An old video about Martial Law uploaded by an international publication suddenly received a higher dislike ratio and a slew of negative comments on YouTube.
A Reddit user noticed this change on a YouTube video of Vice Asia. He posted a screenshot of it on the online forum on November 2.
“The comment section and the dislike ratio is so disheartening. My heart truly bleeds for the martial law victims. Link is on the comments section,” the Reddit user said.
The video titled “What Happened to the Billions That Former President Marcos Stole from the Philippines” was released on June 10, 2021.
In the caption, it was stated that this is part of Vice Asia’s “The Big Steal” documentary series where they featured personalities involved in corruption and scandals in the region.
For this episode, the video traced the billions worth of money late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. stole from the Philippines.
“In this first episode of Big Steal, we learn how the former president, became one of the richest, and most corrupt men, in Southeast Asia, until it all came crashing down,” read the caption.
The narrator of the video was Atom Araullo.
Despite being released months ago, the comments section was suddenly filled with messages that defended Marcos and his family with false or misleading claims.
Some comments were placed there less than an hour ago as of writing.
It also has a higher dislike number at 20,000 in contrast to the 8,100 likes.
The video also has 226,089 views so far.
In the discussion section of the Reddit post, users raised the problem of how history is taught in the country, thus leading to Filipinos being forgetful of their lessons.
“I think it’s about how we teach and implement history here. History classes are so lame and boring, [teach] you to memorize dates and that’s all. There’s fake news everywhere and you can openly worship the Marcoses in social media,” one Reddit user said.
“We are truly the embodiment of the phrase forgive and forget…Actually, hindi pa nga eh kasi naniniwala ang iba na walang kelangan ipagpatawad,” another Reddit user wrote.
One Reddit user asked help from the community members to report all messages and accounts of the growing number of alleged trolls and bots on YouTube videos and live chats.
The online user noted that most of them are supporters of presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the late dictator. Others are supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“They spread misinformation and are clogging the live chats with BBM and Duts names. They usually spread anti-Leni BS where they spread misinformation about her as well. Don’t block, report them all, report every single message, especially in ABS CBN and GMA,” the user claimed.
Another online user pointed out that it’s difficult to identify all of them as “bots” despite their behavior.
“They are probably a mix of real Marcos supporters, trolls paid or not, supporters with multiple accounts,” a Reddit user said.