Clip of ex-Philippine leader's speech altered to criticise President Marcos Jr

Published on March 12, 2025 at 08:19
2 min read
By Lucille SODIPE, AFP Philippines

As Philippine voters prepared to go to the polls in May, social media users shared a manipulated clip falsely claiming it shows former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr inadvertently warning the public in an old speech against electing people who lacked academic credentials such as his son. Original footage shows he was commenting on the Philippines' situation in the 1980s, and did not mention current leader Marcos Jr.

The 75-second video posted on Facebook on February 11 shows Marcos Sr making a speech, and has racked up over 1.7 million views.

"If one of my children becomes a law graduate and passes the bar, I might let them run for president," he purportedly says in Tagalog.

"There's an advantage if you take up law. But if you don't even get a degree, how will you think of solutions to the country's problems? You'll be an embarrassment. The Philippines will fall apart."

Superimposed text on the clip read: "SOLID DUTERTE ... Slapped with the truth. Marcos Sr was a visionary."

Screenshot of the altered video taken on March 10, 2025

Marcos Sr was president for two decades until he was deposed in 1986. His critics described his regime as a dark period of human rights abuses and corruption that left the country impoverished (archived link).

His son Marcos Jr won the 2022 presidential election in a landslide, while his running mate Sara Duterte won the vice presidency. But the once powerful alliance between the Duterte and Marcos families has since crumbled.

Reports surfaced ahead of the election that Marcos Jr falsely claimed he had a degree from Oxford University, when in fact he only completed a special diploma course (archived link).

The video was shared elsewhere on Facebook and on TikTok here and here. Some believed the clip shows genuine remarks from Marcos Sr.

"His father's words came to pass!" one wrote.

"If you could only say this now to your son," another said.

But keyword searches found the clip's audio was manipulated.

The original video shows the late president during a state visit to the United States. He was speaking at a National Press Club luncheon in Washington DC on September 17, 1982 (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the altered clip (left) and the original footage

According to C-SPAN, a non-profit television network that broadcasts US public affairs, the footage shows him discussing "the state of the Philippines and how it is viewed by the world" (archived link).

A review of the hour-long press conference shows he spoke in English, except to expound on a few Tagalog terms for the foreign press. He did not make the remarks heard in the manipulated clip.

AFP has debunked disinformation related to the Marcos and Duterte families.

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail