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Hegelian Dialectic and the Historical Distortion of the Martial Law Era: An
Analysis on the Level of Awareness of Youth on Public Discourse of the Martial
Law Era (1972-1986)

Preprint · December 2020

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.26789.42729

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 Hegelian Dialectic and the Historical Distortion of the Martial Law Era:
An Analysis on the Level of Awareness of Youth on
Public Discourse of the
Martial Law Era (1972-1986)

Juniesy M. Estanislao
University of the Philippines, Diliman
jmestanislao@up.edu.ph

ABSTRACT

One of the challenges that academics and teachers of Philippine history face is the
gradual increase of acquiring alternative facts regarding Marcos' regime and Martial Law as a
historical event. The purpose of this study was to analyze the integration of Hegelian dialectic as
a philosophy of history and the historical revisionism in the Philippines related to the Marcoses
and the Martial Law era. This study has hypothesized a single null and alternative hypotheses. It
sought to answer the following questions: 1.) How does the Hegelian dialectic be applied in
Filipinos' current struggle against historical distortion on Marcos' regime and the Martial Law
era? 2.) How does the public receive and absorb historical facts regarding the Martial Law era?
3.) What are the possible effects of the prominence of alternative historical facts regarding the
Martial Law era? This study used deductive thematic analysis as a method of research. The
review of related literature consists of the following themes: 1.) the application of Hegelian
dialectic in history, 2.) the steps undertaken by educational institutions in teaching Martial Law
era, 3.) on refabricating Marcos' legacy, and; 4.) the level of awareness of the youth regarding
Martial Law and the Marcos' regime.and predetermined themes were established with the use of
appropriate thematic analysis in terms of coding raw data.Thus, the result shows that there is a
direct relationship between the level of awareness of youth, the continuous process of distortion
of historical narratives, and the response of institutions in combating this phenomenon.

Keywords: Hegelian dialectic, Martial Law, Marcos’ regime, level of awareness, alternative facts
 1

Introduction

Some of the emerging problems that many academics and teachers in the Philippines face
are fights against anti-intellectualism and the prevalent historical distortions occurring in recent
years. In response to this, academics, historians, professors, and researchers have discussed these
historical events and their aftermath on contemporary Philippine society.

As per de Veyra (2011; 2014), the youth, when it comes to its understanding of the
Martial Law era, had become shallow due to the following reasons:
1. Textbooks in basic education have only a little amount of information given to the
Marcoses and the Martial Law era;
2. In retrospect, the two Aquino administration has been connotated with the premise they
only want to solidify Benigno Aquio Jr.’s legacy as the challenger of the Marcos regime
ー in which these have become a leeway for the Marcoses to alter the perception of the
masses to their family and their legacy as they have brought the so-called, “Golden Era”
of the Philippines to return to power; and;
3. There is an on-going historical distortion occurring to reframe the narrative in favor of
the Marcoses, particularly in the social media platforms.1

In the present, the Marcoses, spearheaded by Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., had
deliberately denied allegations against his family such as the human rights violations recorded,
the economic recession in the early 1980s, the maneuvering of the political arena to suit Marcos’
agenda in implementing a modified parliamentary government, and the records of corruption
(Marcos & Enrile, 2018).2 This deliberate denial of transgression amongst the Filipino people is
dangerous, considering that information can spread like wildfire in the age of cyberspace
wherein social media platforms provide freedom to its users to post anything that is not verified
or fact-checked by administrators of these platforms.
Prior to the interview of Bongbong Marcos to then-Secretary of Defense Juan Ponce
Enrile, on the onset of the boom of social media platforms such as Facebook, due to the lack as
mentioned above of precautionary measures regarding fact-checking, many have taken
advantage of knowledge dissemination regarding the refabrication of Marcos regime and the
Martial Law era and this occurrence is still happening in the present. As more and more people
are being swayed by historical distortion and lack of analysis on fact-checking, sectors and
groups are trying to retell the stories of atrocities, human rights violations, plunder, edifice
complex3, and the lies that have been lingering in our past. Just earlier this year, the History
Department of the University of the Philippines vehemently condemned Bongbong Marcos for

