Award-winning veteran actress Dexter Doria has ventured into vlogging as part of her efforts to tackle fake news and misinformation on social media.
Doria created the character “Nana Didi,” who worked as a public school teacher for 43 years before she retired and took the role of taking care of her grandchildren.
But Nana Didi decided to end her retirement and create a vlog after seeing the social media posts of her former students regarding the so-called Tallano gold, “golden years of Martial Law” and the prevalence of misinformation on social media.
In her latest vlog, Nana Didi discussed the Tallano gold, which was allegedly owned by the Tallano family of the Maharlika Kingdom, which occurred before the Spaniards conquered the Philippines.
“Noong tinuturuan ko kayo ng world at Philippine history, wala akong naaalalang binanggit tungkol sa Tallano o Maharlika Kingdom. ‘Yang lesson natin today!” said Nana Didi.
Nana Didi also tackled confirmation bias, or the tendency to look for or read information that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or values.
“Lalong tumitibay ang confirmation bias. Kaya dapat kilalaning mabuti ang sarili at kilatisin ang mga info na binaba. Hindi paninira ang pagsasabi ng totoo,” Nana Didi said.
Nana Didi also discussed the claim of some that the Martial Law period was considered as the country’s “golden years.”
“Ang naka-post sa social media, sabi raw ng kanilang mga lolo at lola, maayos na maayos ang Pilipinas noong panahon ni Ferdinand Marcos. Libre raw ang tubig at kuryente.
Disiplinado raw ang mga Pilipino. Sagana ang buhay,” she said.
She, however, debunked the misinformation, saying that when the dictator was removed from power, the country’s foreign debt was placed at $28.3 billion from just $360 million in 1962.
She added that Marcos amassed ill-gotten wealth worth around $10 billion while “crony capitalism” flourished during his watch, where his friends bagged huge contracts without any bidding
“Sinabi nga ba ni Lola na mura ang mga bilihin noon? Ang totoo? ‘Yung inflation noong 1984 ay umabot ng 50 percent, at pahirapan pa ang mga bilihin,” she also clarified.
Nana Didi advised the public not to believe anything they read online, saying they first need to verify its veracity.
