Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio on Tuesday debunked claims the Department of Education (DepEd) was allegedly “rebranding” martial law and revising historical facts.
In a statement, Duterte insisted the DepEd is “not in the business of erasing” historical facts, particularly those which happened during the martial law period in the 1970s.
“The DepEd, which is currently busy on programs aimed to raise the quality of basic education in the Philippines, has no time for historical revisionism being insisted by several anti-Marcos groups,” she said.
“The DepEd spokesperson has earlier denied the so-called rebranding of our history. And I’m reiterating what Atty. Michael Poa said: the rebranding is not true,” Duterte-Carpio added.
The Vice President made the statement after critics slammed the DepEd following the posting of a copy of a learner’s module in Marinduque via social media, showing the use of the term “New Society,” which is being linked to the years of martial law.
“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,” Duterte-Carpio said.
The Vice President said these terms were already used in DepEd textbooks as early as the 2000s.
The daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, meanwhile, recalled how as a child she had contributed to the anti-martial law movement in her own small way.
“As a child, I can no longer count the yellow pages of phone directory cut to be confetti for the Yellow Friday Movement demonstrations, led by my late grandmother Soledad Duterte in Davao City. It seems like we have more contribution to the movement against martial law compared to those noisy anti-Marcos groups nowadays,” she said.
Duterte-Carpio assured the public that learners are provided with factual discussions on martial law and the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986.
