A Facebook post claims the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. was the youngest politician elected as mayor, congressman, governor, and senator of the Philippines.
Screengrab of the Facebook post that claims that Ferdinand Marcos Sr. is the youngest politician who won as mayor, congressman, governor and senator
CLAIM: Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. “is the youngest politician who won as mayor, congressman, governor and senator.”
RATING: FALSE
A Facebook post claims that Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. “is the youngest politician who won as mayor, congressman, governor and senator.”
The use of the word “is” implies that no other politician, before or even after Marcos, was younger than him when they took office as mayor, congressman, governor, or senator.
This is FALSE.
Marcos Sr. was never elected mayor or governor
Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.’s profile in the Malacañang and the Philippine Senate websites showed that he was never elected mayor of any town or city, or as governor of any province in the Philippines.
The youngest mayor elected into office in the Philippines is Josh Edward Cobangbang. Born in 1994, he was 21 years and seven months old when he took his oath as mayor of the Municipality of Cabugao, Ilocos Sur in 2016.
The youngest governor elected in the country is Miguel Luis Villafuerte, incumbent governor of Camarines Sur who became governor in 2013 at 24 years old. He defeated his own grandfather, Luis Villafuerte, Sr., for the post.
Marcos Sr. is not the youngest elected congressman and senator in the Philippines
Marcos Sr. was elected congressman representing the Second District of Ilocos Norte in 1949. Marcos Sr. was born on Sept. 11, 1917. He was 32 years old when he was elected congressman.
Does that make him the youngest congressman ever elected?
No. He is not the youngest congressman ever elected into office in the Philippines.
That distinction belongs to Rep. Braeden John Q. Biron of the Fourth District of Iloilo, who was 25 years old when elected into office. As the youngest member of the House, he had the honor of administering the oath of office to then-incoming House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on July 22, 2019.
Therefore, the claim that Marcos Sr. is the youngest congressman ever elected is also FALSE.
The post also claims that Marcos Sr. was the youngest senator ever elected in the Philippines.
Based on his profile from the two government websites mentioned above, the late dictator and plunderer was 42 years old when he became senator on December 30, 1959. The youngest senator elected into office is Sen. Jose Maria Veloso of the Ninth Senatorial District comprising Samar and Leyte. He was 30 years old when he became senator on October 16, 1916.
This last claim is also FALSE.
The description of being the youngest politician elected would better fit Marcos Sr.’s political archrival, Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., who was only 22 years old when he was elected mayor of his hometown, Concepcion, Tarlac; 27 years old when he was elected vice governor of Tarlac; 29 years old when he became governor after the incumbent resigned; and 35 years old when he became senator in 1967.
As mentioned above, the records set by Aquino were broken by Mayor Cobangbang and Governor Villafuerte. The youngest vice governor ever elected is the current Quezon Vice Governor, Samuel Nantes, who took office on June 30, 2013 at age 23. – Rommel F. Lopez
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