Lench Krizia Rose C. Piamonte BS ChE-1102 Reading in the Philippine History Activity 2.0 Answer the following questions in not more than 10 sentences. Please provide references if needed. 1. Why did Marco Jose become the most successful Conman in the study of Philippine History? In my own opinion, Marco Jose become the most successful Conman in the study of Philippine History because he invented fake stories which became a huge part of the Philippine History. These stories were believed and are still one of the most arguable issues up to this date. The first hoax that he introduced to the country’s history was the “Code of Kalantiaw” which typically contains laws and policies written in 1433 by the Negros island chief, Datu Kalantiaw. This was believed to be followed by the Filipinos during their era, even before the Spaniard colonization started. It was named after the chief but it was claimed by the historians that this legal code is fake and was actually written by the greatest conman, Jose E. Marco, in 1913. The other one is the book entitled “La Loba Negra” which is known as a story written by the priest, Father Jose Burgos, during his time. This book is about “The Black She-wolf) which was believed that the governor’s wife was changing her appearance to a wolf, in order to get revenge after his death. To sum it up, I think Jose Marco is the best conman in the Philippine History because he made up stories which became one of the biggest stories in our history. It was claimed that he made up these hoaxes in order to gain honor and acknowledgement in his name. He was believed to be the sources of these controversial documents which promotes ego and financial factors. 2. What are the hoaxes during Marcos administration? What kind of historical criticism did historian use to uncover those hoaxes? During the administration of Marcos, Tasaday tribe was found. In South Cotabato, it was believed that these people who are existing since the stone age were discovered, which is why Manuel Elizalde Jr., Marcos’ close friend, requested to close the isolated area to be able to keep the culture that the Tasadays have. It was later on approved until the end of Marcos’ presidency. After the lead of Marcos, Elizalde also left the country and this is the time when the isolated island was visited by the experts. This marked another hoax in our history. Upon further investigation, it was found that the Tasadays are not existing since the stone age era. They’re actually not from the stone age but more likely to be group of people wherein modernization is not yet introduced. The experts claimed that the Tasadays are only for a show and might be introduced to the world for money purposes. According to the sources, a lot of money was placed on this project since it was funded by our government. Another one in Marcos’ era was his honors and rewards that are said to be fake. No actual records were found for his engagement in the World War II. 3. What lesson did this documentary impart specially in relation with the spread of fake news. The lesson that we can get from this documentary is that everything that we can see is not true. We stay aware and vigilant all of the time. We should always be alert and wise. Fake news is all over the media and most likely, we are being captured by these. We should always conduct further researches about the issues and topics that we encounter every day. The story itself is not enough. We need concrete proof and evidences. We must prioritize the spread of authentic ideas and articles instead of the fake ones because we are not the only one who will be reading these. A lot of people might be affected. As what the documentary stated, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you.” Open your eyes and be mindful of it.
