Viral UP Law yearbook with Imee Marcos not from 1983

MANILA, Philippines — The educational background of senatorial aspirant and Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos continues to be discussed despite statements from Princeton University and the University of the Philippines College of Law that she did not earn degrees there.

A photo of Marcos' supposed yearbook from UP Law has been spreading on social media.

The caption reads — "Imee Marcos UP Law Class of 1983!"

"Nakakahiya naman sa mga Dilawan! Tuloy-tuloy ang demolition job! (How embarassing for the Yellows! The demolition job continues!)," the post also crows.

What the Facebook post failed to mention was that this is not the actual yearbook of the UP Law Class of 1983 when they graduated 36 years ago.

The latest photo of Marcos' supposed profile from the yearbook was published in 2008 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of that batch.

The Ilocos Norte governor's family photo can also be seen on the profile page. In the photo with her are mother Imelda Marcos and her sons with Tommy Manotoc — Borgy, Matthew and Michael.

Coincidentally, Marcos' eldest son Borgy was also born in 1983, the year when she supposedly graduated from UP Law.

A few weeks ago, antique shop owner Angelo Bernardo Jr. posted photos of the 1983 Philippinensian, the yearbook of UP graduates at the time.

Nowhere in the yearbook can Marcos be seen, particularly in the page with last names starting with "M" in the section of UP Law graduates, where she should have been included.

"She is not in the Philippinensian, not on the UP College of Law section and not anywhere else on the yearbook," Bernardo said on Facebook.

INTERAKSYON: No record, yearbook entry for Imee Marcos’ graduation at UP

This was posted shortly after Marcos posted on her official Facebook page photos of her supposed graduation ceremony in 1983.

"The ceremonies were held at Meralco Theater where her parents — former President Ferdinand E. Marcos and former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos — pinned her cum laude medal," the caption read.

Marcos' supposed graduation from UP Law was a public relations stunt, former UP Law dean Froilan Bacungan said in a 1986 book titled "The Turning Point: Twenty-six accounts of February events in the Philippines."

Journalist Raissa Robles cited Bacungan's account in a blog post, which revealed that excerpts of the book indicated that Marcos did not graduate from the country's premier state university.

"There was indeed some kind of a ceremony held which looked as if she graduated. I was there. It was a little bit PR that, strictly speaking, we should not have participated in," Bacungan told German journalist Marilies von Brevern.

The eldest daughter of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos only took non-degree courses at the UP College of Arts and Sciences from 1976 to 1977. She later on enrolled at the UP College of Law from 1979 to 1983.

In the Philippines, the study of Law requires an undergraduate degree and a certain number of units in certain subjects.

According to Bacungan, he allowed the younger Marcos to enter UP Law despite her lack of qualifications as her father was an alumnus of the college. Her father was also president of the Philippines, which was under martial law at the time.

"It borders in fact on a little bit of misrepresentation. No less than the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court graced the occasion," Bacungan said, referring to the staged graduation ceremony.