AMID efforts to desensitize and revise the country’s dark past, a martial law survivor urged the public to never forget the lives that were lost and the sacrifices of people who fought for the country’s freedom.
This came from veteran Cebuano lawyer Democrito Barcenas during the 51st anniversary of the declaration of martial law by then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. Marcos declared martial law on Sept. 21, 1972.
Barcenas called on Filipinos to never forget the lessons of history and to not be misled by the series of disinformation in relation to the martial law period.
Among latest attempts to mislead the public over the atrocities of the administration of Marcos Sr. is the proposed removal of the name Marcos in “Diktadura (Dictator) Marcos” in school curriculum.
Barcenas described the move as “a blatant attempt to deodorize” the Marcos dictatorship.
“Let us not forget the brutalities of the Marcos dictatorship. Let us not forget the lessons of history and be misled by disinformation,” said Barcenas.
“I think we are the weirdest people on earth. Assuming that Marcos Jr. did not win by cheating, people wonder why we ousted the conjugal dictatorship and allowed another Marcos to return to the (Malacañang) palace,” Barcenas added.
Earlier this month, a memorandum from the Department of Education (DepEd) directed the change of “Diktadurang Marcos” to just “diktadura,” in Grade 6 Araling Panlipunan textbooks.
Dictator Marcos
DepEd Bureau of Curriculum and Teaching director Joyce Andaya on Sept. 11 said the directive is not final as it has yet to undergo a vetting process. She said the idea was a product of pure academic discourse amid the revision and review of the curriculum.
House Deputy Minority leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro first raised the matter on Sept. 10, when she argued that the memo was a “clear revision of history and an insult to the countless victims of human rights abuses and atrocities committed during the martial law period.”
For his part, political science professor Ryv Ryla noted that the current Marcos administration has used social media to spread falsehoods via pages and trolls.
Ryla said the DepEd proposal subjects vulnerable students to misleading facts and information as to what truly happened during the martial law regime.
“It is a blatant attempt at historical distortion to remove the word dictatorship from the narrative of the history lessons of DepEd,” Ryla said.
“It leaves our students vulnerable to charlatans peddling lies about what truly happened during the martial law period,” Ryla added.
On Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the dictator’s son assuming the Presidency, Barcenas said “I think we are the funniest people on earth. We ousted a brutal dictator only to allow his family to return to Malacañang with the election of (his) lazy and traveling (son).”
Barcenas, then a young lawyer and vice mayor of what was then the town of Carcar, southern Cebu, was arrested and jailed at the Camp Sergio Osmeña, the regional police headquarters, on Sept. 23, 1972, two days after Marcos Sr. placed the country under martial law.
He was picked up by the military and was detained for about 90 days.
With the passing of Republic Act 10368, also known as the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013, Barcenas received close to P1 million from the Philippine Government.
However, the amount, he said, could not pay for the injustices that he and his family had suffered during the Marcos era.