FILE PHOTO: Vice President Sara Duterte. Philippine Daily Inquirer/Lyn Rillon
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Tuesday shot down allegations that the Department of Education (DepEd) is “rebranding” the country’s dark period under martial law as the “new society.”
According to Duterte, DepEd has no time to revise history as it is focusing on its programs to improve the quality of basic education in the country.
“Bilang Education Secretary, wala po sa aking mandato ang pagsira sa integridad ng ating kasaysayan,” she said in a statement.
(As Education Secretary, it is not within my mandate to ruin the integrity of our history.)
READ: ‘Move on’: The shallowness of calls to bury martial law memories
“Ang Department of Education — na kasalukuyang abala sa mga programang naglalayong maiangat ang kalidad ng basic education sa Pilipinas — ay walang panahon para sa historical revisionism na pilit na iginigiit ng ilang mga anti-Marcos groups,” Duterte added.
(DepEd — which is currently busy with programs aimed to improve the quality of basic education in the Philippines — has no time for historical revisionism as claimed by a number of anti-Marcos groups.)
“Hindi totoo ang rebranding,” the Vice President further said.
(Rebranding is not true.)
Duterte’s statement came after many critics have questioned DepEd’s teaching materials in the Southern Tagalog region where the martial law perpetrated by Ferdinand Marcos Sr., father and namesake of incumbent President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, was “rebranded” as “the “period of the new society.”
READ: Teachers question Deped module for ‘sugarcoating’ martial law
The Education Secretary pointed out that the terms “new society” or “bagong lipunan” are both historical facts that refer to the program launched by Marcos Sr. during his administration.
Duterte added that both terms have been used in DepEd textbooks since 2000 “within their proper context.”
READ: Marcos’ martial law: Golden age for corruption, abuses
“DepEd is not in the business of erasing these facts and replacing them with something else,” she said.
She said the social media post about a DepEd module with the word “new society” only focuses on one line and did not show the whole page where the martial law regime was tackled at length.
“Ibig sabihin, kulang ito sa konteksto at maaari itong baluktutin ayon sa naratibo ng mga bumabatikos sa DepEd at nagpapakalat ng kasinungalingan tungkol sa rebranding at historical revisionism,” the Vice President said.
(It means that it is out of context and this can be distorted to serve the narrative of critics of rebranding and historical revisionism.)
READ: Hontiveros to DepEd: Don’t enable historical distortion
“Hinihikayat ko ang lahat na mag-ingat sa mga pagkilos na malisyoso at naglalayong pag-alabin ang mga damdamin ng ating mga kababayan laban sa Martial Law gamit ang DepEd,” Duterte added.
(I encourage everyone to be careful in the efforts of some people who aim to trigger the anger of Filipinos against martial law using DepEd.)
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