VP Sara leaves it to DepEd education experts to address 'Diktadurang Marcos' issue

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte has let the experts in the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Curriculum and Teaching strand to answer questions regarding the proposal to change the term “Diktadurang Marcos” to just “Diktadura” in the Grade 6 Araling Panlipunan curriculum.

“They can argue with the education experts inside the Curriculum and Teaching stand of the Department of Education because it was the education experts who decided the direction in teaching,” Duterte told GMA Regional TV One Mindanao in a mixture of English and Bisaya, according to a report on Unang Balita on Wednesday.

DepEd Bureau of Curriculum and Teaching director Joyce Andaya on Monday confirmed that there was indeed a letter from several specialists from the agency’s Bureau of Curriculum Development directing the removal of Marcos’ name from the term “Diktadurang Marcos.”

Andaya, however, clarified that the recommendation will still undergo the vetting process during the pilot implementation of the revised K-10 curriculum this year. She said that DepEd has yet to come up with a consensus on what should appear in the final curriculum document which will be uploaded in its official website.

Several teachers groups have denounced the move to change the term “Diktadurang Marcos,” with Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Representative and House deputy minority leader France Castro saying it was an “attempt to erase the culpability” and “deodorize” the name of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Andaya had refuted claims that there was an intention for historical revisionism or whitewashing the truth that happened during martial law era.

She also said that there is no political pressure from the current administration to recommend the removal of the name “Marcos” from the “Diktadurang Marcos” in the new basic education curriculum which was launched in August. —KG, GMA Integrated News