For the past days or so, we have been hearing complaints about the historical revisionism apparently taking place right before our eyes. Many netizens recently took to social media to decry what they perceive to be blatant misinformation or worse, a willful intent to rewrite history about Martial Law. They are in the opinion that the youth of today are not being properly educated about the actual events that took place which defeats the very purpose of studying our history.

Historical Revisionism

What exactly is historical revisionism? It is defined as the re-interpretation of historical records. In a positive light, it is intended to reflect recent discoveries of fact and evidence that would require modification or revision to provide a truer picture of an historical event. On the other side is what is referred to as historical negationism. This does not necessarily entail changing the facts of the events but rather a change in the moral interpretation of such events. This gives rise to much controversy since we all know that interpretation will always be subjective.  Since it is subjective, there is bound to be a beneficiary and an “aggrieved” party.

Martial Law 1972

Then President Ferdinand Marcos issued Proclamation 1081 and declared Martial Law in September 21, 1972 but informed the public two days later. He based his declaration on the alleged rising wave of violence caused by communists. He took control of the legislature, closed Philippine Congress and most media outfits, authorized taking over of public utilities and detained thousands of opposition leaders. What was supposedly intended to bring the country towards a “new society” to rid it of massive corruption was etched in Philippine history as the day Marcos stole democracy from the Filipinos. The Marcos regime eventually became synonymous to dictatorship, crony capitalism, and human rights violation. It was finally brought down by the People Power EDSA Revolution in 1986.

Martial Law as Taught in Philippine Schools

The almost successful bid for the Vice Presidential seat by the son of the ousted president in the most recent election was blamed in part to the lack of information about the true nature of Martial Law. Many young people voted for him purportedly due to the emphasis on the “economic gains” that happened during the period in question. School textbooks merely mentioned Martial Law in passing as an event that occurred during the Marcos regime. This is a long shot from the expected mandatory teaching of Martial Law history as provided by Republic Act 10368.

The Senate is set to review the status of Martial Law education in the secondary and tertiary levels.  The Department of Education through Secretary Leonor Briones, who incidentally is also a Martial Law victim, has committed to a curriculum change after a review of the administration of all Presidents, among others. One of the expected changes is showing the complete picture of Martial Law based on historical facts.

My Say

The very reason why we study history is to learn from its triumphs and mistakes. How can we expect young people of today to learn if history is being revised depending on who holds power? People tempted to rewrite history just because they think they can, have no business doing so. They should be in the business of improving the lives of Filipinos given the facts as provided by history. The facts of history are created by the actual circumstances of the event and not by the mere interpretation of any one, specifically those who cannot divest themselves of political color and affiliation in their discourse.

Today marks the 44th year since Martial Law was declared in the Philippines. We lose the chance to learn from it if we accept historical revisionism. We are only kidding ourselves when we accept the proposition by interested parties that Martial Law was the best thing that ever happened to the Philippines. Call a spade a spade and learn from it.

Let us provide students the right foundation to base their future decisions on. In the matter of pushing for national development, forgetting past atrocities committed giving the impression that they are acceptable, is not to the country’s advantage. We Filipinos should send out a clear message to our leaders that while we are supportive of actions that seek to bring order to our country, we will NEVER AGAIN accept Martial Law.