After Sen. Risa Hontiveros urged the DepEd not to rebrand the Martial Law as the New Society, VP Sara Duterte denied claims of such rebranding of martial law and revising historical facts.
Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte denied reported plans to rebrand the Martial Law era of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. as the New Society saying the Department of Education (DepEd) is not in the business of erasing historical facts, particularly those which happened during the martial law period.
“Katulad ng milyon-milyon nating mga kapwa Pilipino, alam ko po ang kahalagaan ng Martial Law at Edsa Revolution sa ating kasaysayan bilang isang bansa,” Business Mirror quoted Duterte.
She said, when she was young, she couldn’t even count the number of yellow pages that she was able to cut out into confetti, for the regular “Yellow Friday Movement” demonstrations led by her grandmother Soledad Duterte in Davao City.
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.
“Ang buong pahina ay malinaw na tumatalakay sa mahabang panahon ng batas militar o Martial Law at ng Edsa Revolution,” Duterte explained.
The clarification was made after senator Risa Hontiveros called on the DepEd to focus on improving the quality of education rather than be engaged in historical revisionism.
The vice president said, however, “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,” she said.
“And it is another historical fact that Martial Law refers to the 14-year rule of the former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr,” she added.
Tags: #DepEd, #MartialLaw