Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was a bundle of contradictions when he spoke of his dictator-father Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in Ilocos Norte during the latter’s 107th birth anniversary.
While claiming throughout his speech that the word “Filipino” best described his father, he unabashedly recounted that Ferdinand Marcos Sr. actually worked for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the precursor of the Central Intelligence Agency) during World War II.
Perhaps Ferdinand Jr. wanted to say something that would make up for one of his father’s biggest lies — his claim of having received 32 medals for valor during World War II, making him the Philippines’ most decorated soldier. This claim, that aimed to create a mythical, larger than life figure out of Marcos Sr., has long been debunked.
With this proud disclosure of his father’s OSS connections, however, Ferdinand Jr. makes the big mistake of believing that spying for a foreign country marks one as “Filipino” when the very opposite is true. Even spying for an ally is classified as treason.
Still, this confirms what many have known all along—that the US was leading Marcos Sr. by the nose.
Is this Marcos Jr.’s definition of “Filipino”?
Obviously, it is. Marcos Jr. has reinforced the treaties and agreements that define the master-puppet relationship between the US and the Philippines, which is exactly what his role model-father did in his time.
Replicating his father’s puppetry and calling it “Filipino” will never resonate with the mass of Filipinos and will never serve the Filipino people’s real interests.