Vice President Sara Duterte, concurrent Secretary of the Department of Education, said the agancy will not go into any of the so-called historical revisionism as some anti-Marcos groups claim.
“Bilang Education Secretary, wala po sa aking mandato ang pagsira sa integridad ng ating kasaysayan. At ang Department of Education — na kasalukuyang abala sa mga programang naglalayong maiangat ang kalidad ng basic education sa Pilipinas — ay walang panahon para sa historical revisionism na pilit na iginigiit ng ilang mga anti-Marcos groups. Una nang nasabi ng DepEd spokesperson na hindi totoo ang sinasabing rebranding ng ating kasaysayan. At inuulit ko ang sinabi ni Atty. Michael Poa: hindi totoo ang rebranding,” Duterte said in a statement.
Duterte issued the statement after many critics questioned DepEd’s teaching materials in the Southern Tagalog region where the martial law was “rebranded” as “the “period of the new society.”
According to Duterte, the terms New Society/Bagong Lipunan and Martial Law are both historical facts.
“It is a historical fact that New Society refers to the program launched by Former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. during his administration. And it is another historical fact that Martial Law refers to the 14-year rule of the former President. Both terms have been used in DepEd textbooks since 2000 — within their proper context,” she said.
She also emphasized that DepEd is not in the business of erasing these facts and replacing them with something else.
“Ang social media post ng isang learner mula sa Marinduque ukol sa paggamit ng isang DepEd module na may katagang New Society ay makikitang nakatutok lamang sa iisang linya. Hindi ipinakita ang buong pahina ng module. Ibig sabihin, kulang ito sa konteksto at maaari itong baluktutin ayon sa naratibo ng mga bumabatikos sa DepEd at nagpapakalat ng kasinungalingan tungkol sa rebranding at historical revisionism. Ang buong pahina ay malinaw na tumatalakay sa mahabang panahon ng batas militar o Martial Law at ng EDSA Revolution,” she said.
She encouraged everyone to beware of actions that are malicious and aimed at inflaming the sentiments of the Filipinos against Martial Law using the DepEd.
She said like millions of Filipinos, she knows the importance of Martial Law and the EDSA Revolution in history as a country.
“Bilang bata, hindi ko mabilang ang mga yellow pages sa directory ng telepono na ginupit ko para gawing confetti ng mga Yellow Friday Movement demonstrations sa pangunguna ni Soledad Duterte, ang aking yumaong lola, sa Davao City. Mukhang mas marami tayong ambag sa mga pagkilos laban sa Martial Law kaysa sa ilang maiingay na anti-Marcos ngayon,” she said.
