Star Metro - 'Seeds of instability': Health disinfo targets Philippine leader

While largely played for laughs, the government lodged complaints against several Facebook accounts and warned tech giant Meta it faced legal action should it fail to curb disinformation it labelled an "escalating" threat to national security.

Since the 68-year-old leader's January hospitalisation for diverticulitis -- an inflammation in the colon --- social media has been awash with speculation he was more ill than publicised.

The posts have circulated widely among supporters of Marcos' arch-rival and 2028 presidential candidate, Vice President Sara Duterte, whose Monday impeachment has thrown her run into doubt.

AFP's fact-checkers have tracked hundreds of posts on Facebook, TikTok and X -- some racking up tens of thousands of shares -- of old or edited visuals as proof of the president's ailing health.

The narrative has sown "seeds of instability" in his presidency and largely benefited Duterte, Jean Franco, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines, told AFP.

It also leans heavily into the Marcos family's history of medical secrecy.

The president's father and namesake, sick with kidney disease during the final years of his dictatorship, once lifted his shirt on national television to show he bore no transplant scars.

"Just like his father", one Facebook user wrote in a post speculating Marcos had died in April.

- 'Who died?' -

The president's assurances that his diagnosis was non-life-threatening have done little to allay the rumours.

When he skipped an event in early April, speculation that he was ill or dead -- including a years-old photo of a Philippine flag flying at half mast -- flooded social media.

The flag photo was shared by former broadcaster-turned-social media presenceJay Sonza, who campaigned for the Marcos-Duterte ticket during the pair's brief 2022 alliance but has since posted exclusively for the vice president.

"Who died?" one curious commenter asked under Sonza's flag post, with others claiming it was Marcos. "Hope VP Sara steps in to govern this country," said another.

Sonza was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) about two weeks later on charges of cyberlibel and "unlawful publication", alleging he fabricated medical records about the president.

With his client now free on bail, Sonza's lawyer has labelled the detention "intimidation".

Marcos' communications office, meanwhile, lauded the arrest, having earlier announced it had filed complaints against three Facebook accounts with the country's justice department.

- 'Panic-inducing' content -

Numerous posts have also accused the media of colluding with the administration to keep details of his health secret.

One altered image -- shared in a page with 80,000 followers called "President Duterte News" -- alleged that major broadcaster GMA News was part of a cover-up.

That framing, repeated across multiple Facebook pages, is intended to "further erode trust in legitimate media", said Yvonne Chua, who teaches journalism at the University of the Philippines.

"They reinforce the broader narrative that mainstream media cannot be trusted and is aligned with those in power," Chua told AFP.

Marco's government has since demanded that Facebook owner Meta take down "panic-inducing" content on the platform, where Filipinos rank among the world's heaviest users.

The content poses "a direct and escalating threat to public order, economic confidence, and national security", the government said, without spelling out what legal action it might take.

Meta, one of the companies that pays AFP to fact-check posts with potentially false information, has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

More than a dozen "fake news" bills, meanwhile, have been floated in the Philippine Congress, including one sponsored by Marcos's son Sandro, a high-ranking House member.

For Franco, government lawsuits and pressure tactics risked a "chilling effect" on people who want to criticise the government.

Constitutional law professor Paolo Tamase agreed, saying that instead of invoking "national security", the government might best be served by a "pro-transparency reading of the public's right to information".

"Disclosures take the oxygen out of any baseless rumour," he said.

S.Clark--SMC