1
From: “Miss mo na ba si Marcos?”, de Veyra, L., 2011, Word of the Lourd (WOTL). Copyright by ABC Network
TV5 and from: “Nakabubuti ba sa Pilipinas ang Martial Law?” de Veyra., 2014, Word of the Lourd (WOTL).
Copyright by ABC Network TV5
2
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. interviewed the then Defense Minister and the Chief Implementor of Martial
Law, former Senator Juan Ponce-Enrile to refabricate the Marcos regime as the golden age of Philippine history,
opposed to the historical evidences and claims of the Martial Law victims. The interview was uploaded in Bongbong
Marcos’ YouTube channel.
3
It was a term popularized in the ‘70s to describe Imelda Marcos’ grandiose infrastructure projects for political
aims, henceforth the title of Gerardo Lico’s book, “Edifice Complex: Power, Myth, and the Marcos State
Architecture.”
 2

stating that textbooks used in the basic education must be revised in favor of the Marcoses ー
they insisted that the Marcos family should atone for their transgressions, particularly the
despotism, human rights violation, and the ill-gotten wealth accumulated by the family from
1972 to 1986 (UP History Department Professors, cited in Gotinga, 2020). 4

This study was conducted to identify the current tension and factors concerning
knowledge dissemination, acquisition, and generation regarding the Marcos regime and the
Martial Law era. As the Philippines continues to take on the challenges of globalization,
industrialization, and more contemporary conditions affecting the status quo, it is relevant that
the nation could resolve a distorted presentation of the past to integrate the citizens to engage and
take on their duties and responsibilities as future nation builders. The researcher hopes that this
research can spark a light for academics, entities, institutions, stakeholders, and different sectors
to have a clearer understanding and stance on resolving the acquisition and dissemination of the
distorted part of the nation’s past.

Background of the Study

Thirty-four years ago, the Marcos’ regime was overthrown by the de facto government
led by Corazon Aquino in the first quarter of 1986. The Aquino administration, in 1986,
concentrated its efforts on the so-called “National Reconciliation” by virtue of Executive Order
(EO), which was promulgated on Christmas Eve of 1986. This written proclamation aimed to
create and reestablish the post-Marcos government as a government that prioritizes the
Philippine Development Plan (PDP) (Dedace et al., 2009; LawPhil, n.d.). This program was later
adopted by the succeeding administrations, up to the Duterte administration. Aside from this, the
Corazon Aquino government focused on the retrieval of the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses
with the creation of the Presidential Commission on Good Governance (PCGG), which aims to
recover “all ill-gotten wealth accumulated by former president Ferdinand Marcos, his immediate
family, relatives, subordinates and close associates” (Davies, 2016). These two implementations
initiated by the Aquino administration became a leeway to chase the Marcoses and to restore
Philippine Democracy, prior to the implementation of the 1973 Philippine Constitution, which,
unfortunately, was prioritized to be abolished by the Duterte administration due to its
ineffectiveness (Crur & Mano, 2018).

Given that decades have passed, since then, many Filipinos have been comparing the
situation during the ‘60s-’80s to their current socio-economic status which many have led to
believe that the Marcos regime was the ‘golden era’ of Philippine history. The frustration of the
masses, together with the ambition of the Marcoses to grab the concentration of power back, they
have used platforms such as social media by means of employing trolls to spread hybridized and
other alternative facts in the form of news articles and online link blog posts that would catch the
attention of the masses. In 2016, during the vice presidential race, Bongbong Marcos publicly
expressed that he and his family does not owe anything to the people - which was later negated
by his opponent, Alan Peter Cayetano (Davies, 2016; Legaspi, 2016).

