THE HOUSE of Representatives’ approval of House Bill 7137 declaring Sept. 11 a non-working holiday in Ilocos Norte in honor of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. is extremely infuriating and offensive, especially for victims of Marcos’ human rights violations. In fact, this is an affront to the Filipino people who suffered because of the oppressive policies under the dictatorship and the plunder of the nation’s coffers.
This bill is a glaring act of historical revisionism and contradictory to Republic Act (RA) 10368, also known as the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 which clearly recognizes the atrocities done by the Marcos regime and his cronies against Filipinos, not to mention the massive plunder during the Martial Law period. It is utterly exasperating that amidst this public health crisis and worsening economic situation, our so-called representatives are busy being pawns of the Marcoses and a Marcos wannabe instead of prioritizing comprehensive, pro-people and scientific measures to address the nation’s problems.
House Bill 7137 is also seen as part of the current administration’’s orchestrated attempt rehabilitate the Marcoses’ name, as the President’s form of payback after they supported him in his bid for presidency.
But while this measure is enraging, it is not surprising. Rodrigo Duterte openly professed his affinity for the Marcoses. He allowed the late dictator be given a hero’s burial. He has close ties with the late dictator’s family. He fashioned his administration after Marcos’ tyrannical rule, and had sown terror and blood through gross human rights violations and attacks against the poor, opposition leaders and activists.
As schools resume classes, teachers should not allow another attempt to revise history and rewrite it as if the Marcos era was all good, no injustice and corruption when in fact history already judged him as a plunderer, murderer, fascist, and criminal. The Marcoses have several sins to the people especially to the education sector. Most of the problems faced by schools such as low budgets, lack of facilities, large class sizes, and other perennial problems were brought by Marcos or worsened during his reign.
Declaring a day for Marcos celebrates a plunderer and a violator of human rights. It implies the complete opposite of what we have been teaching our students and what we want them to emulate–that the victims of Marcos’ dark reign are the ones who were wrong, and their kidnappers, torturers, murderers, and oppressors including Marcos himself were right.
There are more urgent bills that the House of Representatives need to pass to aid our health system and our education system amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Our hospitals are still in dire need of more facilities, PPEs, human resources to cope with the growing number of cases in the country. Our education system is still preparing for a safe reopening of schools. Celebrating Marcos will only formalize what’s happening now: fascist rule and human rights violations, civilian supremacy overturned by military rule, wanton cronyism and corruption.
