Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte denied the claims that the Department of Education (DepED) is “rebranding” Martial Law into “New Society.”
This happened after Filipino educators called on the withdrawal of a Senior High School module titled “21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World Quarter 1 – Module 1: Geographic, Linguistic, and Ethnic Dimensions of Philippine Literary History from Pre-colonial to the Contemporary.”
A section of the said module called Martial Law as “a period of New Society.”
After receiving various complaints, DepED Secretary Duterte issued a statement, reiterating that the department is “not in the business of erasing and replacing facts.”
“Katulad ng milyon-milyon nating mga kapwa Pilipino, alam ko po ang kahalagahan ng Martial Law at EDSA Revolution sa ating kasaysayan bilang isang bansa (Like millions of our fellow Filipinos, I know the importance of Martial Law and the EDSA Revolution in our history as a country),” said Duterte on Tuesday, Oct. 25.
Duterte then proceeded to recall her experiences during Martial Law such as “cutting yellow pages of telephone directories” for the Yellow Friday Movement, claiming that she “probably has contributed more” to anti-Martial Law protests compared to “noisy” anti-Marcoses in the present.
The terms Martial Law and New Society, according to Duterte, are both historically accurate.
“New Society refers to the program, launched by former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. during his administration. And it is another historical fact that Martial Law refers to the 14-year rule of the former President,” said Duterte, adding that the post that went viral on social media about "rebranding Martial Law into New Society" only focused on one line and not the entire page of the module.