4
The University of the Philippines - Departamento ng Kasaysayan released a statement on their Facebook page last
January 17, 2020 saying that Bongbong Marcos’ statement regarding the rehashing of textbooks was a clear
indication of historical distortion and negationism and this attempt must be dismantled immediately.
 3

Consequently, the Marcoses also denied that they have talked with Cambridge Analytica,
a political data company, to rebrand and refabricate their history to the Filipinos using social
media (Perez-Rubio, 2020). The family rebranding conducted by Cambridge Analytica was a
strong claim that, indeed, the Marcos family is eagerly trying to revise and distort history and
controversies about their father’s legacy.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to analyze the integration of Hegelian dialectic as a philosophy of history
and the historical revisionism in the Philippines related to the Marcoses and the Martial Law era.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following:

1. How does the Hegelian dialectic be applied in Filipinos' current struggle

against historical distortion on Marcos' regime and the Martial Law era?
2. How does the public receive and absorb historical facts regarding the Martial
Law era?
3. What are the possible effects of the prominence of alternative historical facts
regarding the Martial Law era?

Significance of the Study

The study was deemed significant because it is expected to be useful to the following
groups of persons and institutions:

Students. This study will allow a more in-depth understanding of how the Martial Law
era (1972-1986) was presented and its aftermath. The result of this study will help the students
be more analytic and enlightened regarding the horrors of this historical event in Philippine
history.

Historians and Araling Panlipunan Teachers. This study will serve as a guide to
historians and Araling Panlipunan teachers as they reference how drives more and more people
to give in to the distortions regarding the Martial Law era (1972-1986). This study will also help
them teach martial law at a more in-depth level with different teaching approaches and strategies
and high-order-thinking-skills (HOTS).

Future Researchers. This study will help future researchers who will have an interest in
studying the current tension regarding knowledge dissemination and knowledge acquisition
regarding the horrors of the Martial Law era (1972-1986) and the fabrication made by the
Marcos family in order to strengthen the problematiques of this status quo in Philippine society.
Future researchers are expected to give reliable and valid data and information for knowledge
generation for future researchers that will be conducted.

Scope and Delimitation

 4

This study was limited only to the analysis of the current tension between the thesis and
the antithesis of the public discourse regarding how the martial law era was being presented to
the masses.
This study will only focus on the application of Hegelian dialectic to the current struggle
of Filipinos against the historical distortion of the Martial Law era initiated by the Marcoses and
social media trolls, the process of the masses in response to these fabricated information that they
have acquired, and the possible effects of prevalence of historical distortions of the Martial Law
era.

Definition of Terms

Academe. It refers to the social institution that is in-charge of knowledge dissemination,

acquisition, and generation.

Araling Panlipunan (AP). It refers to the study of people and groups, culture, and
society. It problematizes the ways of how they have lived their lives, connections, and
interactions with each other beliefs and worldviews, and other components that can contribute to
the understanding of the society in synthesizing the identity of the Filipino as a citizen of the
Philippines and as a global citizen in understanding and inculcating the values inculcated to
analyze, research, reflect, synthesize, and evaluate different social issues based on the status quo
and different situations (K-12 Araling Panlipunan Gabay Pangkurikulum, 2016, p.4).

Basic Education. As per Jomtien and Thailand (1990, cited in UNESCO Institute of
Statistics, n.d.), basic education refers to the holistic eds mandated in the World Declaration on
Education for all in 1990. It covers primary education (from kindergarten to upper primary) and
secondary education (grade 7/1st year high school to grade 12/senior high school), which can be
applied to all ages in both public and private entities.

Dialectic. According to Maybee (2020), it refers to the method of philosophical negation

wherein there are tensions formed between opposing sides. Specifically, the Hegelian dialectic is
a process promulgated by G.W.F. Hegel views ideas and subject matter discussed as they create
tensions when a particular thesis and antithesis are both present. This dialectic is based on the
consciousness of human beings concerning data, information, knowledge, ideas provided.

Department of Education5. It is the government agency tasked with the planning,

implementing, and reviewing, and integrating all necessary educational applicabilities and
necessities suited for the basic education to achieve universal quality basic education.

Fake News. According to Merriam-Webster (n.d.), it often refers to political stories and
features which aim to create malicious misinformation to a particular company, establishment, or

5
Formerly known as the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS), it used to cater educational,
cultural, and sports-related affairs. In August 2001, the Republic Act 9155, also known as the “Governance of Basic
Education Act” was promulgated, separating the Department of Education to the rest and creating the National
Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
 5

person. It emerged during the 1890’s, but the most common widely used term beforehand was
‘false news.’

