CHED yet to include human rights violations in curricula, says chair

The inclusion in curricula of human rights violations under the regime of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. has yet to be implemented some ten years after the enactment of the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act.

At the hearing of the Commission on Higher Education's proposed P29-billion allocation for 2024, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman asked if the CHED has implemented Section 27 of the law.

The provision in part the required Human, Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission to coordinate with the CHED and the Department of Education to ensure the inclusion of Martial Law atrocities, and the lives and sacrifices of victims of human rights violations in the basic, secondary and tertiary education curricula.

“Not yet po. As chair of the Commission, I have only been personally involved with the site of the memorial," De Vera said.

Lagman also asked about the CHED's implementation of Section 5 of the law which provides that government agencies render the necessary services as non-monetary reparation for human rights violation victims and/or their families, as may be determined by the Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board.

The same section states that the funding for such will be sourced from the budget of the agency concerned in the annual General Appropriations Act or the national budget.

“Wala pa po," De Vera said.

"The one being prioritized now is the building of the museum," De Vera said.

Lagman then pressed CHED if the agency entered into any memorandum of agreement (MOA) to implement the provision.

De Vera responded by saying that “we are ready to sit down to a meeting to that effect [that we enter a MOA].”

Lagman reminded CHED of its mandate, noting that “the law has been passed many years ago.” —NB, GMA Integrated News