(Due to its timeliness, we yield this space to the statement of the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law on the issue of rebranding Martial Law in Department of Education’s learning materials. – Ed.)
WE WELCOME Department of Education Secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte’s statement that she is fully aware of the importance of martial law years and of the 1986 EDSA uprising, and that she recalls her grandmother’s participation as well as her own in the anti-Marcos dictatorship struggle and will not contribute to ‘whitewashing’ through historical revisionism.
However, it is counterproductive for the VP and DepEd Secretary to proclaim that she and her family have done more to oppose martial law than some of those criticizing DepEd modules for rebranding martial law. Her father contributed to the political rehabilitation of the Marcoses via Duterte’s hero’s burial of the dictator Marcos Sr. and his alliance with them. The Duterte-Marcos alliance before, during and after the May 2022 elections continues to this day.
The VP and DepEd secretary should take concrete actions by investigating the relevant offices under the department involved in the modules rebranding martial law and by conducting a review of the DepEd’s learning materials. Moreso, if the VP sincerely stands against historical revisionism of this part of our nation’s history, she should denounce all historical denialism and distortions coming from various sectors including those being promoted by the Marcoses and their followers.
She should likewise implement Republic Act No. 10368 or the “Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.” In the law, it is the duty of the State to recognize the heroism and sacrifice of all Filipinos who were victims of human rights violations during the Marcos dictatorship. It should likewise include in the basic, secondary and tertiary education curricula the teaching of Martial Law atrocities.
We support all efforts to expose and denounce all forms of rebranding of the Marcos dictatorship as a time of peace and prosperity. Martial law during the Marcos dictatorship is what it is – a period of great unrest and upheaval in the country’s political and economic arena.
In truth, “New Society” was Marcos Sr.’s overt maneuver to give legitimacy to his bloody, militarist rule. To depict this dark period in our nation’s history as something entirely different – a New Society – is an affront to all those who gave their lives in the fight against the Marcos dictatorship.