Historical Distortion. It is a move or process of changing a historical event and narrative

to suit an entity’s personal and political gains. (Cristobal, as cited in Adonis, 2019).

Historical Revisionism. It is the reinterpretation of a particular historical account, event,

or narrative based on actual facts and authenticated evidence (Krasner, 2020, p. 15). Further, it is
a process of making prior historical claims more accurate and factual (Ocampo, 2020).

Martial Law. Known as Proclamation 1081, President Ferdinand Marcos declared

martial law on September 22, 1972 as a justification to purge the spread of Communist
insurgency and armed rebellion by means of giving himself indefinite emergency powers and
promulgating the so-called “Bagong Lipunan”. The said proclamation paved the way to suspend
the writ of Habeas Corpus and the closure courts and other legal and government institutions in
the Philippines. As a result, many members of the opposition, activists, dissenters, and anyone
who has shown any form of criticism against the Marcos regime were imprisoned without any
warrant of arrest, tortured, and killed.

Marcos Loyalists. It refers to the supporters of Ferdinand Marcos, the Marcos family,
and the Marcos regime who remain in-line with the principles of the Marcos regime and the
family.

Trolls. It refers to persons of a particular following who consecutively and deliberately

give offensive and politically incorrect comments to purposely offend someone or a group of
people (Cambridge Dictionary, 2020).

Review of Related Literature

a. The Application of Hegelian dialectic in history

As per Gijsbers6 (2017), G.W.F. Hegel, through his philosophical take on the idealistic
stand of history as a continuing process, is only applicable to the current time and horizon that an
individual exists; thus, it also applies to philosophy and science in which our ideals, contentions,
and point of views are only shaped by our current standpoint in history, which gives the
juxtaposition of either theories, ideas, and other perspectives can be acceptable or not in a
progressing standpoint in history. Also, Gijsbers (2017) explained that Hegel’s point of view of
history can only be interpreted through its own time. For example, during the 15th-19th century,
slavery was acceptable. It is because people during these periods have only thought
systematically using the laws, theories, and ideas provided during their time. Therefore, they
cannot get ahead of postmodern thinking such as inclusive and equal rights, as well as universal

6
Victor Gijsbers discusses a different set of philosophies in a playlist entitled, “Philosophy of Humanities” which
can be found in Leiden University - Faculty of Humanities’ official YouTube channel. From:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfhNPM3sMvCQB7m9wyEip0A
 6

quality education, although the foundational theories were provided during their times, due to the
fact that these are not yet accepted and inculcated forms of how to achieve the good life.

Sproul7 (2000, p. 135) seconded the idea that the Hegelian dialectic refers to the ‘struggle
between one idea to the other,’ which is often described as a ‘contradiction.’ Sproul (2000, p.
137) added that Karl Marx followed Hegel’s dialectic, but disagreed with the struggle of ideas as
presented by Hegel, Marx (cited in Sproul, 2000, p. 137) insisted that it is not ideas that has an
evident and absolute contradiction, but rather, socio-economic classes where people belong.
However, Sproul (2000, p. 144) emphasized that Marx miserably failed to apply concrete praxis
to his theories due to its ‘fallacious’ claim of the labor theory of value, which states that ‘the
value of a product is based on the amount of labor put into it.’ (Sproul, 2000, p. 143-44) As an
example, Sproul (2000, p. 144) cited Rembrandt's skills as a painter where he could paint as fast
as he can due to his expertise, while on the other hand, an ordinary person who is just starting to
paint was the one who needs to work hard to get the painting done. Using this example, Sproul
(2000, p. 144) explained that the value of a product cannot be determined by the effort given in
creation of that product alone. Hence, Marx’s labor theory of value failed (Sproul, 2000, p. 144).

