In a country that spends the most hours a day on social media globally, and where access to Facebook is free even without mobile data, pre-election surveys show the propaganda has been effective.
“The tentpole narrative here is how the Marcoses were the victim of a cover-up among academics, media institutions and even the international community, and they have elaborated on this story with the many propaganda apparatuses they have,” Fatima Gaw, a communication research professor at the University of the Philippines, told VICE World News.
Additionally, by actively engaging in a disinformation campaign surrounding the human rights violations under his father’s rule, Olalia said Marcos Jr. is complicit in covering up the deaths. “If somebody who denies reality, who does not acknowledge fact, and revises history and record—independent and credible ones—then there is really something wrong,” he said. “You are complicit in the perpetuation of a false memory… complicit in justifying all these killings.” Olalia also worries that the return of the Marcoses could in some ways be worse than the regime that came before, especially with the culture of impunity that has been instilled over the years.“They have learned how to deal with protests with dissent, with criticism, and they have entrenched themselves in power. They have put themselves in all the institutions of society,” he said, referring to the Marcoses’ practice of installing allies and cronies in key institutions and businesses. “So, if they're going to come back, they're going to come back with a vengeance.”Yet as popular as Marcos Jr. continues to be, Olalia refuses to give up. With his generation— the one that lived through Martial Law—slowly dwindling, he said it is needed to bear witness now more than ever. “If we're going to go down here, you go down fighting,” he said, his voice choking. “I mean, I have a kid… I'm going to be ashamed of myself if, when he grows up, he asks me: What did you do?”“It is going to be a mortal sin if you could have done something or spoken out, and instead, you just remained silent and didn't do anything in the face of injustice.”Follow Natashya Gutierrez and JC Gotinga on Twitter.Having lived through the Marcos years, he emphasized that young voter Pinga was right about one thing: Marcos Jr. learning from his father. “He was already a grownup during the time of dictatorship,” said Olalia, and even took up a government position at that time, and “so he couldn't wash his hands [of his father’s crimes]."