Democratic Backsliding in the Philippines and the Power of Fake News

Since the Philippines became a democratic nation in 1986 following the deposition of the
Dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the stability of liberal democratic institutions in the country have
been unstable. In 2016 populist Rodrigo Duterte was elected President in a landslide victory,
following his election Duterte set in motion a number of illiberal policies that led to the
politicization of a-political institutions and breaking down of checks and balances. Earlier this
year Ferdinand “BongBong” Marcos was elected president following Duterte’s retirement. His
election has caused much shock and concern amongst observers from democratic nations due
to the nature of Marcos’ family history. Marcos is the son of the aforementioned dictator, who
ruled under martial law in the Philippines for nearly a decade. Since his election earlier this year
it has become apparent that Marcos’ agenda is much akin to that of his successor. Duterte and
Marcos have both clearly threatened liberal democracy within the Philippines, despite this they
have both enjoyed soaring approval ratings. Both the Duterte and Marcos regimes have taken
measures to secure the approval of voters while simultaneously pushing the Philippines further
towards illiberal democracy. 
In both cases, it is apparent that lack of easy access to reliable journalism, and the
proliferation of fake news and disinformation on social media platforms has played a significant
part in the support that Filipino voters have maintained for both Duterte and Marcos. Following
Duterte’s landslide victory in 2016, he initiated his hardline policies on drugs, which led to
thousands of extrajudicial killings during the course of his six year presidency. During the
Duterte regime’s war on drugs, International observers such as Amnesty International and
Duterte’s opponents within the Philippines decried the draconian policies as being in violation of
human rights and Duterte was accused of crimes against humanity. During the height of
international controversy surrounding Duterte’s war on drugs and the inhumane treatment of
Filipinos that the Amnesty International investigation had exposed, his approval rating never
dipped below 45% (Mendoza, Canare). A study conducted by investigative journalists Ronald
Mendoza and Tristan Canare of The Diplomat uncovered a link between Duterte’s soaring
approval ratings and the spread of misinformation and fake news via social media outlets like
Facebook. An unsubstantiated claim that drug overdose had become one of the leading causes
of death for young people within the Philippines had taken root on social media during the war
on drugs. The proliferation of fake news stories on social media, combined a lack of access to
trustworthy journalism, and the Duterte regime’s efforts to justify its hardline policies with
questionable statistics about drug related deaths, created a convoluted media environment in
which the truth had become difficult to surmise. 
In October of 2021, Duterte announced his retirement from politics, despite the fact that
his approval rating had reached an all time high of 72%. As his successor, Marcos has stated
that he would continue to uphold many of Duterte’s policies, including his hardline anti-drug
stances. Marcos has also appeared to have borrowed Duterte’s tactful application of
misinformation via social media to maintain a strong base of support. Marcos’ began his bid for

president by conducting a social media campaign designed to cleanse his family history. The
historical record of the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos shows that his reign was riddled with
instances of human rights violations, the pillaging of state assets, and atrocities. A study
conducted in 2018 by Jason Cabenes of Leeds University uncovered a massive social media
whitewashing campaign conducted by Marcos allies. The study described the actions of a
“professionalized and hierarchized group of political operators who design disinformation
campaigns, mobilize click armies, and execute innovative “digital black ops” and “signal
scrambling” techniques” that went to work on changing the Marcos family legacy and
perception  within the Philippines (Cabanes, 2018). This disinformation campaign was
conducted on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, which is where 90%
of Filipinos receive their news (Cabanes, 2018). 
For illiberal populist leaders, maintaining a strong base of support, and thus the mandate
needed to rule autonomously requires more than just populist rhetoric to be effective. As stated
in the 2016 article by Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Erica Frantz, How Democracies Fall Apart, a
populist actor will also “deliberately install loyalists in key positions of power (particularly in the
judiciary and security services) and neutralize the media by buying it, legislating against it, and
enforcing censorship” (Kendall-Taylor, Frantz). This playbook has allowed populist leaders such
as Duterte and Marcos, to control the narrative and thus maintain a positive public image while
they pushed democracy in the Philippines to the brink. 
Sources:

• Kendall-Taylor, Frantz, 2016, “How Democracies Fall Apart: Why Populism is a Pathway to
  Autocracy”
  -Mendoza, Canare, “2020 Herd Behavior and Approval Bubbles: A Closer Look at Duterte’s
  Popularity”. The Diplomat 
  -Willemyns, 2022, “Bongbong Marcos Is Popular in the Philippines, but He’s Not Yet in Duterte’s
  League”. Morning Consult.
  -University of Leeds, 2021, “Fake News Production and Social Media Trolls”. University of
  Leeds