While, Arendt8 (1968 p. 249) agreed with the general notion that Hegel’s philosophy of
history was conceived through the tension between ideas, which was later used by Marx on the
master-slave relationship between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. An analysis has emerged
that Hegel mostly contributed to the Pan-Germanism and Pan-Slavism movements, while Marx
contributed to the rise of Bolshevism in Russia (Arendt, 1968, p. 249). Also, Stalin declared in
his book entitled “Leninism” (cited in Arendt, 1968, p. 346) that in an exact recognition of the
philosophy of history and history of class struggles, they (The Bolsheviks9) shall be more
subservient to the dialectical materialism in which an in-depth insight of the said approach, the
more plausible the success will be. This notion of Stalin can be attributed to his belief that his
totalitarian regime and the countless human rights violations was a responsibility assigned to him
by the course of history - in relation to the dialectical materialism (Arendt, 1968, 346). Further,
Arendt (1968, p. 249) also analyzed that Hegel and Marx did not specify and assume any kind of
entity, institution, person, or nation to be involved in such paradigm shifts, they only anticipated
the concretization of these contradictions in history in a dialectical manner.

Moreover, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer10 (2001, also cited in Then & Now,
2019) discussed the application of the dialectic in terms of analyzing totalitarianism by means of
going back to the enlightenment and its tension against myth wherein Adorno and Horkheimer
(2001, also cited in Then & Now, 2019) argued that any prevailing systematic structure is a form

7
R.C. Sproul was one of the most famous Calvinist theologians who recently died in 2017 whose works are about
the Gospel of Christ, Holiness of God, and other Judeo-Christian-related works based on the Prostestant Bible.
8
Hannah Arendt was an American-German-Jewish philosopher who sought refuge in the USA in 1933 after Hitler
assumed power in Germany. She formulated the concept of “banality of evil” after analyzing Adolf Eichmann's trial
in Jerusalem as a reporter for the New Yorker in the 1960’s.
9
The Bolsheviks (the majority) were the left-wing members of Vladimir Lenin’s Russian Social-Democratic
Workers’ Party which aimed to take over the Russian monarchy led by the Romanov clan.
10
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer were both members of the famous Frankfurt School whose works focused
on the appropriation of Hegelian dialectic and dialectical materialism to the different social institutions and social
science disciplines.
 7

of domination, which can be described as anything structured that was instructed to the people
to abide by in terms of all aspects and ways of life.

Also, they (Adorno & Horkheimer, 2001; Then & Now, 2019) analyzed that the period of
enlightenment, as the age of reason, had become a form of domination which have led to other
political upheaval such as the American and French revolution, German and Italian unification,
and World War I and World War II, respectively. In terms of the principle of immanence, Adorno
and Horkheimer (2001, also cited in Then & Now, 2019) has become the justification for
totalitarianism wherein the dominant force, which was based on the master-slave dialectic of
Hegel will enable a flawless repetition of any form of subservience to that dominant force, which
has become the new thesis. As Adorno and Horkheirmer (2001, p. 96, also cited in Then & Now,
2019) put it: ‘The more dominant the complex social organism becomes, the less it tolerates
interruptions of the ordinary course of life. Today as yesterday, tomorrow as today, everything
must follow the same course. The general overflowing is no longer possible. The period of
turbulence has been individualized. Holidays have supplanted the feast.’

Lastly, Kaelin (2012) has sought to understand the application of the Hegelian dialectic to
the Filipino family by means of establishing seven points of comparison between Hegel’s
philosophy to the Filipino family. The following are as follows: 1.) the basic structural difference
of social institutions in question wherein Kaelin (2012, p. 134-35) argued that there is a dialectic
between the Filipino family (considered as the thesis) and the state (considered as the antithesis)
wherein these two has been dichotomous due to the fact that the Filipino family is strong, while
the Filipino state is weak, 2.) Hegel only focused on the analysis of the state, while the Philippine
discourse was mainly focused on the nationhood of the country, wherein an ‘imagined
community’ can be evidently seen. Kaelin (2012, p. 136) noted the danger of pure reason when
justifying the state’s course of actions, unlike when academics have sought to understand the
nation-building in the Philippines, which comes into several factors of scrutinizing the role of
family, school, church, economic institutions, and the government, 3.) Hegel mainly focused on
the nuclear family and sought that the extended family has no bigger purpose in the discourse of
state and consciousness. In other words, Hegel favored the family of procreation rather than the
family of orientation.

