Marcos, Martial Law, and Media Literacy

Real Talk | A Look into the Link of Media Literacy and Marcos' Martial Law

A 2021 study by the Ateneo school of government found that a majority of Filipinos get their news online— which isn’t surprising since, according to Digital Online, the Philippines ranks 4th globally in time spent on social media. It’s likely for this reason that political campaigns have extended into the online world. While that in itself isn’t inherently harmful, it becomes a problem when a campaign uses compromised information to manipulate the public, and when the public buys into the campaign without a second thought.

Such has been the case with Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s image and the public perception of his dictatorial reign over the Philippines. Disinformation regarding the Martial Law era of the Philippines and the Marcos dictatorship is not a new phenomenon; after his exile, Marcos Sr.’s allies and loyalists alike have fervently refused to acknowledge — and have even denied — the atrocities committed under the dictator’s 21 year long reign over the Philippines. With social media as a fairly unregulated conduit for disseminating information, it has become even easier to weave together the false narrative that Marcos’s era was a golden age of prosperity that was ultimately torn down by unruly rebels. Though there are a number of sources that can easily debunk these claims, people are still coerced into believing the downplayed and manipulated version of events.

There are a multitude of factors that contribute to people’s belief in fake news, but ultimately it boils down to a lack of Media Literacy in the Philippine population. Media literacy is the ability to critically analyze and evaluate information, including evaluating the credibility and possible underlying motives that sources may have. Rather than take the claim of Marcos’s golden age at face value, it is worth asking oneself the following: Who is reporting this information? Could they possibly have any motives behind sharing this? What do other sources say on this topic? Largely, you’d find that those who defend Marcos most staunchly are those who benefit when he is perceived positively.

They are the only ones, however, who stand something to gain from their manipulation of the public. Those who had been affected by the abuses during the Martial Law continue to be hurt when their stories are invalidated and disregarded as lies, while the actual lies are paraded around as truths. Those of us who weren’t born at that time lose too — we lose a part of our history, our collective memory, that should serve as a remembrance and a warning of what can happen when the power of a few becomes more important than the well-being of the masses.

The damage left behind by the Martial Law is permanently etched into our country’s history. No amount of misleading statements, manipulated facts, and outright lies will ever change the fact that the Martial Law was not a time of peace growth, but rather a grim reality for the Philippines. Now, it is our due responsibility to ensure that we do not contribute to the rapid spread of disinformation, and that is only possible through honing our media literacy.

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References:

https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/03/30/latest-stories/more-filipinos-get-news-from-facebook-than-traditional-online-media-study/1838198 https://www.rappler.com/nation/nearly-half-filipinos-get-news-internet-facebook-pulse-asia-september-2021/ https://www.meltwater.com/en/global-digital-trends https://philstarlife.com/news-and-views/649814-martial-law-by-the-numbers?page=5 https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/09/20/asia-pacific/philippines-martial-law-horror-misinformation/