Claim: Marcos Sr’s Masagana 99 left farmers and banks bankrupt contrary to what the Marcos siblings said.
Rating: Partly TRUE
The Facts: A Facebook post from the page “Philippines Speak Now or Be Silent Forever” claims that the Masagana 99 Agri-program implemented by Marcos Sr. was a failure and left farmers in debt and around 800 banks bankrupt.
The post was a rebuttal of the recent photo of president Bongbong Marcos which recreates his father’s picture at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The post also tried to debunk the claims of the Marcos siblings, Imee and Bongbong, that the Masagana 99 project was a success.
The claims in this post are factual and backed by evidence but some lacking context.
On September 2020, the University of the Philippines-Los Baños, College of Agriculture invited a panel of agriculturists, scientists, and personnel who were part of the Masagana 99 to discuss the event.
The consensus was that the project was initially successful since it achieved its goal of producing a higher rice yield compared to the earlier years. However, due to problematic political and governmental issues, the program was unsustained because of ineffective implementation and the credit system, which led to rising farmer debts and bankruptcy.
Why we fact-checked this: Understanding the full story is crucial in this age of disinformation. The Masagana 99 program was theoretically feasible yet the implementation of the administration did lead farmers and banks into debt.
Related article: https://www.rappler.com/…/how-marcos-jr-proposed…/….
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