However, in the Philippines, extended family is an essential factor that must be included
in the discourse as stated by Coronel and Jocano (cited in Kaelin, 2012, p. 137), 4.) Hegel
pointed out that an individual has a dialectical relationship with his nuclear family and the civil
society ー stating that once an individual had lost his enculturated values inside the family, he
have had absorbed the values of the civil society, which contradicts to the notion given by Jocano
that the extended family has a crucial role to play when it comes to the rehashing of family
values into a larger scale of an individual (cited in Kaelin, 2012, p. 139-40). In simple terms,
Hegel argued on the absolute separation between an individual and a citizen, in contrast to
Jocano whereas an individual can be integrated into the society by means of modifying his
values based on the acculturation of his extended family, 5.) in terms of economic interaction of
the civil society and the family, Hegel argued that the profit maximization in a civil society is
systematic, given that an individual has become a product of his time, while in the Philippines,
economic interactions are mostly consanguineous (blood-related), which can be traced back to
the country’s pre-colonial past (cited in Kaelin, 2012, p. 140-41), 6.)
 8

In terms of religion, both the Hegelian view and the Philippine discourse agreed upon the
notion that religion propels the citizen to nation-building. In the Philippines, however, the
discourse generated the synthesis that the lack of unified religious affiliation in the country’s
pre-colonial past, as well as fragmentalization, contributed to the absence of translocal polity in
the country, which only change when the Spanish came to the country and established
Catholicism (cited in Kaelin, 2012, p. 142) and; 7.) there is a contradiction between the Hegelian
perspective of collective ethical life wherein an individual can amplify morality to the civil
society and the overflowing individual ethics in the Philippine setting wherein there are no
established collective morality exercised by the Filipino, which justifies the weakness of social
institutions, as well as the state of the country (cited in Kaelin, 2012, p. 142-43).

b. Steps of Educational Institutions in Teaching the Martial Law Era

Brown (2019) discussed the reforms made through the implementation of the Enhanced
Basic Education Act of 2013, also known as the K-12 curriculum. Brown (2019) points out that
the education reform became heavily reliant on the production of skilled workers, which
complies to the demand of the global human resource market to send more Filipinos abroad due
to neoliberal policy implementations. Meanwhile, the Department of Education Secretary Leonor
Briones (cited in Hernando-Malipot, 2020) assured that the Martial Law era is being taught in the
K-12 curriculum, particularly in Araling Panlipunan where the subject Philippine History
(Kasaysayan ng Pilipinas) can be taught by saying that, "In the past four years, especially in
relation to the budget, this is always being asked." Also, the Undersecretary of Curriculum and
Instruction Dionisio San Antonio (cited in Hernando-Malipot, 2020) assured that the Martial
Law era is being taught intensively, even though the K-12 curriculum was streamlined into most
essential learning competencies (MELCs) this year since the teaching modality of the
educational system has changed into modular and online learning setup.

Figure 1. How the Marcos regime is being Introduced in an Araling Panlipunang Textbook11

11
From “Panahon ng Ikatlong Republika (Mula Kay Pangulong Garcia Hanggang Pangulong Marcos), p. 251-71,
Lakbay ng Lahing Pilipino 6: Aklat sa Araling Panlipunan by A. G. Baisa-Julian and N. S. Lontoc, 2018, 927
Quezon Ave., Quezon City, Phoenix Publishing House, Inc. Copyright by Phoenix Publishing House, Inc. Adapted
with permission.
 9

Note. Top panel: This excerpt was from p.

260, Aralin 14. Panahon ng Ikatlong
Republika (Mula kay Pangulong Garcia
Hanggang Pangulong Marcos. The content
of the succeeding pages contained programs
and policies implemented by Marcos during
his 21-year reign. Second panel: On p. 261,
the book discussed the significant changes
during the first term of his presidency and the
foreign relations program of the Philippines.
 10

Third panel: The book discussed the main programs and policies of Ferdinand Marcos during his
2nd term.

