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Jericho Igdanes
Historical Past in the Making »
With another Marcos presidency inching closer, civilians and volunteer groups work together to guard our history through archival efforts.
Seven days after the 2022 national elections, internet users browsing the Malacañang website saw something different on their screens. Instead of the slider showing photos of the palace’s façade, an error message filled up the browser window. The website was inaccessible, taking a sizable collection of Martial Law era resources down with it.
An official statement from the Presidential Museum and Library said that the website is merely undergoing updates and all content remains intact. But fearing that this incident was a precursor to more widespread erasure of Martial Law era content, many individuals and groups enlisted the help of technology to take matters into their own hands.
With the Marcoses’ skillful manipulation of the public’s digital consciousness, it is not hard to see why people were alarmed over the downtime of the Malacañang website. The extended downtime feels a lot like a media blackout, reminiscent of media shutdowns during the Martial Law era. It does not help that Imee Marcos publicly stated that her brother’s presidential win is an opportunity to “clarify” her father’s legacy—a regime marked by killings, abuse, and censorship.
Redacted and Tampered The Marcos family has spent the last decade denying their crimes, downplaying criticisms against their late patriarch Ferdinand Marcos. Despite the solid proof of the Martial Law atrocities, many loyalists still deny those had happened. The denial comes as a result of coordinated attempts to distort history, in which online posts posit false claims about the Marcoses. These kinds of content
The cycle of disinformation owes its success to social media, where historical accuracy plays second fiddle to clicks. The Marcoses were able to change the narrative about their family, utilizing everything from bizarre urban legends to falsehoods aimed at their critics and rivals. It was a long game for them, one that they cunningly played until they delivered a checkmate last May 9. The persistence of disinformation happened even with a plethora of Martial Law resources available online. There is the Bantayog ng Mga Bayani website, which is also undergoing a revamp. The Bantayog page carries an extensive collection of information about the martyrs of the regime. Ateneo de Manila University also has an online Martial Law Museum containing educational
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