Days before the 49th Martial Law anniversary, Toni Gonzaga trended as she interviewed Bongbong Marcos, the son of the fallen dictator Ferdinand Marcos, on her Youtube show ‘ToniTalks’. With the episode titled “The Greatest Lesson Bongbong Marcos Learned From His Father,” the former senator shared how his father — who is a known human rights violator, kleptocrat, and authoritarian — influenced him for who he is today and his vision for the country’s future.
Some netizens described Gonzaga’s interview as “wholesome.” The friendly ambience, soothing music, and humanizing questions in the video made the story of the Marcoses palatable to the unwary public. The actress was even commended because of her “inclusive” and “non-partisan” brand of interviews. Some contended that it’s fair to interview Marcos because she also featured the members of the “opposition”, such as Vice President Leni Robredo and Atty. Chel Diokno, on the previous episodes of her online show.
This, nonetheless, is not enough to prove the “impartiality” of her controversial interview. Knowingly or unknowingly, Gonzaga just served as an instrument of the disgraced political family for its systematic and never-ending attempts to whitewash Martial Law atrocities and distort the collective memory of the Filipino people. Through ToniTalks, Marcos was able to amplify misleading historical accounts in an effort to consecrate the image of the late dictator and sway public opinion in favor of them.
Throughout the interview, Marcos expressed deceptive and sugar-coated narratives of history, thanks to Gonzaga’s predisposed episode title and interview questions.
The name of the video is already contentious and eyebrow-raising. Is there something “great” that you could learn from a historical figure who abused his power and crippled the nation’s economy and development?
Moreover, at the latter part of the episode, the actress asked BBM how he would “reintroduce” himself as a Marcos. Arguably, the question has the underlying assumption that the audience must know a different version of Marcos, contradicting the history’s judgement to them. This put the Marcoses in a good light, despite their family’s countless records of sins to the nation. In other words, reintroducing Marcos is a mark of historical revisionism par excellence,and Gonzaga is a complicit to that.
BBM then replied: “Well, I’m the son of the longest lasting president who brought the Philippines into the modern world…”
While it’s true that a myriad of classrooms, roads, and edifices were built under the Marcos regime, it’s not enough to prove that Marcos brought the Philippines into the “modern world.” Ironically, his late father was also the reason why our country’s development was impeded.
Marcos transformed the Philippines into a debt-ridden country. The massive debts under his term greatly affected the nation’s recovery up to this day. The economic recession during his latter years refute BBM’s claim. In addition, did Gonzaga know who is the current holder of the Guinness world record for the “Greatest robbery of a government” of all time?
Marcos did not just hindered the country’s development, but he also brought back the Philippines into the dark ages. Numerous cases of human right violations happened during his authoritarian rule. According to Amnesty International, 70,000 were detained; 34,000 were tortured; and over 3,000 were killed during Martial Law.
State censorship also took place. The government controlled the media and dissemination of information. Freedom of speech and the press were curtailed. In fact, ABS-CBN, the mother network of Toni Gonzaga, is the main victim. Just like today, the broadcast giant ceased its operations during Martial Law as Marcos unjustly took its control.
BBM added to his reply: “[I am the son of the longest lasting president] who brought to the Philippines a sense of nationhood.”
Such statement is misleading. It’s far safer to say that Marcos employed a false sense of nationhood to legitimize his fascist rule. In reality, Ferdinand Marcos of Ilocos Norte and Imelda Marcos of Leyte favored certain ethnolinguistic groups — the Ilocanos and Warays — over the nation during his reign. Most of his generals and appointees came from their homelands, even if they are not deemed the most qualified. This is regionalism at its finest.
Indeed, they are the same persons who wrecked our nationhood because of their countless offenses to the Filipino people as mentioned above. In fact, BBM even called the people in the EDSA revolution — who are the same people they ought to serve — as “enemies” during the interview (10:57). Does considering your people as the antagonist reflect nationhood?
The Marcoses are also continuing to worsen our divided nation through their structured persistent attempts to distort and conceal the darkest chapters of history. It’s true that history is written by the victors; but it’s also true that history is being rewritten by desperate losers who insatiably desire to reclaim their seats in Malacañang.
In the end, Gonzaga must learn the greatest lesson from her BBM interview. Yes, you enjoy the freedom of expression. It’s your freewill to invite and interview anyone in your online show. Yet, you must remember that our right to expression must be balanced by the right of the public to truthful information, and this is what you and BBM failed to impart in your interview.
This episode just enabled the disgraced political family to revise the nation’s history in favor of them and generate clout amidst the looming elections.
Never forget, Toni.
Never again, Toni.
Featured Image by Spot.ph