On the other hand, Motas et al. (2018) conducted a study on the analysis of portraying
Ferdinand Marcos and the Martial Law era in the Department of Education approved Araling
Panlipunan 6 textbooks in private and public schools in Laguna and Batangas wherein they have
grounded their study through semiotic analysis. In the study, Motas et al. (2018) concluded that
only 7% of the textbooks or 2-3 out of 33 chapters are only dedicated to discuss and tackle the
Martial Law era and the Marcos regime. All textbooks that this study has analyzed were
concluded to be on Marcos’ side in terms of narrative, but with a striking balance with the human
rights violation and other authoritarian narratives. Another conclusion formulated in this study
(Motas et al., 2018) was that the 10 approved textbooks by the Department of Education in
Araling Panlipunan 6 do not reflect any individual experiences, but an amalgamation of
collective thought in paving the way to the current era of Philippine society. Motas et al. (2018)
further recommend that a handbook should be published to compile the narratives of Marcos
regime and the Martial Law Era and that government agencies should standardize any
information to be given out to the public.

c. On Fabrication of Marcos’ Legacy

One of the earliest attempts of Ferdinand Marcos to refabricate his credentials was when
he vested himself with war medals. Pimentel (2016, also cited in UP Third World Studies Center,
2016) stated that Marcos fabricated a historical event in file no. 60 wherein he himself and some
troops called, “Ang mga Maharlika” a fictitious guerilla armed group that he invented, which he
submitted to the United States in 1945 and as a result, in 1948, Marcos’ claim was labeled as
“fraudulent” and “malicious.” As a result, the US Military and the US National Archives denied
Marcos’ request for reconsideration of the awarding of medals to him. 12

Mijares (1976) stated that Marcos started presenting 27 war medals that the US Military
allegedly awarded to him after World War II in 1962, 17 years after. Mijares (1976, also cited in
Pineda, 2019) further stated that the former Defense Secretary Macario Peralta Jr., who was a
deceased person at the time of the presentation of the affidavits, favored the awarded medals to
Marcos in exchange for him not to run for presidency in 1965 against Diosdado Macapagal.

Imelda Marcos (cited in Greenfield, 2019) purposely persuaded Ferdinand “Bongbong”

Marcos Jr. to take on the step of his father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos to run in a
presidential race, but she thought that there were a lot of expectations for Bongbong Marcos. As
a result, Imelda (cited in Greenfield, 2019) decided to make Bongbong run for Vice Presidential
race first before establishing himself in running for the highest position in the land. This idea was

12
President Rodrigo Duterte allowed the burial of the remains of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani
because he claimed that Marcos was a hero during the World War II , who helped the Americans to fight the
Japanese forces, which was conflicting to the reports and declassified documents of the US National Archives
saying the Marcos fabricated his narratives of fighting at the Bessang Pass. Also, Duterte claimed that he was just
returning a favor due to Marcos family’s back up in financing during his campaign in the 2016 Presidential
elections.
 11

hinted by Andres Bautista13, the former COMELEC Commissioner (cited in Greenfield, 2019)
during the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections in 2016 due to the records of the Marcos
family and their involvement in different malicious activities, including those committed way
back when Apo Macoy was still in office.

On the other hand, Alporha (2019) mentioned that historical negationism and
revisionism, as well as political trolling is not new because these tactics were used by far right
regimes and the majority of authoritarian regimes to manipulate the public opinion in justifying
their means in establishing such regimes. Alporha (2019) added that a simple search for the
name, “Ferdinand Marcos” in Facebook and other social media platforms will immediately bring
a person to partisan pages and groups dedicated to the following: 1.) ‘glorify the Marcosian past
by magnifying its achievements and by spreading false historical facts, like Marcos being a war
hero or the Philippines becoming Asia's biggest economy under his regime; (2) denying and
justifying criminal charges and allegations against the Marcoses that include corruption and
human rights violations; and (3) advancing the political bid of Bongbong and Imee Marcos.’
(Alporha, 2019, p. 17) Given the current scenario on the fabrication of historical facts and
narratives, which gives the Marcoses a good public relations to the social media users, Alporha
(2019) suggested that: 1.) there must be a regulation to all public relations (PR) firms that are
helping political candidates in spreading and promoting false news and false historical narratives,
to which, social media platforms such as Facebook must conduct consecutive and massive fact
checking to all posts, particularly those that are historically inclined narratives and; 3.) there
must be an active and participatory engagement on the intellectual's end to strengthen the combat
against fake news and false historical narratives. The role of academics, historians, professionals,
and social scientists are crucial in terms of knowledge dissemination and acquisition to further
solidify this move.

