Location: Zoom (Password access circulated internally).

ABSTRACT:

Thirty six years after the dictatorial President Ferdinand Marcos was ousted for massive corruption by the People Power movement his sole son, Ferdinand (Bongbong) Marcos Jnr has won the presidency in what appears to be landslide to rival the 1986 win that saw Corazon Aquino elected to replace Marcos. Bongbong Marcos received 30 million votes from the Philippines 67 million registered voters (with a turnout of around 80%), twice as many as his nearest rival, current Vice President and human rights lawyer Leni Robredo. His running mate, Sara Duterte, daughter of the controversial current president Rodrigo Duterte, easily won the vice presidency. With a median age of just 24 years the vast majority of voters have no memory of the dictatorial presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, partially explaining why the team behind Bongbong Marcos was so effective in exploiting Facebook and other social media to rewrite history.

SPEAKER BIOS

Dr Earvin Charles B. Cabalquinto

Dr Earvin Charles B. Cabalquinto is a Lecturer in Communication in the School of Communication and Creative Arts and a member of ADI. A keen observer of the Philippines diaspora Earvin’s research expertise lies at the intersections of digital media, (im)mobilities and migration. He examines the role of mobile devices and networked communication platforms in engendering and undermining transnational relationships, mediated intimacies, caregiving at a distance, crisis communication, and homeland linkages. He is Social Media Editor of the Asian Journal of Communication and an editorial board member of the International Journal of Cultural Studies.

Prof. Greg Barton

Prof Greg Barton is Research Professor in Global Islamic Politics at ADI. He has studied Southeast Asia society and politics for more than thirty years and since 2016, together with Dr Matteo Vergani, has been leading the Home Affairs’ Southeast Asian Network of Civil Society Organisations working together against extremism (SEAN-CSO). He is engaged in research into hate and hateful extremism and the interactions between hateful extremism and violent extremism, both in Australia and in Southeast Asia Addressing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation to Terrorism (AVERT) network and in the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies (CRIS).