(We yield this space to the statement of the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law due to its significance. – Ed.)
THE TACIT approval of the Department of Education (DepEd) regarding the whitewashing of the ignominious martial law years during the Marcos dictatorship should be decried.
The use of the label of “New Society” or “Bagong Lipunan” to refer to the years of the Marcos dictatorship in the DepEd’s basic education curriculum and modules for school year 2021-2022 is a clear indication of this. There were also reports that topics and facts related to martial law and human rights were censored or removed, without explanation.
It is unsettling how the DepEd appears to be continuing the attempts at cleansing Marcos’ martial law, which was leveled up by the hero’s burial of the late dictator.
Although DepEd has earlier denied that there are efforts to “rebrand” and erase Marcos’ Martial Law from the curriculum, the appearance of this revisionist and distorted version of history in the subject module for the Senior High School 21st Century Literature subject entitled “Geographic, Linguistic and Ethnic Dimensions of Philippine Literary History from Pre-Colonial to the Contemporary” currently being implemented in schools all over the country is proof that there is truth to this concern.
The DepEd should immediately pull out the module and replace it with the truth that 1972-1986 were years of the Marcos dictatorship. We likewise call on the Commission on Human Rights and members of Congress to investigate these reports, which constitute possible violations of provisions in Republic Act No. 10368 or the “Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013”” In the law, it is explicitly stated and emphasized that 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 also include in the basic, secondary and tertiary education curricula the teaching of Martial Law atrocities.
CARMMA enjoins the people to be vigilant against the continuous distortion of the facts during Marcos’ martial law to whitewash the high crimes committed against the Filipino people, to which the Marcoses have never been made fully accountable.
