FACT CHECK: Imee Marcos’ falsely claims being founder and chair of Kabataang Barangay

Sen. Imee Marcos claims to be the founder of Kabataang Barangay (KB) and its chairperson from 1975 to 1986. This is inaccurate.

When the KB was created in 1975 through a presidential decree signed by her father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the senator was already beyond the maximum age limit of 18 for KB members.

Documents show that what Imee chaired was the KB Foundation, which was first mentioned in Presidential Decree (PD) 1191 that Marcos Sr. issued in 1977 “to streamline and strengthen the organizational structure” of the KB. It was “authorized to administer government funds.”

STATEMENT

Sen. Marcos’ biography on her official website partly states:

“Since 1975 to 1986 she chaired the Kabataang Barangay, a village youth organization that provided platforms and opportunities for young Filipinos to engage in nation-building.”

Additionally, in a video posted on her official Facebook page, she said:

“Mula sa pagiging founder ng Kabataang Barangay, dinala ako ng aking karanasan sa Senado (From being the founder of Kabataang Barangay, my experience brought me to the Senate).”

Source: Imee Marcos official Facebook page, Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections video, Oct. 20, 2023, watch from 0:13 to 0:20

FACT

Marcos Sr. created the KB by signing the now-repealed PD 684, dated April 15, 1975. Section 4 of the edict prescribed that the KB “shall be composed of the residents of the barangay who are at least 15 years of age or over but less than 18.” Imee was already 19 years old.

Documents show, however, that what Imee chaired was the KB Foundation, which was first mentioned in PD 1191 that Marcos Sr. signed on Sept. 1, 1977.

KB was the forerunner of the Sangguniang Kabataan, a community council that represented the youth in each of the country’s barangays.

BACKSTORY

In 1976, Imee failed her classes at Princeton University and returned to Manila. On May 15 of the same year, Marcos Sr. issued PD 935, suspending the maximum age limit of 18 for KB officers and members. Imee was already 20 years old at that time.

Imee then took non-degree courses at the University of the Philippines (UP). An article in the official publication of UP Diliman, the Philippine Collegian, showed her wearing a KB T-shirt, apparently her first public appearance showing her affiliation with KB.

In Feb. 1977, Marcos Sr. signed PD 1102, which modified the age bracket for KB members to “21 years of age or less.” Imee was then 21 years, 3 months, and 16 days old.

A declassified September 1977 document from the State Department, counterpart of the United States to the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs, reveals that Imee Marcos “supplanted” a “young Filipino who was national president of the Kabataang Barangay.”

Miguel Paolo P. Reyes and Joel F. Ariate Jr., researchers  at the UP’s Third World Studies Center, wrote in an article exclusive to VERA Files, “Reliable sources show clearly why it has never been entirely factual to state that Imee was the chairman of the KB national organization—she chaired what was called the Kabataang Barangay Foundation, Inc.”

PD 1191 established the Pambansang Katipunan ng mga Kabataang Barangay ng Pilipinas (PKKB). Its purpose was “to streamline and strengthen the organizational structure” of the KB.

The KB Foundation, on the other hand, “was authorized to administer government funds.”

Reyes and Ariate Jr. also said that Marcos Sr. gave his daughter, as chair of the KB Foundation, additional powers through EO no. 887, s. 1983, making Imee the head of the Philippine Commission for International Youth. The program for the 1985 International Youth Year identified her as the chair of the KB Foundation.

(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)