7 Filipino Conspiracies You May or May Not Have Heard Of

Even before Ancients Aliens and The Da Vinci Code arrived, people have been fans of conspiracies. And when it comes to them, the crazier the better. We’ve heard plenty of them, but stories related to Filipinos aren’t that many.

Below, we compiled some of our favorite Filipino conspiracies. Some of them we grew up with, but the others are so crazy… could they be true?

7. The RH Bill is an international conspiracy

Tito Sotto

The Reproductive Health Bill (Republic Act No. 10354) is one of the most controversial bills to ever be written, with proponents fighting for universal access to methods on contraception, fertility control, sexual education, and maternal care. Senate President Vicente Sotto III claims that the bill is an international conspiracy, “exposing” the organisations involved in a speech in 2012. According to him, “doubtful characters“ are advocating for population control through abortion.

6. Former president Ferdinand Marcos is still alive

Ferdinand Marcos

It is said that former president Ferdinand Marcos is still alive and has had plastic surgery. An email that went around claims that he was seen attending a wedding with his signature matching the former president’s. A rumour also started spreading when people noticed that his embalmed body, which was displayed in a refrigerated crypt in Ilocos Norte prior to his burial in Libingan ng mag Bayani, looks more wax than human. However, Frank Malabed, the mortician who embalmed the former president in Hawaii, insists that the body in Ilocos Norte is really Marcos.

5. There’s a half-man, half-snake living under one of Manila’s biggest malls

Nagini Harry Potter

According to legend, a half-man, half-snake is living under one of Manila’s biggest malls, and is supposedly the son of the developer and the twin brother of the company’s president. He is said to have access to the mall’s CCTVs and spies on women in changing rooms. If he sees someone he likes, he’ll pull a switch, which will open a hole in the ground and bring the woman to him. Actress Alice Dixon was rumoured to be one of the snake’s almost-victims and she was paid off to be quiet. In another version, the snake is half-woman and lays golden eggs, which became the source of the developer’s wealth.

The story has been so persistent that the company’s president addressed it in a speech in the University of the Philippines in 2008. She said, “I have no idea who started this incredible story, but I have to tell you that some people believed it and even started staring at my legs to see if there were any signs of snakeskin. A few people still ask me about it, and I have to tell them na naging handbag na ho sa department store.”

4. Paul Walker was murdered

Paul Walker

In 2013, Paul Walker passed away in a car crash after attending a fundraising event for victims of Typhoon Yolanda. What looked like an innocent accident sparked conspiracy theories, with the most prominent one saying that Walker was murdered after discovering a conspiracy to give a prototype permanent birth control drug hidden in medicine and food meant for victims. He and his companion, Roger Rodas, supposedly had evidence and were on their way to report it. In another conspiracy, Walker was said to discover dirty money in disaster relief.

3. Bongbong Marcos is a clone

bongbong marcos e1455699354423

Former president Ferdinand Marcos isn’t the only one in the family with a crazy conspiracy. His son has one, too. According to stories, former senator Bongbong Marcos is a clone and that the real Bongbong already passed away. There are different stories to the cause of death: he was killed in a road accident, was stabbed by a classmate, or was kidnapped and killed by rebels in Mindanao. Conspiracy has it that his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, convinced her nephew to get surgery to look like Bongbong.

2. Yolanda was man-made

Haiyan

According to a video that spread online, Typhoon Yolanda was man-made. Michael Janitch, a vlogger who goes by Dutchsinse, claimed that the typhoon was created using a technology that creates microwave pulses. While “climate engineering” is a thing that exists, scientists have debunked Dutchsinse’s conspiracy, with University of the Philippines scientist and professor Dr. Mahar Lagmay saying that “there’s no very solid demonstration of its (microwave pulse) relation with how it generates cyclones.”

1. Jose Rizal is Hitler’s father

Jose Rizal

According to the craziest conspiracy theory we heard, Philippine national hero Jose Rizal is the father of the leader of the Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler. Stories say that Hitler was conceived while Rizal was traveling around Europe in 1888. However, Glen Garfield Ang, a history teacher from Ateneo de Manila University, said that this isn’t true. He said, “Hitler’s birthday is April 20, 1889. Giving an allowance of nine months from conception to birth, Rizal should have been in Austria in July 1888, if he were indeed Hitler’s natural father. But this is contradicted by the fact that Rizal was in London in July 1888 and remained there until September 1888.”

BONUS

Jack the Ripper

There’s another conspiracy related to Rizal. According to stories, he is also Jack the Ripper, the most infamous serial killer. He only had five known victims in London in 1888 (known as the Canonical Five) but his story persists because he was never caught. Rizal was accused of being Jack the Ripper because the murders happened while the national hero was in London and they stopped when he returned to Manila. They also have other similarities: both have medical training, both liked women, and they had the same initials.