Bongbong Marcos wants history textbooks revised

Former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. said on Friday history textbooks should be revised, claiming his family's recent court victories proved decades-old criminal accusations against them were false.

"What has been proven wrong is essentially what they continue to contend in the textbooks of our children. Essentially you are teaching the children lies," Marcos said at a news forum in Manila.

"'Yung kanilang sinasabi na ninakaw namin, na ginawa namin, hindi lahat totoo. Pa'no ko nasasabi 'yun? 'Yan ang desisyon ng korte. There was no evidence," he said, claiming that the cases against his family dragged for years because of "propaganda."

The government lost at least five ill-gotten wealth cases against the Marcoses in five months last year, including a P200-billion civil forfeiture case that was dismissed only last December.

The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), the body tasked to go after the Marcoses' ill-gotten wealth, said it will exhaust remedies after the setbacks.

"I can call anyone a murderer, I can call anyone a thief, but I have to prove it," Marcos said. "Kung hindi, salita lang 'yan. That's just hot air coming out of my mouth. And it turns out even in their case it was only propaganda."

Marcos is the son and namesake of the late former president whose regime was allegedly marred by corruption and killings, enforced disappearances, and other human rights abuses whose survivors have continued to speak out about their experiences decades after the martial law years.

A 2013 law "recognizes the heroism and sacrifices of all Filipinos who were victims of summary execution, torture, enforced or involuntary disappearance and other gross human rights violations committed during the regime of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos covering the period from September 21, 1972 to February 25, 1986 and restore the victims’ honor and dignity."

The Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 allows victims of human rights violations to file a claim for reparation and/or recognition.

At the news forum, he said his family has been calling for the revision of history textbooks for years.

He said the task should be given to history professors and not to political appointees.

His mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, was convicted of graft in 2018 over illegal financial interests in Swiss-based foundations during her time as Minister of Human Settlements and interim member of Congress.

Marcos is currently protesting his defeat in the 2016 vice presidential elections. On Friday, he announced a plan to run for an undisclosed national position in 2022. His sister, Imee, is an incumbent senator. Marcos was a senator in 2013. —LDF, GMA News