphilippines.press on June 17.
The post’s biggest traffic generators on social media are the Facebook pages Library of Most Controversial Files and Rodrigo Duterte Supporters (#CBU4DU30) Cebu Chapter.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
