Our Country’s Take on Historical Revisionism

By: Kim Abraham D. Ramos

“An ignorance of history…fittingly seen in people who are good for nothing except for their being mere spectators.” ¹

These were the words of Apolinario Mabini, known as “the brain of the Philippine revolution” and one of the advisers of Emilio Aguinaldo. In the present time, Philippine history has been the unheeded topic and not typically the main course of study. A nation’s history is crucial to the development of its society. As an important branch of social science, the said subject should not be ignored and must be given the utmost importance. The armed struggle of the Katipuneros to fight for freedom and independence from the hands of the Spaniards; the Tejeros Convention where the people voted the first president of the Republic; the declaration of Independence and Flag-raising in Kawit, Cavite; the declaration of Independence in 1946 where the Philippines became utterly free from foreign power; and the creation of the 1987 Constitution after the People Power revolution are some of the many consequential events that shape our identity as a Filipino people. But the problem is, what if one day you wake up and the things you learned from your Araling Panlipunan teacher in elementary have been changed? How would you feel if the information in the past, due to continued research about the history, undergoes some sort of revision?

Historical revisionism is the process of revisiting some historical narratives because of the discovery of more credible pieces of evidence. This concept is not technically wrong. Similar to any other practices which change because of the passage of time, history may not be as constant as we think. The reconsideration of some accepted historical facts is normal as history before came from the perspective of a foreign account. The rise of modern historians paves the way for the reevaluation of records and expansion of angles in interpreting a particular event in the past.

Gideon Lasco, a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at the University of the Philippines, said in his interview with the Inquirer, “Historical revisionism is not necessarily a bad thing because many things need to be revised in the way that history is presented.” ² In addition, Dr. Ma. Luisa Camagay, Philippine Historical Association President said that “Revisionism is an essential part of the process by which history, through the posing of new problems and investigation of new possibilities, enlarges its perspectives and enriches its insights.” ³

For instance, generation X might believe that the battle between American and Filipino soldiers, which is known as the “San Juan Del Monte Bridge Incident”, literally happened on San Juan Del Monte Bridge. This was the battle that occurred on February 4, 1899, that commenced the war between Americans and Filipinos. However, upon looking further, newly discovered evidence suggests that it happened at Sociego Street or Silencio Street in Santa Mesa, Manila. 4 Another example is that some historians are saying that the first Mass happened in Masao, Butuan, and not on Limasawa Island.

Recently, the term historical revisionism is now associated with the term historical distortion or, historical denialism. However, we have to point out that historical revisionism is not synonymous with historical distortion.

Historical distortion or historical denialism is the process of shifting the occurrence of the past with altered stories and fabricated archives. Simply put, it is the dissemination of outright lies with an end to expunge the atrocious scene of our time or to blacken someone’s name. Both concepts are involved in the revision of the dominant views in history. However, historical revisionism changes the past to correct the narration of history. In contrast, historical distortion changes the past to mislead the public and
create a false impression of past events. These misleading claims to negate the well-founded historical date are done for a purpose.

One of the reasons why people are fond of lying is because of their desire to be in control in a particular situation and influence the belief of a person.⁵ To control the political arena, employing outrageous lies is proven effective by some politicians. Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago said that “politicians lie when they bolster a shared belief that a specific political stance is morally right. Political figures may be able to act in corrupt ways without damaging their images, at least in the eyes of their supporters.” ⁶ In the case of historical distortion, politicians are trying to twist the history to revamp their public brand and to recondition the minds of the electorate. History is one of the best teachers but these people want to rewrite history to craft false teachings. This tampering with stories is not a new political scheme.

According to Mrs. Virlyn Francisco, a tenured history professor of 22 years, “Andres Bonifacio himself was even a victim of falsified stories about his character in Katipunan.” Manuel L. Quezon also used fake news during his presidential bid in the 1935 Election. To destroy the image of Aguinaldo, who was his rival during the said election, Quezon used the fake skeleton of Bonifacio to deceive the voting public. ⁷

In the present, even before the 2016 election, there has been an unbridled proliferation of falsehoods in favor of Ferdinand Marcos. When Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. ran in 2016 as Vice President, his staunch supporters and followers made a tremendous effort to peddle disinformation on social media and criticized historical books, saying that those were all biased against Marcos. This publication of false stories aggravated in the 2022 Election when Bongbong Marcos vied for the top position in the executive branch. ⁸

The Golden Age in Martial Law; Marcos family owns millions of tons of gold; No one was arrested during Martial Law; Filipinos were free during Martial Law; the Philippines was the richest country in Asia; the Philippines did not export rice after the Marcos Administration; the Philippines was the most literate Asian country under Marcos are some of the many false information that apologists are trying to inculcate in the mind of the youth. ⁹

After years of deceiving, their effort seems to ripen into something propitious. Some Filipinos, especially the youth, are now trapped amidst fiction and fish tale regarding history. The inability to accept the historical truth bolsters the drive of these troll armies to spread skewed stories. ¹⁰

Impact of historical distortion on the youth

Generation Z is now torn between believing true information and deceitful narratives. One of the reasons why students now easily fall on the wrong side of history is that those stories of Martial Law are barely taught in school. According to Mrs. Francisco: “Teacher focuses more on Spanish Colonization. They did not reach the topic about Marcos. As a result, these students rely on Youtube and Tiktok to learn the history.”

The second reason is that learners are having a hard time accepting the unaltered truth of history because of the Law of Primacy. In the theory of education, the law of primacy can be defined as the state of being first will create more impact on the students.¹¹ According to Mrs. Francisco, “because of the Law of Primacy, it is very difficult for the students to unlearn their
perspective about Martial Law primarily because they learn the wronginformation first.”

