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Feature: Local Conspiracy Theories
A very much alive Ferdinand Marcos with Jose Rizal holding a knife in front of the burning buildings of University of the Philippines Diliman. Photo credit: Sophia Loriega
Conspiracy theories have been circulating around the internet from government cover ups, the Illuminati, and time travelling. Conspiracy theories have also shown up in the Philippines. In fact, here are three conspiracy theories that are close to home.
3. Ferdinand Marcos is still alive.
There has always been conspiracy theories of the famous dead being not-so-dead after all and faking their deaths. For example, Elvis Presley and Tupac Shankar. There had been supposed sightings of Elvis Presley working as a groundskeeper in Tennessee, and locals sighting Tupac Shakur alive in Cuba. Someone that can be added in this list is former President Ferdinand Marcos. Before the recent controversy with his burial, Filipinos have spotted the dead president in places like Hongkong, Ilocos, and Manila. He was believed to have undergone plastic surgery to hide his identity, and the corpse in the burial that caused national debate is a wax figure.
However, the embalmer of the 10th President’s corpse came to the public to deny and say that the wax is used to preserve the body. People who still believe this conspiracy, mainly Marcos supporters, still insist that sightings of him are real. Speculation says that he is staying in hiding with a wife he married before First Lady Imelda Marcos and a family before he was even running for the presidential spot. There are no official records of this from biographers.
This can be chalked up as an urban legend-level of a conspiracy, but it would not be that farfetched considering the other theories surrounding the Marcoses. This includes the conspiracy that Bongbong Marcos is a clone, Imelda Marcos being behind the Aquino assassination, and many others about the family’s fortune.
2. Jose Rizal is Jack the Ripper
Speculation has been made about the beloved national hero’s adventures abroad, particularly his visit to London. He was in the United Kingdom from May 1888 to early 1889, copying books by hand in the age of pre-photocopying machines. During this time, in August to November of 1888, the Jack the Ripper murders had occurred. There has been talk that Jose Rizal might be behind these killings.
For one, Jose Rizal stayed with the Beckett family home in Crescent, London during his stay in the city. During the day, he stayed in the British Library, but no one knew what he did during the night. The murders happened in the East End district in Whitechapel, London which is less than 30 minutes from Crescent and the museum. A person could have easily walked that distance.
Two, the victims were female prostitutes that patrolled the area. Jose Rizal was known to be a man with many lovers. Aggression is a long way from infidelity, but it is still in the same path. Third, the suspects for the actual Jack the Ripper was mostly doctors, as the mutilation done to the victims before, during, and after death implied anatomical knowledge. Rizal was a known ophthalmologist and got his medical degree and license in Madrid, Spain.
This theory is almost urban legend-level kind of speculation; however, it provides more evidence compared to most. The adventures of Jose Rizal in his years abroad are studied by students nationwide, and the thought of the Philippine’s national hero secretly being behind the murders of the most prolific serial killer in history is fun to think about, even if the evidence lines up a little too closely.
1. UP Diliman Fires Were Orchestrated
The state university in Diliman experienced an abnormally large amount of fires in their campus in the last decade.
On June 2015, both the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Association (CASAA) Food Center fire and the Alumni Center fire were reported due to a freak accident and faulty electrical wiring respectively. Speculations came up in social media as the circumstances around the fires.
The contracts for the concessionaires in CASAA were about to end in the week the fire happened. Issues with management and paying rental fees were ongoing and the fire happened supposedly just as it was about to be closed down. The owners of the property are still being discussed, and no plans of rebuilding CASAA are being thoroughly discussed.
The Alumni Center fire happened in the same month of the CASAA fire. It was so close in proximity that the building was issued to an inspection program that started after for fire safety. There was an eyewitness account from a guard on duty before the fire, where he saw a man go inside the building. Minutes later, an explosion inside the ceiling was heard.
The next fire happened the following year on April Fool’s Day. The Faculty Center burned down in the middle of the night. It was home to hundreds and thousands of research and records collected throughout the years. The reported cause was faulty electrical wiring, and because the building was mostly wood and papers, the fire spread quickly.
The most recent UP fire was of the Shopping Center, nicknamed by the community as SC. The building housed 48 stalls that provided services to students like printing, photocopying, food, and merchandise of the university. The reported cause was again, faulty wiring.
Most of the fires reached the fourth and fifth alarm before being under control by the fire department.
Speculations about the fires arise because of the frequency. Is it really just coincidental? Are buildings in one of the country’s top universities not obeying fire safety laws? Or is it a conspiracy involving major corporations that want to take over spaces inside the campus?
Most conspiracies are born with the need for the truth. These kinds of speculations and theories come up when there is little information given to the public. With the lack of answers from officials, or too many coincidences matching up, or even just the general unknown of the world around us, people try to put pieces together and see if things fit.
With that said, the conspiracies above are for entertainment purposes only. No harm was intended to any public figures (living or dead) or corporations. //by Kiara Gabriel
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