President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to change the name of Philippines to the “Republic of Maharlika” is actually based on the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ “fictitious” guerrilla unit which he used to fake his war records. Duterte said that Marcos was right all along on his supposed plan to change the name of the country from the Republic of the Philippines to Republic of Maharlika. actually referred to pre-colonial Tagalog society's feudal warrior class; Marcos ~incorrectly~ claimed that it referred to nobility as part of his fascist propaganda—and Duterte, like Marcos, also wanted to change the name of the Philippines to "Maharlika."