FALSE: Marcos built first airport in Asia

Claim: Former president Ferdinand Marcos built the first airport in Asia, as part of his long list of achievements during his 20-year term.

Social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle identified at least 6 Facebook pages and groups that shared the claim on the social media platform, with the oldest post dated August 2018.

Overall, their posts got more than 35,000 shares, 34,000 reactions, and 6,600 comments as of writing. These posts are still being shared by several users across the platform as of September 2019.

Rating: FALSE

The facts: The oldest operating airport in Asia is in Bangkok, Thailand. Don Mueang International Airport officially opened on March 27, 1914 – 3 years before former president Ferdinand Marcos was born.

In the Philippines, there are also records of airports operating even before World War II. According to the Filipinas Heritage Library, Nielson Airport was the first principal airport in Luzon, and was inaugurated on July 17, 1937. There was also Grace Park Airfield, which started operations in the 1930s.

Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the country’s main airport and formerly known as the Manila International Airport, also already existed before Marcos took office. It used to be a US Air Force base until 1948 and was then converted for commercial purposes. – Pauline Macaraeg/Rappler.com

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