'Wag kalimutan, 'wag patawarin

May mga nagsasabing maikli raw ng memorya ng mga Pilipino.

Tama naman. Sino pa ba ang nakakaalala na ginahasa ng mga Hapon ang Pilipinas noong Ikalawang Pangmundong Digmaan. At pagkatapos nila itong gawain, ipinadala natin ang ating mga kababayang sa Japan upang doon naman gahasain. Kaya na nauso ang mga salitang Japayuki at Hosto.


O di kaya'y sino pa ba ang nakakaalala na ginago tayo ng mga Amerikano. Kunwari'y nakipagiyera sa mga Kastila upang makopo ang Pilipinas pero ang gusto lamang pala ay bilhin Perlas ng Silangan sa mga Konyo. Hindi ko ma-imagine kung paano naibenta ng mga Kastila ang Pilipinas at pagkaraan ay binigyan natin ng red carpet si Queen Sophia nang bumisita sa ating bansa.

Pero hindi na nating kailangang lumayo pa sa kasaysayan, bakit tila nalimutan na ng mga Pilipino ang pambababoy ng mga Marcoses sa Pilipinas.

Taragis, si Imelda ay kinatawan sa Kongreso, ang kanyang anak na si Imee ay Gobernador sa Ilocos at si Marcos Jr namas kilala sa pangalang Bong bong ay nasa Senado. May mga balita pa na ang anak ni Imee na si Borgy Manotoc ay tatakbong konsehal sa Lungsod ng Maynila.

Parang wala lang nangyari di ba. Parang walang libo-libong Pilipino ang nilapastangan ng mga Marcoses. Parang walang pinatay ang mga Marcoses noong kapanahunan nila. Parang hindi ginawang sarling wallet nila Imelda ang kaban ng bayan.

Parang wala lang.

Dahil dito, sang-ayon ako sa panukala nina Akbayan party representatives Walden Bello at Kaka Bag-ao na gawaing mandatory ang pagtuturo sa krimeng ginawa ng mga Marcoses sa mga Pilipino.

Bakit kaya pumapapel ang mga Marcoses
sa Pandacan? May plano ba talagang
kumandidato ang apo ni Meldy sa
Lungsod ng Maynila?

Sa ganitong paraan, hindi natin malilimutan kung paano sinalaura ng tinatawag na Conjugal Dictorship ni Meldy at Ferdie ang Pilipinas.

Pero ang maganda, naglabas ang Supreme Court ng desisyong dapat ding kaladkarin ang mga anak ng dating diktador sa korte at panagutin sa $200 milyong ill-gotten wealth.

Ngayo puwede na ring isama sina Bong bong, Imee at Irene sa mga kaso upang makuha ng pamahalaan ang mga perang dinambong ng mga Marcoses sa kaban ng bayan.

At upang hindi natin malimutan kung gaano kasalaula sa kapangyarihan ang mga Marcoses hindi natin sila dapat patawarin. Dapat nilang pagbayaran ang kanilang mga pagkakasala.

Narito sa ibaba ang statement ni Cong. Walden Bello ukol sa mga Marcoses.

Protect democracy against Marcos’ revision of history - Bello

Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello

“Forgive not, forget not.”

That was the reminder that Akbayan issued today, after they filed a resolution urging the mandatory teaching of the atrocities committed during martial law under the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos at all levels of education a month before the commemoration of the declaration of Martial Law.

House Resolution No. 2608 authored by Akbayan Representatives Walden Bello and Kaka Bag-ao strongly urged the National Historical Institute (NHI), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Human Rights (CHR), and the National Youth Commission (NYC) to convene a task force that will draft the guidelines for teaching the atrocities committed under the Marcos dictatorship.

According to Akbayan Representative Walden Bello, also a former anti-Marcos dictatorship activist, education has to “catch up” with the attempts of the Marcos camp to revise history by making sure that the youth are well-aware of the atrocities during martial law.

“The Marcos camp attempts to revise history by glorifying the supposed contributions Marcos made to the Philippine society. Our education system must proactively teach our youth the real story behind Martial Law, the price that the Filipino people, the nation, had to pay while Marcoses enjoyed absolute power and ill-gotten wealth,” Bello said.

Protecting Democracy

Bello also explained that the best way to safeguard democracy is to teach the youth the contrast between the rights and civil liberties they enjoy now and the rule of terror during the dictatorship.

“Our youth are the frontliners in the defense of Philippine democracy. We have to remind them that the rights and liberties they enjoy today could easily be taken from them, the same way it was easily seized from our generation during Martial Law,” Bello said.

Akbayan likened the proposal to the compulsory teaching of the Holocaust in Germany, Austria, Israel and Switzerland. The Holocaust committed by the Nazi regime under Adolf Hitler reportedly killed 6 million Jews. On the other hand, Akbayan noted that the Marcos dictatorship, through the utilization of a brutal military establishment, was responsible for 3,257 murders, 35,000 torture cases, and 70,000 incarcerations.

“In fact, up until today, victims of human rights abuses during the Marcos era and their families continue to fight for justice, the nation has yet to fully recover the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth, all the while that the Marcoses have regained power,” Bello pointed out. "This is an alarming indicator of how the memory of Martial Law is being eroded, and this should serve as a wake up call for our education institutions to protect our democracy."

Education as Fight for Justice

According to Bello, education is also a powerful tool in the effort to seek redress and justice for the victims of Martial Law.

“What we want to do is create an institutional memory, a national memory of the atrocities of Martial Law also to mobilize the broad support of the youth for the fight for justice that we have yet to win,” Bello added.

“There is still a lot to be done to ensure that the Marcoses are made accountable for the atrocities of the dictatorship, and the work to defend democracy continues up to this very day. Akbayan will not let the Marcoses get away with their revisionist approach to history. We will not let the Marcos camp brainwash the Filipino youth with falsehoods about the dictatorship,” Bello concluded.

Last year, Akbayan Party filed House Resolution 1756 seeking to declare the late dictator an "enemy of democracy". The resolution authored by Akbayan Representatives Walden Bello and Kaka Bag-ao also called on Congress to "strongly oppose" the revival of any proposal that would portray Marcos as a hero