A Tiktok video has been gaining attention recently for supposedly exposing the Corazon Aquino administration’s corrupt practices, and in turn assert that the Marcos administration did not amass ill-gotten wealth.
The video, which was uploaded by labadosleon on October 26, 2021, claimed that the Marcos administration did not spend public funds for their personal use. The video compared the Marcos administration’s total public expenditure to that of succeeding administrations to justify the claim.
The video cited the 1997 Philippine Yearbook which supposedly contained a summary of government expenditures from 1966 to 1997, noting that the Marcos administration only spent Php 480 billion in total. In comparison, the Corazon Aquino administration supposedly spent more than Php 1 trillion in total.
However, the proof shown in the video does not match records from the agency formerly known as the National Statistics Office (NSO), now the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), that released the supposed yearbooks.
Claim:
A Tiktok video posted last October 2021 claims that the Marcoses never amassed ill-gotten wealth.
Rating:
FALSE
Facts:
While the NSO indeed releases annual yearbooks, it only contains a specific year’s expenditures. The agency does not compile government spending by presidency. In the 1997 National Statistical Yearbook, there is also no category or chart showing the summary of government expenditures from 1966 to 1997 under the national economic accounts, contrary to what was shown in the Tiktok video.
Unlike what was shown in the video, NSO also never shows values in its charts in billions or trillions. The agency writes data in millions, even in the statistical yearbook cited by the video.
Unlike the video’s claim that the Marcos dictatorship improved the healthcare system by pouring funds to build hospitals, an exclusive report of The Los Angeles Times in 1987 revealed that in reality, the country’s system deteriorated during that period.
Lastly, the video’s claim that the Marcoses never amassed ill-gotten wealth can be directly debunked even by court cases. Just last year, the anti-graft court ruled that a total of USD 5.3 million bank deposit of Ferdinand Marcos from 1974-1979 should be returned to the government. The wife of the late dictator, Imelda Marcos, has also been found guilty of seven counts of graft by the same court in 2018. In 1993, the Sandiganbayan already convicted her of two counts of graft for “anomalous contracts” involving the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) and the Philippine General Hospital Foundation. The late dictator was also guilty of corruption by the Switzerland Federal Supreme Court, which stated that his Swiss assets that amount to over 500 million dollars were obtained “illegally.”
Why it matters:
As of writing, the Tiktok video has over 1.7 million views and 115,900 thousand likes, and it has been shared 7,721 times. It has gained 4,284 comments, some of which even supported the the video’s claims, stressing that this is one of the reasons why Filipinos should vote for Marcos Jr. in the upcoming presidential elections. -Maez Estrada & Joseph Rafael Gloria
Altermidya Network is part of #FactsFirstPH which brings together various sectors that are committed to promoting truth in the public space, and exacting accountability on those who harm it with lies. For those interested to join the initiative, email info@factsfirst.ph.
