Well, aside from the US Army’s debunking of this old Marcos tale, there is also that glaring fact in the meme that should be enough reason not to take it seriously – the M60 machine gun.
The Japanese occupation in the Philippines occurred between 1942 and 1945. However, the M60 machine gun, which reportedly scared the Japanese soldiers away, was not used by the US military until 1957.
Unless Marcos was a time traveler who had access to guns that were yet to be invented, and a gun that needed at least three people to operate it for optimal performance, then this claim about Marcos pulling off a Rambo-style attack on Japanese soldiers is just a fantasy. As what one of the commenters has said, they could have done their research well.
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But upon checking out the other posts of the same Facebook page, it turned out that this Marcos and M60 machine gun story was not the only false claim they’ve made. The page also posted memes about how Marcos “built the first Malacañang Palace” and “wrote the first Harry Potter,” all of which are false. The Harry Potter bit was obviously made for laughs, with and additional note of “if he (Marcos) were alive today he would have sued J.K. Rowling for PLAGIARISM.”
It seems like this Facebook page was made by an individual who wants to have a sarcastic approach towards debunking the claim that Marcos was “the best president ever.” But the thing is if the Marcos as Rambo meme spreads, some people might take it seriously, especially those who don’t back what they find online with further verification.
While Marcos was able to hold onto his power, from 1965 to 1986, longer than any other president in the Philippines ever has and declared himself as a dictator under martial law from 1972 to 1981, his power did not include time travel, so wielding an M60 machine gun during the Japanese occupation in our country was impossible. Even Marcos’ story about Maharlika was a flimsy one with no “adequate records,” based on the investigations conducted by the US Army.
Be Informed. Beat the Trolls, Share the Truth!
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