Skewed memory

The declaration by presidential frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that presumptive vice-president elect Sara Duterte will be the new Secretary of Education raises various implications.

Initially, we can claim that even before the election, the mayor of Davao City was enthusiastic about including military training in the basic education. This means bringing back Citizen's Military Training (CAT), which exposes our students to the blazing heat of the sun for hours performing marching maneuvers, especially for our high school graduating students and college students for their Reserve Officers’ Training Corp. Although such training helps our young students acquire beneficial traits such as discipline and patriotism by requiring them to serve as reservists once they complete their military training.

The same directive, on the other hand, created ideal ground for corruption and abuse. As a result, many individuals are concerned about future military training being free of corruption and abuse.

Lessons regarding the Martial Law and the EDSA Revolution are given major weight in basic education, for example, in HEKASI for elementary and Araling Panlipunan for secondary level, as they are important parts of Philippine history. This section portrays the Marcoses in a bad light by detailing the abuses that occurred during this period, while the EDSA is portrayed as a symbol of freedom and unity. As a result of this type of narrative, the Department of Education would be torn between continuing the actual story or creating a new interpretation, a new narrative that favors those in power. And, if this is the case, a new generation will be schooled by a new and distorted history.

However, as a united people, we will prevent this from unfolding. We cannot afford for a new, twisted version of history to be taught to our children. We want them to appreciate the rewards of our labors, the freedom they now have. It will teach them that no amount of power or influence will ever be sufficient if we remain critical and attentive.

A distorted memory of the dictatorship not only increases the chances of this pair gaining power, but it also risks setting a precedent for forgetting atrocities, allowing future generations to forget the human rights violations and attacks on the rule of law that have occurred throughout President Duterte's drug war and presidency. "Perception is real, but the truth is not," as Imelda Marcos understands. As a result, Imelda's perspective, and by extension, Marcos revisionism, embodies the Thomas theorem: "If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences." In other words, how we frame and approach a situation has real, tangible consequences.

The Marcos family and their apologists have the potential to rewrite history and bring in a new age of crony capitalism and power abuses by constructing and promoting a new narrative of the dictatorship. It is clear that refuting Marcos revisionism is necessary to protect and sustain Philippine democracy, whether by forcing apologists to follow their beliefs to their logical conclusion to prove their falsity or by finally addressing the societal issues that foster the willingness to accept "alternative facts."

Citizens should be at the forefront of protecting the sanctity of liberty and unity. We should be grateful for the blood, sweat, and tears shed by our forefathers in the fight for our country's freedom.

We must safeguard all historical archives, including public libraries, museums, university archives, and other resources that preserve our people's stories. We cannot afford for our youth and future generations to learn and appreciate something that is not a true depiction of the past.