As Filipinos commemorate the momentous EDSA People Power Revolution on Friday, Feb.25, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) warned the public of the “radical distortions” in the history of Martial Law and EDSA People Power Revolution which is prevalent on various social media platforms.
“We are alarmed by this distortion of the truth of history and the attempt to delete or destroy our collective memory through the seeding of lies and false narratives. This is dangerous, for it poisons our collective consciousness and destroys the moral foundations of our institutions,” CBCP president and Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio “Ambo” S. David said in their pastoral letter.
He said that the historic event that transpired in EDSA was not invented, saying “it was a fruit of love of neighbor and faith.”
“With you, we were simply part of it. You and the world witnessed the peaceful revolution, which was rightly called ‘People Power.’ The peaceful revolution was not an invention of one person, one party, or one color. It was a triumph of the entire Filipino People,” he added.
David noted that many of them, bishops, have witnessed the injustice and cruelty of Martial Law.
“And up until now, the human rights abuses, the victims, the corruption, the grave debt and economic downturn of the country due to dictatorship are all well-documented. Again, we did not make these up. These are all written in our history.”
Due to the prevalent proliferation of lies on social media about Martial Law, the bishop called on the public to stand up for the truth
“Dear Brothers and Sisters, let us stand up for truth. Remember: goodness without truth is pretense. Service without truth is manipulation. There can be no justice without truth. Even charity, without truth, is only sentimentalism. An election or any process that is not based on truth is but a deception and cannot be trusted,” David appealed.
The CBCP president said troll farms are at work that “sow the virus of lies” to cover up the real events that happened during the Martial Law.
“e are appalled by the blatant and subtle distortion, manipulation, cover-up, repression and abuse of the truth, like: historical revisionism – the distortion of history or its denial; the proliferation of fake news and false stories; disinformation – the seeding of false information and narratives in order to influence the opinion of the people, to hide the truth, to malign and blackmail people,” he said.
David reminded that public that “neglect of truth is detrimental for all of us, for the foundation of a good society and responsible government is the truth.”
“Shall we allow that our children and the young be educated in lies? Can we afford to make lies become the basis of our laws and their implementation? What happens to a family or a society that is not founded on truth?” he added.
During a virtual press conference, the bishop said calling Martial Law years “golden years” for the country is a lie.