Discussions about Martial Law occupy "fairly limited" space in textbooks, an assistant professor at University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman's Department of History said Tuesday, Jan. 25.
In a virtual conference hosted by the Far Eastern University Public Policy Center, UP Assistant Professor Kerby Alvarez cited a survey conducted among seven textbooks.
Alvarez said of the seven textbooks reviewed, discussions about Martial Law and the People Power Revolution, on average, occupied seven to 11 percent and are typically taken up in two lessons.
"Given overall narrative of Filipino struggle for freedom and nationhood under Martial Law occupies fairly limited space in textbooks," he said.
In contrast, Alvarez noted, discussions about the reform movement and Katipunan, revolution, and Philippine-American war are taken up in five lessons, occupying 20 percent of the textbook, double the space given to Martial Law.
He added that the most commonly cited reasons for the declaration of Martial Law in textbooks are: Communist threat, protests, and violence in Mindanao.
However, he further noted, Ferdinand Marcos's "desire to stay in power beyond the constitutional term-limit" was only cited by only two textbooks.
"Ngunit hindi nabibigyang pansin ang isang obvious na factor, yung pagnanais na manatili sa kapangyarihan (But one obvious factor is not being taken into account, his desire to stay in power)," Alvarez reiterated.
On improving the discussion on Martial Law
Meanwhile, UP Department of History Assistant Professor Dondy Ramos also noted that only one out of seven textbooks reviewed discussed Marcos's plunder.
"The topic of Marcos's plunder is missing in six out of seven textbooks. It is not taken up. However, there are some discussions on the plunder of Marcos's cronies, not Marcos's plunder, but of the cronies," Ramos said.
In the discussion about the People Power Revolution, meanwhile, Ramos said textbooks "tend to conflate timelines of events leading to the People Power Revolution," including the 1986 walk out of the Commission on Elections staff and the breakaway of then-Defense Chief Juan Ponce Enrile and General Fidel Ramos.
Textbooks, Ramos recommended, must present evidence to support all interpretations and conclusions and cite and answer counter-evidence; lift silences in the textbook and beef up underdeveloped sections; provide timelines to help students understand how events unfolded; and use many, easily available primary sources about Martial Law to improve the discussion on Martial Law.
Study of Martial Law not a matter of opinion
Former Chair of National Historical Commission of the Philippines Maris Diokno underscored the importance of studying Martial Law in the classroom.
Diokno said the discussion on Martial Law is not a matter of opinion nor "a feeling we all are entitled to."
"If we agree that the study of Martial Law is a matter of opinion, then what's the place of facts? In fact, we do find that there's hardly, in fact, no economic data at all in the textbooks," she stressed.
"I think the question here is not only to distinguish between fact from opinion... but how do we evaluate an opinion, a conclusion, an interpretation. That's an entirely different skill from distinguishing facts from opinion and given the massive misinformation and fake news going around, it is absolutely necessary we teach our students how we evaluate an opinion," Diokno added.