Historical Revisionism Of The Marcos Regime

Philippine Government Should Take Measures Against the Historical Revisionism of the Marcos Regime

History is one of the most crucial parts of a nation. It influences what a nation thinks, but more importantly, how a nation thinks. History, as they say, is the backbone of a nation as it supports a country and its people. It helps us understand where we come from and who we are (Dodson, 2015), and studying it allows us to be inspired from the accomplishments made by the society, as well as to learn from the mistakes that were committed in the past by our ancestors, and in turn, apply what we have learned from there for the betterment and progress of the society today. By definition, history is a continuous, typically chronological, record

One of which is positive revisionism or the Academic Historical Revisionism. It is described as the addition of new information due to the access of newly found data and development. Examples of which are the discovery that the earth is not flat, the heliocentricity of our planet, and of the like. On the contrast, the other kind of historical revisionism is negative revisionism or Negationist Historical Revisionism. It is the revision of history by denial and distortion for political purposes, ideological purposes and of the like. Famous examples are the denial of the Holocaust, and the alteration of the truth about the Marcos

In an article by Crabtree(1993), he states that “the past helps a child understand who he is.” It greatly influences a child’s beliefs and perspectives of life. Moreover, he also states that “Modern society, however, has turned its back on the past. We live in a time of rapid change, a time of progress. We prefer to define ourselves in terms of where we are going, not where we come from.” This mentality of this new generation is quiet alarming. It is easy for some to say move on and just bury the man, but it is not just that. The whole debate is not just about burying the man, it is more so about the justice that the people who were greatly affected by the regime did not attain. “We are failing to fully acknowledge the thousands murdered and left in the streets; the tens of thousands illegally arrested and tortured; the billions of dollars stolen; the millions forced into poverty; the tens of thousands of Filipinos killed during his war in Mindanao, and millions of Filipinos displaced.” (Ynchausti, 2016), this fact is the one that is being ignored by some of the youth today. “Young people should know there are lies that should be uncovered. If they could only use their skills in social media, look for what happened during martial law, they will see that so much power was concentrated in one man and this was used