The third reason is because of a psychological phenomenon called “Cognitive Dissonance”. Cognitive Dissonance is the mental discomfort that occurs when a person’s beliefs face new evidence to refute those beliefs. ¹² To cure the discomfort, people will use dissonance reduction to ease the tensionnin their minds because of contracting ideas. For example, when someone presented a court decision saying that “Marcos looted billions of money during his term”, a rational person will normally say, “I will hate Marcos” or “I will not allow another Marcos to sit in Malacañang”. However, some people will say, “those stories are biased and faked”. When we scour the comments section of the social media accounts of news outlets, it is quite apparent that
quite a number of Filipinos use dissonance reduction to vindicate their erroneous contentions about the Marcos by saying that all the documents presented are mere propaganda. This sense of reverence for Ferdinand Marcos is rooted in the post-Marcos era.

According to Mrs. Francisco, “people consider the government as the salvation that will save them from the darkest time.” When the majority of Filipino people became marginalized after the Marcos era, they blamed succeeding administrations without knowing that the crippling debts incurred by Marcos impaired the economic situation of the country after his regime.

Another reason is that some Filipinos experienced a safe and sound environment during the time of Martial Law. According to Mrs. Francisco: “Filipinos who experienced a desirable life was either people of Ilocos, military, police, cronies, or people who were also part of Marcos’ political team. Those arguing that the Philippines is far better in the hands of the dictator solely because they were free during that time committed the fallacy of hasty generalization. A perfect example of this fallacy is that people are saying “Martial Law was safe in the Philippines because we were safe then.” People immediately jump to the conclusion that Martial Law was safe merely because they are safe. They do not recognize the fact, which is well- documented, that 34,000 were tortured and 3,240 were killed during this reign of terror.” ¹³

Education is Political

People say everything is political, including education. Government policies with regard to education affect the students, our society, and the nation in the long run. Upon the enactment of the K-to-12 curricula, changes to the education setup have been placed. The teaching of Philippine history is not exempted from these changes. While the new curriculum strengthens some portions of the learning process, there are still other sides that need to be reexamined, such as the removal of Philippine history subjects in high school. To effectively teach Philippine History to the students, the Department of Education should consider these two things:

1) Revival of Philippine history subject in junior high school

Last April 9, 2022, the Pinoy Big Brother episode surprised the netizens when one of its contestants in a quiz game series answered “Majoha” instead of “GOMBURZA”, which refers to the three Catholic priests Mariano Gomez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora. Kabataan Party-list first nominee Raoul Manuel said that the removal of Philippine History subject as a separate discipline in junior high school resulted in this kind of predicament. ¹⁴

In the present structure of the Philippine Curriculum under the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, Philippine history is being taught in the higher grade levels in elementary school particularly in grade 5 and grade 6, with emphasis on issues and events of the past in grade 6. After their elementary days, students will no longer have a grasp of Philippine history until they reach their college days. Juxtaposed with the old curriculum where Philippine history was being taught in first year high school (grade 7 in K-to-12), the DepEd Order No.20 series of 2014 removed this subject in junior high school. 15 DepEd officials may argue that these topics are integrated with some subjects. This may not be sufficient to provide the students deep understanding and appreciation of important events of our time.

Another remedy is law. Similar to Republic Act No. 1425 or the Mandatory inclusion of a Rizal subject in the college curriculum, Congress should enact legislation to require the Department of Education to revive the Philippine History subject in junior and senior high school. Studying history requires maturity. It needs a mature mind to hold the learnings of different controversies faced by former administrations. This move will eventually cure the historical amnesia of the youth and will serve as a rampart against a breed of falsifiers.

2) Training of teachers

According to Mrs. Franciso, “professors and teachers are verily in need of training in teaching history to the students.” She notices that professors who are teaching this craft are not history majors. The art of storytelling is one of the competencies that need to be enhanced if a person wants to teach history. Teachers should learn how to tell a story lively and convincingly as if they were eyewitnesses to that historical event.

History teachers should promote critical thinking among the students. John Dewey, one of the famous educational theorists, argued that children should be allowed to participate in learning activities. ¹⁶ The teachers should allow the children to speak up and criticize some acts of people in the past. For example, the teacher may ask the students whether they agree with Rizal, that Filipinos should not engage in an arms struggle against the Spaniards. In doing so, we can create a Filipino student with a good sense of justice and intention to serve the country rooted from the lessons of the past.

The students must put a premium on studying and analyzing the lessons of the past. Studying history guides people to comprehend and answer complex questions by scrutinizing how the past has shaped our actions in the present. ¹⁷ Policies, laws, and decisions of our government are entrenched from the experiences of the people in the past. For example, the 1987 Constitution put so many safeguards for the implementation of Martial Law because of the lesson obtained from Marcos regime. Our desire for independence and democracy is gleaned from the sufferings of the Filipinos during the Spanish era. The concept of the separation of church and state is rooted in interference by friars in the actions of the government during the Spanish time.¹⁸ These are the important events that influence our perspective and behavior in the present. Ignoring these historical events will lead to something catastrophic.

History is beyond mere oratory or a repository of past events. It is the collective consciousness of our forebears that push us toward a self-identity distinct from another neighboring state. The aims, wisdom, and aspirations of our first leaders, pantheon of heroes, and unheard masses serve as a point of reference to steer the future statesman to arrive at the sound decision for the country. As the architect of our history, it is our solemn duty to preserve the accounts, books, and archives that will be the foundation of our nation. The constant and unending studying of our history will be the best safeguard against hoaxes proliferating in the surroundings.

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