NEW YORK — The ghost of Marcos past is back and is haunting Filipinos all over the world in a very in-your-face way: Facebook.
“My hero," gushes Facebook user May.
Everything about the profile of Ferdinand E. Marcos is factual. But nowhere on his wall is anything he had written. Instead, the posts – now in the hundreds -- praise his greatness as president. There are some stray comments that are critical and some downright profane, but they are outnumbered by the superlatives. The way it works is that Marcos appears to be another Facebook user. His profile identifies his status as being married to Imelda Remedios Visitacion Romualdez-Marcos, his birthday as September 11, 1917, his hometown as Ilocos Norte, and his education as the University of the Philippines College of law ‘39.
“You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s (sic) gone," writes Rhea. Luke, whose friends include Aiza Seguerra, writes: “No one can beat what this great man did to improve the country." And from Abigail: “Despite the dictatorship, one of the best presidents in the Philippines. His brilliance created an impact not just in our country but in the international arena. Most of the republic acts are still under his regime... :) Love the brain of this guy!"
No surprises there. The Palo Alto, California, social networking website counts the most powerful men in the world, such as Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, among its more than 175 million users – dead or alive. An average user has 120 friends, but not Marcos who has 4,152; a drop in the bucket compared with Obama’s 5,548,940.
In fact, Jose Rizal is only slightly popular with 6,808 supporters. But at least FEM has more followers than Lenin (3,579), Richard Nixon (3,687), and Evita (1,557). That Marcos loyalists are regrouping via the Internet is not the news. Anyone can be on Facebook and for whatever reason, including peeking at young boys in skivvies or sharing recipes for homemade bombs.
If social media guru Jesse Stay is correct, Facebook allows a user to “track social demographics." That’s what the Marcos fansite appears to be doing. Many of the supporters are in their 20s and 30s – too young to have lived through the horrors of the Marcos Dictatorship – and they’re from all over the world. Not one of the recent posts recounts the crushing poverty, the military tortures, the crony corruption, and the Imeldific extravagance. Let’s take shoes.
The Marcos dictatorship came crashing down in 1986 when a people power uprising chased the family and their cronies out of Malacañang. In fairness, the Marvos Wall is not all praises. Negative comments make their way every once in a while. One of them, Theterm, writes: “I will say he was fine at first until greed got the best of him. Viva Ninoy Aquino!" Raymund says it short and raw: “This guy is an a--hole."
Disagree with them? Why don’t you sign up for Facebook to connect with Ferdinand E. Marcos?
