# Marcos Jr. says it is wrong to call his father a dictator and defends martial law as necessary

Date: 2022

## The fact

On 14 September 2022 Associated Press recorded that [Ferdinand Marcos Jr](/people/ferdinand-marcos-jr)., in a PCO-released ALLTV interview, said it was wrong to describe his late father as a dictator, that martial law was not meant to prolong power, and that it was necessary because a war was raging; he added that the victors wrote this history. Rights groups rejected the remarks.

says it is wrong to call his father a dictator and defends martial law as necessary (2022-09-14).

## Context

The 50th anniversary of the martial-law proclamation followed days later. Textbook-revision talk is neighbouring. [Sara Duterte](/people/sara-duterte) as education secretary on the UniTeam ticket is unresolved and is not converted into a curriculum statute here.

Oath 30 June; interview mid-September 2022. Store the interview as the denial instrument. Keep Marcos Jr. says it is wrong to call his father a dictator and defends martial law as necessary on 2022-09-14 separate from neighbouring 30 June 2022 oath, September 2022 interview, February 2023 EDCA, 5 August 2023 water [cannon](/people/aileen-cannon), 11 March 2025 Duterte handover, and 2025–26 flood-control cluster.

The president of the Philippines is head of state and government under the 1987 Constitution. He can take an oath, give an interview, authorise EDCA sites, keep a resupply political yes, comply with an Interpol request, and deliver a SONA. He does not write a 1972 martial-law proclamation, a PLAN water-cannon order, an ICC chamber decision, or a completed theft judgment against the [Marcos](/people/imee-marcos) estate unless a court has issued one.

## Evidence and sources

Presidential Communications Office of the Philippines carries the official instrument or communique. Associated Press records the same dated act independently.

## Significance

The path is [civic space](/drivers/civic-space) and dynastic return: a completed denial of the dictator record, not a Soviet [media-freedom](/drivers/media-freedom) row.

## What is established and what is not

Established: A September 2022 interview, released by his press secretary, denying the dictator label and defending martial law, independently recorded.

Not established: A completed nationwide textbook rewrite as a gazette, or a unique later literacy coefficient.

What would change the picture: a contradictory original with a different date or name, a later repeal, a court that vacated the instrument, or a measured series that can be argued, with lag and alternatives, as a consequence of this instrument rather than of later institutions.

The date is the date of this instrument, not a licence to back-date every later harm or benefit.

PCO released it. He did not write 1972. Survivors and rights groups rejected the line.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies Marcos Jr. says it is wrong to call his father a dictator and defends martial law as necessary, not a later speech about Marcos Jr. says it is wrong to call his father a dictator and defends martial law as necessary.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. Marcos Jr. says it is wrong to call his father a dictator and defends martial law as necessary on 2022-09-14 is not a licence to treat every later Presidential Communications Office of the Philippines communique as this same act. If a later repeal, stay, or successor instrument exists, it needs its own date and its own row. This dossier refuses to average Marcos Jr. says it is wrong to call his father a dictator and defends martial law as necessary into a personality. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to He gave the interview. PCO released it. He did not write 1972. Survivors and rights groups rejected the line. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

## People

- Bongbong Marcos: https://factrail.ai/people/ferdinand-marcos-jr

## Drivers

- Civic Space: https://factrail.ai/drivers/civic-space
- Marcos Jr dynastic return (Philippines): https://factrail.ai/drivers/marcos-jr-dynastic-return

## Sources

- https://apnews.com/article/religion-philippines-manila-martial-law-f42dadd51158f438f99e58daf4d3df38
- https://pco.gov.ph/

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/ph-marcos-dictator-label-2022