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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nA threat looms above us all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the threat that has revised the past to fit their narrative and has invalidated the accounts of their atrocities. It walks, hands stained with red, with the blood of the lives of people whose rights they\u2019ve taken away on the soles of their feet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ferdinand \u201cBongbong\u201d Marcos Jr. – Sara Duterte tandem has climbed their way to the political ladder at the cost of the lives of the Filipino people. With no achievements, no balls to attend debates, and no solid platforms, these two candidates ride on nothing else but their surnames. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their call for unity makes everything so much clearer \u2014 a brand of unity designed and peddled primarily for the interests of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After all, two notorious families coming together to \u201cmake the Philippines great again\u201d, is unity isn\u2019t it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Marcos family which has a history of dictatorship, human rights abuses, graft, corruption, plunder, tax evasion, has Bongbong Marcos gunning for presidency. Meanwhile, the Dutertes infamous for their murderous drug war that has killed thousands of people all over the country and whose political rule thrives on violence and fascism, has Sara Duterte aiming for the second-highest position on the land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Birds of the same feather indeed flock together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With this tandem\u2019s campaign strengthened by disinformation, and fuelled by red-tagging sprees, it gets the people wondering, ano ba talaga ang totoo?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On October 22, 2021, an estimate of 200 Filipino students and alumni of Oxford University addressed the \u201cwrong information\u201d about the former senator\u2019s educational qualifications that have been circulating online. Atty. Vic Rodriguez, Marcos Jr.\u2019s Chief of Staff, stated that he [Marcos Jr.] has always been honest with his Oxford education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This has been proven to be false as Marcos Jr. himself inaccurately attested his credentials in at least 3 instances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a report last October 23, the Marcos camp stated that Marcos, Jr. has never misrepresented his Oxford education and that anyone who wishes to can challenge this claim with Oxford themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to VeraFiles, in a fact-check email from Oxford last October 27, Marcos Jr. studied at the University of Oxford in 1975, taking up BA Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. University records also indicate that the former senator was not able to complete his degree and was rather awarded a \u201cspecial diploma\u201d in 1978. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked if he was able to attain a degree in an interview with Rappler in 2015, Marcos Jr. replied with: \u201cI suppose \u2014 I got my diploma eh.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n In January 2016, during an interview with DZRH, he was asked if a special diploma was equal to a bachelor\u2019s degree in Oxford. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He answered: \u201cI suppose there are differences but ang ending no\u2019n, is that it\u2019s a bachelor\u2019s degree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Oxford then clarified in another fact check message to VeraFiles that the special diploma awarded to the former senator was not a \u201cfull graduate diploma\u201d. The message read: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Special Diploma, which the University no longer offers, was open to both undergraduates and graduates. Non-University members could also read for it under certain circumstances. There is no recorded link between the BA (in Philosophy, Politics and Economics) and the Special Diploma, and the Special Diploma was not a full graduate Diploma.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGIC BASELINES LAW<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On his website, Marcos, Jr. claimed that he authored a number of landmark laws such as the Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law (RA 9522). <\/p>\n\n\n\n The said law was enacted on March 10, 2009, and a consolidation of Senate Bill 2699 and House Bill 3216. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was Representative Antonio Cuenco of Cebu City who filed House Bill 3216 and senators Antonio Trillanes IV, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Eduardo Angara, Rodolfo Biazon, Juan Ponce Enrile, and Miriam Defensor-Santiago who authored Senate Bill 2699. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Marcos who authored a version of the Baselines Bill, House Bill 214, was Imee Marcos who authored it in 2004 during the 13th Congress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bongbong Marcos had nothing to do with any of the bills relating to baselines. According to UP law professor and maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal, he was not even present at the Bicameral Conference Committee meeting that harmonized the two versions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n INTERNATIONAL RICE RESEARCH INSTITUTE (IRRI) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To pay tribute to his dictator father, Bongbong released a vlog on September 11, 2021 claiming: \u201cUnang-una ay kailangan may makakain ang tao dahil dito ay kanyang [Ferdinand Marcos Sr.] binuo \u2018yung IRRI, International Rice Research Institute.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The truth of the matter is that the IRRI was founded by the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations. Their website stated that the IRRI was the \u201cfirst and flagship example of a far-reaching RF-inspired network of research centers.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Marcos Sr. was not yet the president when the IRRI was established in 1960. He only became president five years later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n BANGUI BAY WIND FARM <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A Facebook account named \u201cMarcos Legacy\u201d claimed in a post that the Bangui Bay Wind Farm in Bangui, Ilocos Norte was a project of Marcos Jr. last September 8, 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s just one more thing, what if he becomes president? A Bongbong Marcos can do more than that,\u201d stated the post. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It immediately went viral and was reposted by many other Marcos support pages. However, this claim is false. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bangui Bay Wind Farm was a project of NorthWind Power Development Corporation (NDPC) that was based on a wind mapping study conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the United States in 1996. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although he supported and approved the windmill project as a governor, he did not start nor fund these projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n