​The state of the country’s martial law education
By: Jenika Nero, Nicole Torrepalma, Merry Melle Aguilar, Alexa Araneta, Angela Durac,
Jaeson Almagro, Ulrika Wagas, Mary Caayon, and Therese Alcoseba
Thirty-six years ago, millions of Filipinos took to the streets to oust President Ferdinand E. Marcos and reclaim democracy. Today, President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. awaits his inauguration after winning the elections with 31 million votes in his favor. Years of misinformation, disinformation, and lack of legislative machinery for education led the Philippines to this stark change of tides in its history.
Holocaust and martial law
In Germany, Holocaust education was made mandatory in the school curriculum since 1992. Students start learning about it as early as the 3rd or 4th Grade; most visit at least one concentration camp when they reach high school. Lessons on the Holocaust aren’t just restricted to their History classes, too. They hear about the genocide in Religion, Biology, Language, Arts, and even in Math.
More than its historical significance, teaching about the Holocaust in Germany is considered a moral duty.
In the Philippines, a mandatory martial law subject was not prioritized by the administrations that followed after President Marcos. Martial law was only incorporated into the existing Araling Panlipunan classes, particularly in Grades 5 and 6. But the materials and methods used in teaching about the Marcos martial law have been dubbed insufficient and inaccurate, with more emphasis on reforms rather than human rights violations.
The Holocaust and the martial law are not comparable in terms of scale, but the underlying issue of concern is the human rights violations carried out during both eras.
On September 21, 1972, martial law was formally announced in the Philippines through Proclamation No. 1081. This effectively continued the authoritarian rule under President Ferdinand E. Marcos, which began during his first term as president in 1965, for which he was well-received by the population due to the infrastructure built that was funded by foreign loans.
By definition, martial law is used to suspend civil law and give direct control to the military, often as a response to civil unrest or due to the absence of a formal government. When martial law is imposed, these usually follow: imposition of curfews, suspension of civil liberties, and application of military law. In the past, martial law was declared in the country by President Jose P. Laurel during World War II as the Philippines was in a state of war with the United States and the United Kingdom.
In the case of the Marcos regime, the country was put under martial law supposedly as a response to plots against the Marcos administration, specifically the several bombings in 1971 and the alleged assassination attempt on then-Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile in 1972.
A number of unjust detentions, abduction, torture, and death was recorded during the 9-year period. The Philippine national government, through Republic Act No. 10368 or the “Human Rights Reparation and Recognition Act,” has identified 11,103 human rights violation victims during the martial law, but the real number could be over 50,000 as documented by Amnesty International.
Though Marcos lifted the martial law in January 1981, he was still able to reserve decree-making powers for himself. His 21-year regime only ended through ousting as a result of the EDSA People Power Revolution from February 22 to 25, 1986.
Marcos Jr. and the 2022 presidential elections
Almost four decades later, the Filipinos bring back another Marcos to the Malacañan. Bongbong Marcos Jr., son of the late dictator, won the 2022 presidential race with more than 31 million votes in his favor.
Leading up to the elections on May 9, fact-checking initiatives have determined that Marcos Jr. benefited the most from false or misleading claims.
Data from Tsek.ph, a collaborative initiative from the academe, media, and civil society, showed that nine out of 10 misinformation narratives about Marcos Jr. and his running mate Sara Duterte were positive and favorable to them. An example is the claim that Marcos Jr. was a victim of Leni Robredo’s cheating in the 2016 vice presidential race. A Supreme Court ruling of Marcos Jr.’s election protest declared Robredo as the rightful winner of the 2016 vice presidential race.
Numerous stories of the martial law era—including the denial of human rights violations and the Tallano gold myth—were also fact checked by the initiative, comprising 40 percent of the fact checks curated from November 21, 2021 to mid-February 2022.
In a research conducted by professors Cheryll Ruth Soriano of the De La Salle University and Fatima Gaw of the University of the Philippines, they found that YouTube searches under “Marcos history” brought up misleading and invalidated videos about the Marcos family and the martial law era. Gaw also mentioned in Rappler’s On the Campaign Trail series that the ultimate goal of the family’s disinformation machinery is for the public to empathize with Marcos Jr. as the victim of the big cover-ups against his family.
Marcos Jr. has even claimed, “there’s a lot of fake news involved”, in the unpaid estate taxes and unreturned ill-gotten wealth from his family. A 1997 Supreme Court ruling shows that the Marcoses have unsettled estate tax liabilities reaching Php 23 billion. There is nothing to debate about the legitimacy of the debt. The ruling provides the facts that (1), Ferdinand E. Marcos’ estate tax should have been filed six months after his death, (2) the estate tax return was not filed and the estate tax was not paid, and (3) as a result, delinquency interest per annum is imposed on the current debt. Due to the penalty and interests, the Marcoses’ debt has now ballooned to more than Php 203 billion. This continues to be unpaid.
Despite the evidence against him and his family, Marcos Jr. still won in 64 out of 81 provinces during the May 9 elections.
Facts like this about the Marcoses are not widely taught or mentioned in public schools around the country. Looking at the past and current curriculum guides and textbooks used in the public school system show gaps in the way martial law is taught to Filipino students.
