CHR backs mandatory teaching of Martial Law years in schools

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Monday expressed support for a resolution at the House of Representatives seeking the mandatory teaching of events during the Martial Law years in all schools in the country. In a statement, CHR chairperson Loretta Ann Rosales said the teaching of human rights violations during Martial Law will “help in the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines.” “No less than an institutional teaching of its history is needed to remind the people of the need to safeguard their rights against systemic abuses and to fend off attempts to curtail their rights in the future,” she said. Rosales, herself a victim of human rights violations during the dictatorship of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, added that there is “a strong and urgent need to educate the people, especially our youth, about what actually happened during those dark years of our history.” “It is also a matter of historical record that during martial law, our fundamental democratic rights and freedoms were curtailed and violated and our democratic institutions assaulted and trampled upon. We continue to suffer the consequences today,” she said. Last July, Akbayan party-list Reps. Walden Bello and Arlene Bag-ao filed House Resolution 2608 asking the government to include a course on Martial Law “atrocities” in the curriculum in schools in the country. Marcos placed the entire country under Martial Law on September 21, 1972. Even though he lifted the decree in 1981, media and political repression continued until Marcos was ousted from power through the 1986 EDSA Revolution. ‘Pro-democracy’ In a separate press brefing, Commissioner Gio Tingson of the National Youth Commission (NYC) also welcomed the filing of the House resolution on the teaching of the Martial Law era in the Philippines. “We support the proposal as it is geared towards the building of a strong human rights and pro-democracy constituency among our young people. It will guide them on the road to democratic leadership and governance,” Tingson said. He added that the resolution will help make the youth “cherish” democratic values and practices, which were curtailed 40 years ago. Bello, for his part, said the House resolution will help ensure that the country will not “slide back to a dictatorial and atrocious past.” “We must constantly remind our people of our greatest tragedy so we can achieve our greatest victories,” he said in the same briefing. — BM, GMA News