DepEd vows to educate students on Martial Law period

Amid attempts to distort history, the Department of Education (DepEd) said it is committed to educate the youth on the Martial Law by designing a more in-depth, enriched discussion on Philippine history including the Marcos era.

DepEd in a statement on Thursday said that such discussion will take effect with the implementation of the K to 12 program starting academic year 2016-2017, specifically in the curriculum guides for Grades 5 and 6 Araling Panlipunan subject.

“DepEd remains committed in highlighting the importance of learning the lessons of history and preserving the gains of democracy. We shall continue to enable our learners to remember and understand the country’s history and the impact of Martial Law to the lives of Filipinos today. The Department shall continue to deepen the discussion on this significant historical event,” it said.

“We remain faithful to our commitment to promote critical thinking among Filipino learners; we encourage them to examine and rediscover the importance of this historical marker in bringing Filipinos together to build a nation everyone deserves,” DepEd added.

The agency also clarified that the so-called K to 12 Araling Panlipunan textbook published in 2009 and used by private schools is not a DepEd-issued textbook. But DepEd explained that private schools have their own screening and selection processes in choosing which textbooks will be used in classes.

The announcement came after members of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) released a collective stand on the Martial Law years, calling the period one of the darkest in Philippine history.

It was their response after Senator Bongbong Marcos called on President Benigno Aquino III to let historians judge the administration of his father, former President Ferdinand Marcos.

Aquino on the 30th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution on February 25, which ended the Marcos regime, said that the Marcos years were not the Philippines’ golden age. — Trisha Macas/BM, GMA News