The Pulahanes, Francis Leo Marcos, and the Conmen of Our Times
One of the interesting social media influencers of 2020 is Francis Leo Marcos (FLM). He gained millions of followers during the height of Community Quarantine in the National Capital Region because of his “Mayaman Challenge”. In several videos, he confidently claimed that he was the illegitimate son of Dr. Pacifico E. Marcos, the brother of President Ferdinand Marcos, graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and distributed tons of rice and squash.
On May 19, 2020, the National Bureau of Investigation has arrested for him a previous warrant of arrests on violation of Optometry Law and Anti- Human Trafficking Law.
The NBI has revealed that his real name is Francis Antonio Mangusin, not a Marcos, not a billionaire, and
his published philanthropic work was a scam. Despite his imprisonment, his supporters, are adamant about his Messianic spreading of manna. This reminds me of the followers of Pulahanes of Dumarao.
In November 1938, the members’ a sect, the Celebration of San Vicente, in Barangay Gibato, Dumarao, was charged for killing a soldier and a resident of said barangay. This has resulted in hot pursuit operations by the Philippine Constabulary led by Major Francisco Donesa.
They were able to capture Juan Arce, the leader, and 20 of his followers after two hours of combat in Mount Agcararao, in Passi, Iloilo.
The leader Juan Arce, a namesake of General Juan Arce, a fifty-year-old native of Ajuy, Iloilo. He claimed that he was in the United States for 28 years. Upon in the Philippines in 1934, he lived in Ajuy, Iloilo. Two years later, poverty forced him to Gibato where he worked on the plantation of a friend of his, named Pontenciano Palma. He then founded the sect which in just a short period that has gain followers.
History tells us that not because a person has helped many people, he is already a good-hearted individual. Some people used it to swindle people into their schemes. I believed that genuine help cannot be quantified in pesos. Besides, typical rich people, like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, or even the late Steve Jobs do not ostentatiously display their assets in social media.
