Ateneo presidents back statement vs Marcos’ ‘distortion of history’
The condemnation of the Ateneo community on the supposed “willful distortion of history” being made by vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. just got stronger after securing the support of the five rector-presidents from five Ateneo campuses in the country.
As of 12 p.m. on Monday, Ateneo de Zamboanga President Fr. Karel S. San Juan, SJ; Ateneo de Davao President Fr. Joel E. Tabora, SJ; Ateneo de Manila University President Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin, SJ; Ateneo de Naga University President Fr. Primitivo E. Viray, SJ; and Xavier University President Fr. Roberto C. Yap, SJ have all signed the statement condemning Marcos for whitewashing the nation’s history under martial law.
There are already 534 signatories of the statement as of March 7.
The statement, which was first issued on March 3 by faculty members and personnel of the Jesuit-run university, scored Marcos for denying the abuses which transpired during the regime of his late father.
READ: Ateneo professors slam Bongbong Marcos’ ‘revision of history’
They also reacted to the younger Marcos’ statement that the assessment of his father’s regime should be left to the wisdom of history teachers and students.
“We, the undersigned members of the Ateneo de Manila community, vehemently oppose and condemn the ongoing willful distortion of our history.”
“We deplore the shameless refusal to acknowledge the crimes of the Martial Law regime. We reject the revision of history, disturbing vision of the future, and shallow call for ‘unity’ being presented by Marcos Jr. and like-minded candidates in the 2016 elections,” the statement read.
READ: Ateneo profs hit Bongbong’s take on history
Marcos has since reacted to the statement issued by the Ateneo community members, saying that they are entitled to their own opinion.
“I am interested to know when did we distort history in any way. Wala naman kaming sinasabi na hindi totoo (We have not told a lie). But again, people have their own opinion; they have the right to their opinion. We’ll agree to disagree, I guess,” the vice presidential candidate said.
READ: Marcos to Ateneo faculty: ‘Let’s agree to disagree’
