President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. plans to continue posting vlogs while taking on presidential duties in the coming months.
Marcos’ eponymous YouTube channel “Bongbong Marcos” has 2.6 million subscribers as of writing.
In his latest video on Saturday, June 4, he announced his decision to continue his vlogging activities as a form of information dissemination.
“Kaya ipagpapatuloy talaga namin ang vlog na ito. Every so often nang mayroon tayong paliwanag doon sa ating mga ginagawa para hindi lamang sa pahayagan ang inyong nagiging balita kundi pati na from the horse’s mouth, ika nga,” Marcos said.
He also hoped to improve his content in a way that will connect the government and the Filipino people.
“Ipagpatuloy natin iyang lahat at lalo pang pagagandahin para hindi mapatid at hindi masayang itong nabuo na nating ugnayan at samahan,” Marcos said.
He further stated the following: “Talaga naman, gagawin namin ang lahat nang hindi naman mabigo at masabi na nasawi kami doon sa aming naipangako at nais gawin dito sa pamahalaan.”
Prior to the elections, Marcos’ camp has been releasing vlogs and other types of content on his social media platforms for years especially after he lost the vice presidential race in 2016. The channel started in 2009.
Precedents
As vice president, his presidential rival Leni Robredo also started a vlogging channel on YouTube and ran a weekly public service radio show titled “BISErbisyong LENI” in 2017 co-hosted by Ely Saludar. It tackled legal and social issues and concerns related to the family, government, law and special interest groups.
Robredo used her social media channels and her show as a vehicle to invite experts and guests for those who were looking for credible information at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
President Rodrigo Duterte also had a long-runnign show titled “Gikan sa Masa, para sa Masa” on local ABS-CBN in Davao City before he became president.
This was spun off as the weekly show “Mula as Masa, Para sa Masa” on state-run broadcaster PTV-4 in 2017 hosted by Duterte and Rocky Ignacio where they tackle current issues as well as policies and projects of the administration.
While Robredo and Duterte made use of both social media and traditional broadcast media, Marcos will be the first Philippine leader to host a vlog mainly on social media.
Mixed reactions
Marcos supporters, of course, welcomed the announcement.
“If BBM manages to continue vlogging even during presidency, it will be a huge opportunity to document and record every project that he has so that the doubters will have nothing to say against him. Besides, all of his contents are so family-friendly,” one user said.
Some of his critics also agreed to this move. Twitter user @josiahquising said that vlogging is now the medium of communication that the people follow.
“I agree with BBM’s decision to continue the vlogging. Our medium of communication is evolving. T*ng* lang ang magpapahuli. Instead of vilifying this move, we should follow suit. ESPECIALLY the Opposition. PLEASE. Utang na loob,” he said.
Not everyone, however, is warm to the idea of having a president and a vlogger at the same time.
“Unfortunately through his vlog disinformation, manipulation and one-sided news will continue to spread to maintain his ‘well-mannered’ image,” one user said.
“In the vlog you can edit everything and just show people what you know can be silly and make people stupid,” another user commented.
Marcos, who has been known to stay away from media interviews, has been uploading his public speeches, announcements and even campaign events on his online channels.
Last week, incoming Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles, also a blogger herself, pushed for the accreditation of bloggers in Malacañang.
