SCMP opposes 'Diktadurang Marcos' term removal
By Creselda Canda-Lopez
"Christian youth are deeply disturbed by this curriculum change proposal to distort grim reality of Marcos dictatorship," Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP) national chairperson Kej Andres, ecumenical student group recently expressed its opposition to proposal of Department of Education (DepEd) to remove term "Diktadurang Marcos," referring to former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., from Grade 6 curriculum.
SCMP said disassociating term "diktadura" (dictator) from name of the former president would be distorting impact of his regime in country's history.
Altering textbook materials would be downplaying events and effects of martial law, particularly on thousands of lives that were lost and number of people who suffered, SCMP continued.
Based on documents from Amnesty International, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, Karapatan and similar human rights monitoring entities, historians believe Marcos dictatorship was marked by 3,257 known extrajudicial killings, 35,000 documented tortures, 759 "desaparecidos" (disappeared) and 70,000 incarcerations.
"DepEd is spitting on the graves of numerous martyrs and heroes who fought dictatorship, including church people who have been inspired by faith, seeking justice from horrors of martial law," Andres said.
He added that next generation of Filipinos should remember and know facts of the country's history and that it is job of everyone present today to make sure that real historical accounts are preserved.
"It is duty of everyone , teachers, students, parents, and church people , to teach about horrors of Marcos dictatorship and to inspire next generation to stand up against wannabe dictators, especially under Marcos-Duterte rule," SCMP official said.
Current leaders of the country are President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son and namesake of the late strongman, while Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio is daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
"Truth sets us free, and teaching Marcos dictatorship caused massive human rights violations and economic exploitation urges us to stand up and say never again to fascist dictatorship," he added.
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