Philippines election: Twitter suspends accounts linked to Marcos Jr

Twitter has suspended hundreds of accounts reportedly linked to supporters of Philippine presidential frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos Jr, which the social media giant said had violated its rules on manipulation and spam.

The son and namesake of the country's former dictator is drawing support from a massive social media campaign seeking to get him elected in May, which critics say is attempting to rewrite the family's history.

Philippines presidential candidate Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr – son of former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr, who was in power from 1965 to 1986 – pictured in 2015 with his sister, Imee Marcos. Reuters
Incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been in power since 2016. He had said he would stand for vice president, but in October 2021 said he was retiring from politics. Reuters
President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Sarah lay a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem, in 2018. Sarah Duterte had been touted as a successor to her father, but said she had no plans to run for president. However, there is speculation that she may run for vice president, on a ticket with Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. EPA
Philippines boxing legend Manny Pacquiao is taking on political heavyweights in the election.
Manila City Mayor Francisco 'Isko Moreno' Domagoso is also standing for election. Getty Images

Twitter said it had reviewed the accounts and hashtags identified in a recent article by Philippine news site Rappler.

More than 300 accounts had been removed "for violating our platform manipulation and spam policy", Twitter said in a statement.

Most of them had been taken down before the Rappler article was published on Tuesday and an investigation was ongoing, it said.

Filipinos are among the world's heaviest users of social media and the country has become a key battleground for fake news.

"With the Philippine elections taking place this May, we remain vigilant about identifying and eliminating suspected information campaigns targeting election conversations," Twitter said.

Marcos Jr's spokesman, Vic Rodriguez, said there was "no certainty" that all the suspended accounts belonged to supporters of the presidential hopeful.

Election victory for Marcos Jr would mark the ultimate political comeback for the family, which was chased into exile in the United States after its patriarch's humiliating downfall in 1986.

Marcos Sr and his wife Imelda were accused of massive corruption while in power.

Recent voter surveys show Marcos Jr holding a huge lead over his nearest rival and nemesis Leni Robredo, who is the incumbent vice president.

Rappler said Marcos Jr supporters were "looking to dominate Twitter" and that many of the accounts it investigated were created around the time he announced his bid for the presidency in October.

The accounts pushed the narrative that the Marcoses were "victims" of the 1986 revolt and their return to Malacanang presidential palace is "long overdue", it added.

Twitter said sharing political content on an account or rallying people do so via hashtags was allowed, "unless the accounts are inauthentic, compensated or automated, which we see no clear evidence of in this case".

Last Monday, the social media giant said it was expanding a test feature that will allow users in Brazil, Spain and the Philippines to report misleading content.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Philippines election: Twitter suspends accounts linked to Marcos Jr

Hundreds of accounts removed for 'violating platform manipulation and spam policy'