Marcos Sr. ‘cannot be Voldemort’ – former DSWD chief Taguiwalo
Ferdinand Marcos Sr. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — A Department of Education (DepEd) memorandum seeking to disassociate Ferdinand Marcos Sr. from his 14-year dictatorial rule drew more protests on Sunday, with a martial law victim urging the agency not to treat President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s father and namesake “like Voldemort.”
The villain in the popular Harry Potter books and movies was so feared that people referred to him as “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.”
“He cannot be Voldemort — He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! The Marcos dictatorship is a truth that cannot be and should not be denied,” former Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said in a statement.
“How would the people and particularly the children know who was responsible for the plunder and atrocities of martial law if Marcos is not named?” she added.
Around 70,000 people were imprisoned while 34,000 were tortured and 3,240 others killed during martial law, as estimated by Amnesty International.
Under the Sept. 6 memorandum from the DepEd’s Bureau of Curriculum Development (BCD), the term “Diktadurang Marcos” (Marcos dictatorship) would be changed to just “Diktadura” (dictatorship) in the Araling Panlipunan (AP or Social Studies) curriculum for Grade 6 students to be implemented starting school year 2026-2027.
The memorandum was addressed to Gina Gonong, DepEd undersecretary for curriculum and teaching, and signed by education program specialists Rosalie Masilang, Michael Cabrera, Rowel Padernal and Cherry Gil Mendoza.
ACT Teachers party list Rep. France Castro said the memorandum violated Republic Act No. 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013, which mandates DepEd and the Commission on Higher Education “to ensure that the teaching of Martial Law atrocities [be] included in the basic, secondary and tertiary education curricula.”
Francis Gealogo, Ateneo de Manila University history professor and lead convener of Tanggol Kasaysayan, said: “What kind of lesson are we going to leave to the students by removing Marcos’ name from the history lessons? That it is possible to have a crime without a criminal? That it is possible to have a murder without a murderer?”
