FACT CHECK: Marcos Wrongly Referred To As An ‘Economist’ During Preshow Of Quiboloy-Sponsored Presidential Debate

Claim: During the pre-show of the presidential debate sponsored by the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) owned by controversial pastor Apollo Quiboloy on Feb. 15, one of the candidates who participated – former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. – was referred to as an economist.

Marcos also repeated during radio station dzBB’s presidential interviews on Feb. 5 that he obtained a bachelor’s degree from University of Oxford.

“Well, naipakita ko na ang diploma ko. It is a degree course. So yeah, nag-graduate ako sa Oxford,” Marcos said.

Rating: False

Facts:

Marcos is not an economist and did not graduate from Oxford in England. What he received was a special diploma in social studies in 1978. According to the Oxford Philippines Society, Marcos did not finish his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and that a special diploma “is not a degree, and neither is it comparable, superior nor equivalent to one.”

The fact that Marcos does not have a full diploma from Oxford has already been reported by various media and academic organizations in the past.

Rappler first broke the story in 2015 when it fact-checked the resume of Marcos, who was then a senator, posted on the Senate website. Marcos said the information on the Senate website was correct – that he earned a degree from Oxford and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Wharton School of Business in Pennsylvania.

As of September 2021, however, two versions of Marcos’ resume were posted on he Senate website – the first one stated he had a bachelor’s degree from Oxford while the second said he was awarded a special diploma, contrary to his dzBB interview.

The first version is no longer available, but this writer was able to capture a screenshot.

As early as 2013, scholars had also gathered at the University of the Philippines Diliman to talk about the Marcoses’ political rehabilitation almost three decades after the fall of the dictatorship.

Transcripts of the conference were published in the “Kasarinlan: Philippine Journal of Third World Studies” entitled “Marcos Pa Rin! The Legacy and the Curse of the Marcos Regime.” 

Scholars talked about Marcos’ political rehabilitation on social media that started with Friendster when he ran for senator in 2010, in the family’s continuing bid to revise the family’s history.

In the appendix, the journal discussed Marcos’ “trickery and omissions” in his biography from his website, including his false claim of having a degree. His failure to get a bachelor’s degree also raised questions about his claim to a master’s degree in business administration at Wharton School of Business.

"That (Bongbong) does not have a bachelor’s degree also raises questions about how he was admitted to the Wharton School of Business’s master of business administration program, which he also did not complete," the journal read. 

Marcos confirmed this in 2015, saying: “I was elected vice governor of Ilocos Norte and had to return home to serve my provincemates.” He was referring to the years 1980 to 1983.

The journal appended a confidential cable dated Oct. 9, 1976 from former ambassador Pablo Araque, then chargé d’affaires in London, to Marcos’ father and namesake who was president at the time. Based on the letter and files from the Presidential Commission on Good Government, the younger Marcos had a “lackluster academic record.”

The letter quoted Oxford’s St. Edmund Hall principal Dr. John Norman Davidson Kelly that Marcos Jr. “failed economics and politics” which were “regarded as easier,” and that “what was unusual was that Bongbong passed in the more difficult subject of philosophy.”

The university recommended that Marcos Jr. avail of tutorials under Filipino professors, and urged that he pass his subjects if he did not want to be kicked out of the university.

“Dr. Kelly also pointed out that Bong is a clever young man but that he needs to apply himself more to his studies… Failure to do so would mean that Bong, in Dr. Kelly’s words, ‘has to go out of residence for good,’ which would be greatly regrettable,” the letter read.

According to the Kasarinlan journal, Marcos Sr. “clearly wanted his children to be alumni of prestigious institutions like himself, or at least ensure that they appear to have inherited his vaunted intellect.”

“What government resources were tapped, if any, to ensure that Bongbong Marcos has the credentials to feasibly become his father’s heir to the presidency remains to be researched,” the journal added.

In a VERA Files article published on Nov. 1, 2021, the UP Third World Studies Center wrote extensively about Marcos Jr.’s false claims of academic record.

The UP researchers also cited confidential cables about how diplomatic officials lobbied for Oxford to ease its rules for Marcos Jr. and consider his mitigating circumstances – his asthma worsened due to his travels from London to Manila, and the trauma incurred after he joined his father in visiting devastated areas in Mindanao.

Marcos Jr. remained in Oxford until 1978 and obtained a special diploma, which was instituted as “an award to be taken mainly by non-graduates,” according to Norman Chester’s book “Economics, Politics and Social Studies in Oxford, 1900–85” that was cited by the UP researchers.

The Oxford University registrar also told various media outlets that Marcos Jr. was not a degree holder, and that the special diploma he obtained “was not a full graduate diploma.”

Therefore, “Bongbong has no college degree,” the UP Third World Studies Center declared.

In the second VERA Files article published on Nov. 2, 2021, Marcos Jr.’s failure to finish his MBA at Wharton was discussed. It also questioned how he was able to supposedly get a master's without an undergraduate degree.

“His father, the dictator, lied about his son’s degree. His mother, the undead half of the conjugal dictatorship, flaunted the same lie. And the son, who now wants to be president, continues the lie. For the past 43 years, the Filipino people have been lied to," part of the article read.

Why it matters: 

The 1987 Constitution does not require any academic credentials for presidential candidates, only that they should be “able to read and write.” But the Constitution also states that “public office is a public trust,” thus candidates are expected to be truthful in everything they say to the people.

OneNews.PH is part of #FactsFirstPH, which brings together various sectors that are committed to promoting truth in the public space, and exacting accountability on those who harm it with lies. For those interested to join the initiative, email [email protected].