Martial law college units should be mandatory – Makabayan bloc

The policy instituting a mandatory martial law subject at the state-run University of the Philippines should be adopted in all universities and colleges across the country given that the Marcos family continued to wield power, Makabayan bloc lawmakers said Friday.

House Deputy Minority Leader Carlos Zarate of Bayan Muna and Sarah Elago of the Kabataan party-list made the call a day before the 47th commemoration of the declaration of Martial law by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos which left over 3,000 people dead and over 70,000 imprisoned for resisting the martial law regime.

“Dapat talaga pinag-uusapan sa mga unibersidad ang Martial law para hindi mabura sa ating national consciousness ang madilim na kabanata ng kasaysayan: ang paglabag ng karapatang pantao, plundering of our resources na nakita natin sa bilyong bilyong nakaw na yaman ng mga Marcos na kalahati pa lang ang nababawi ng [Presidential Commission on Good Government],” Zarate told reporters.

Furthermore, mandatory Martial law classes have never been more urgent considering that President Rodrigo Duterte allowed a hero’s burial for the late dictator in November 2017.

“Kailangan natin ito (Martial law subject in the curriculum) para labanan ang revising the narrative na nilalako ng mga pro-Marcos at ng administrasyon, which enable the comeback of the Marcoses. Huwag nating kalimutan, sa administrating ito nailibing si Marcos sa Libingan ng mga Bayani, at tinangkang i-abolish ang PCGG na naghahabol sa nakaw na yaman ng mga Marcos,” Zarate pointed out.

“Never forget, never again, ‘yan ang dapat na maging diwa sa loob at maging sa labas ng mga pamantasan, maging sa [Philippine Military Academy], considering na ginamit sila bilang mercenary noong martial law,” Zarate added.

Representative Elago chimed that future generations should not be ignorant of the lessons of history.

“We will be filing a resolution na dapat ang nilalaman ng edukasyon sa Batas Militar ay tungkol sa wika, panitikan, kultura, campus press, mga movement, noong panahon ng Batas Militar; kung anong nangyari roon sa mga sumalungat, paano nagkaroon ng abuso at kung paano ipinaglaban ang demokrasya,” Elago explained.

“Mahalaga na mangyari ito dahil ito ang magiging gabay ng ating mga kabataan, para ang mga pagkakamali noon ay hindi na maulit muli,” she added.

Senator Imee Marcos earlier said that her family's point of view needed to be included in these martial law classes.

Marcos was ousted from the presidency and fled the country in February 1986 thru the bloodless People Power Revolution.

Marcos died in 1989 while in exile in Hawaii, but the Marcos family members had refused to bury unless he was given a heroes burial.

In July 2003, the Supreme Court ruled with finality that the 10,000 victims of human rights violations during Marcos’ martial law regime were entitled to compensation from his $10 billion Swiss bank deposits, which were deemed ill-gotten by the High Court.

Likewise, the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act, which became law 2012, required the Philippine government to compensate victims of human rights violations during the Martial Law years—violations that included summary executions, enforced disappearances, and torture—using the dictator's and his family's P10 billion in ill-gotten wealth which he Philippine government retrieved from the Swiss banks. — DVM, GMA News