CHR to Bongbong: Yes, history books should be revised because they still ‘glorify’ martial law period

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Chito Gascon on Thursday backed the proposal of former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr.  to revise history textbooks, but not for the reasons cited by the son of the late dictator.

Interviewed by GMA resident political analyst Richard Heydarian, Gascon said the period when the late president Ferdinand Marcos ruled was still glorified in history textbooks.

"Actually, I feel that the Marcos period has still remained quite glorified. There's too much focus on the so-called good things, but actually, there is no full accounting of all the bad things," Gascon said.

Earlier, Marcos made the call to revise history textbooks, claiming that the junking of several cases proved criminal accusations against them were false.

"For example, they would say there are no human rights violations that occurred, that's not true. Because there are pre-recorded human rights violations. In fact, we have paid out reparations to victims, and many of them are making testimonies," Gascon said.

"So Marcos regime has to be held to account for its 21 years in power. Let's do an accounting of the good things done, but also let's not taper over the bad things that he has done," he added.

Gascon noted that "none of the Marcoses spent a day in jail" and "none of the worst human rights violators during the Martial Law period were held to account."

According to Gascon, the corruption during the period, its impact to the economy, and the undermining of democratic institutions should be accounted for.

"All of these things have to be accounted for because we, as human beings, we always learn from the past. And we look forward by making sure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated," he said.

"In the case of the Filipino, I guess, we have not fully learned from our past. We have not learned, so often we find ourselves constantly repeating our mistakes," he added. —Joahna Lei Casilao/LDF, GMA News