Martial law in the past and current curricula
In the 2002 Basic Education Curriculum, martial law is among the topics discussed in Grade 5 Araling Panlipunan classes and first year high school Philippine History subject. In college, students can once again learn about martial law in the Readings in Philippine History subject as they look into primary sources. Table 1 and Figure 1 shows the learning competencies expected after martial law is taught in class.
Table 1: Learning Competencies for Grade 5 Makabayan Subject
Note: From: “Mga Batayang Kasanayan sa Pagkatuto sa Heograpiya/Kasaysayan/Sibika,” by Department of Education - Bureau of Curriculum, 2002, “Basic Education Curriculum Philippine Elementary Learning Competencies” (p. 27-29). Copyright 2002 by Department of Education.
Figure 1: Learning Competencies for High School Araling Panlipunan
Note: From: “Mga Kasanayan sa Pagkatuto” by Department of Education - Bureau of Curriculum, 2003, “Patnubay sa Operasyonalisasyon ng Makabayan (2002 Kurikulum Sa Batayang Edukasyon, Sa Level Sekondari).”. Copyright 2003 by Department of Education.
This distribution of Philippine History as a subject throughout the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels presents one of the ideal ways of teaching and learning about the country’s past. However, it is not proving beneficial in the discussion of martial law.
Historian Delilah R. Labajo, who is currently teaching Philippine History in the University of San Carlos, said that Araling Panlipunan teachers tend to focus their class discussions more on historical events that occurred over a greater period of time such as the 300-year Spanish colonization. A factor that may have led to this is the belief that longer historical events need longer discussion times. Topics on martial law, she explained, only fall under the discussion of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s presidency in the lesson on the Third Philippine Republic.
The Third Republic of the Philippines was inaugurated on July 4, 1946 and marked the fulfillment of the long struggle for independence since the Philippine Revolution. This started from the Roxas Administration (May 28, 1946 – April 15, 1948) until the Marcos Administration (December 30, 1965 – February 25, 1986), comprising six presidents.
“Considering how many presidents we had, every president we are looking into the positive and the negative implications of the administration. So when the Marcos administration is discussed, it is only a summary of the 21 years of the Marcos administration and the martial law period,” Ms. Labajo added.
History Professor Emmanuel Jeric A. Albela of University of Santo Tomas shared the same observation: “Martial law is only part of what we call ‘topics to be discussed in Philippine History.’ If you are going to look at it, martial law is just a single period in the total or general history of the Philippines.” He asserted that what matters most in discussing martial law in class is how it is taught and not for how long. In view of the fact that as a history professor it is his responsibility to provide the proper interpretation with the sources available in this period.
The present K to 12 curriculum was enacted into law in 2013 under the administration of the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. One of the big changes brought about by this new curriculum is the removal of the Philippine History subject in first year high school and transferring it to Grades 5 and 6 Araling Panlipunan. The K to 12 policy guidelines originally retained Philippine History in high school, but a new DepEd order released in 2014 made corrections in the Araling Panlipunan learning area description and matrix with no concrete reason for the decision. In January 2022, DepEd released a statement asserting that Philippine History was not removed. Rather, they maintained that “the current [Araling Panlipunan] curriculum covers various Philippine history topics across all grade levels.”
In Table 2, the current curriculum, martial law is only a topic tackled in the fourth quarter of Grade 6 Araling Panlipunan.
Table 2: Learning Competencies for Grade 6 Araling Panlipunan Under K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum
Learning Competencies for Baitang 6 Araling Panlipunan under the K to 12 Curriculum. Document from Department of Education website.
Ms. Labajo and Mr. Albela contend that Grade 6 students belonging to the average age bracket of 11 to 12 years old are too young to understand all the brutal realities during the period.
Mr. Albela also stressed the importance of including history in high school.
Another problem caused by the removal of Philippine History in high school is a gap in teaching and learning about Philippine History. Currently, the subject is only tackled in Grades 5 and 6. There is no Philippine History subject in junior high school and senior high school levels under the K to 12 Program. The student then only meets history again at the tertiary level through the subject Readings in Philippine History where students look through the lens of primary sources of different time periods. There is a 6-year gap in the students’ learning of history.
Martial law in textbooks
Much of basic education relies on textbooks for classroom lessons and discussions. But another issue arises: multiple experts have observed that school textbooks have either inadequate or inaccurate materials on martial law.
Image 1: Araling Panlipunan textbook, Kayamanan
Kayaman: Ekonomiks (Batayan at Sanayang Aklat sa Araling Panlipunan), authored by Consuelo M. Imperial, Eleanor D. Antonio, Evangeline M. Dallo, Maria Carmelita B. Samson & Cecilia D. Soriano published by Rex Book Bookstore is among the textbooks being used presently by public school teachers in teaching martial law to their grade 5 -6 students.
Photo Courtesy: Angela Durac
Image 2: Araling Panlipunan textbook, Sibika at Kultura Pilipinas Bansang Malaya
Sibika at Kultura Pilipinas Bansang Malaya 5, authored by Gloria Barrientos, Teresita Battad, Teresita Dimayuga published by Vibal Publishing House, is among the textbooks being used presently by public school teachers in teaching martial law to their Grade 5 - 6 students.
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Photo Courtesy: Ulrika Wagas