Moreover, a recent study was presented by Miguel Paolo Reyes and Joel Ariate Jr. (cited
in Berdos and VERA Files, 2020) presented a study in a webinar organized by the Consortium
on Democracy and Disinformation (D&D), De La Salle University - Jesse M. Robredo Institute
of Governance and the Asian Center for Journalism of Ateneo de Manila University last
December 9 which claims that heritage sites in Ilocos Norte and books promoting the greatness
of Ferdinand Marcos are all connected to one another. Miguel Paolo Reyes highlighted that, “The
Marcoses, their loyalists, and other allies have been producing and reproducing propaganda all
these years, with the intended effect of conferring a patina of well-researched scholarship to
Marcos.” (cited in Berdos & VERA Files, 2020).

The study cited that following distribution of disinformation and historical distortion
regarding the Marcoses and the Martial Law era: 13% were general claims, 15% were traceable
from Marcos textbooks, 20% came from a person quoted by media, not traceable from any texts,
21% were distributed via social media platforms and; 31% are about recent events such as the
claim of Bongbong Marcos, Imee’s victory in the senatorial race, etc. Reyes added that, “All of
13
During his interview for the documentary, “The Kingmaker”, Ex-COMELEC Commissioner Andres Bautista told
that he flew to the United States to seek asylum due to his intuition that if Rodrigo Duterte will win the election, he
will be immediately subjected to any malicious accusations due to his work. Bautista also served as the chairman of
the Presidential Commission on Good Governance (PCGG) before he was appointed by the Aquino administration
to be the Commissioner of COMELEC.
 12

these can be categorized as fundamental lies about the Marcoses: from false claims about
Marcos’s brilliance and heroism to disinformation about the Marcoses’ wealth and the status of
the cases filed against them.” (cited in Berdos & VERA Files, 2020)

d. The Level of Awareness of Youth on Martial Law and the Marcos Regime
According to Doyo (2019), they have conducted a forum to the students from different
parts of the country to discuss their experiences and Bonifacio Ilagan, the sister of Rizalina
Ilagan, who was one of the Desaparecidos during the Martial Law era. Their experiences became
substantial in teaching the young about the ills and horrors of that dark time in Philippine history
wherein Doyo (2019) has said that for one to share his struggles, memories will come back like a
tidal wave to the victim. Further, Doyo (2019) emphasized the importance of teaching Martial
Law and the victims' experiences and its horror to the youth as they take on the lead as future
nation builders.

Aeron Pantig seconded the idea that (cited in Geducos, 2020) it is inevitable that the
youth might encounter contradicting information regarding the Martial Law era and the Marcos
regime since not all internet and social sources media can be verified immediately. Also,
Maureen Basa (cited in Geducos, 2020), she used to be a Marcos loyalist due to the information
she acquired when she was just an elementary student through her teachers - which coined the
Martial Law era as the "Golden Age" of Philippine history due to law and order, economic
stability, and many ambitious projects initiated by the Marcoses. It changed when she went to
Senior High School, wherein one of her teachers discussed the real situation during that era. She
researched the discussion of her teacher and found out the horrors of the Martial Law era.
Moreover, Basa (cited in Geducos, 2020) emphasized that the family has a large role to play in
disseminating the knowledge to the youth regarding the Martial Law era and how the family's
enculturation process takes place.

Moreover, according to Louie Zabala (cited in Umil, 2014), a history teacher, some
people think that the Martial Law era was the best thing in Philippine history due to its portrayal
in some textbooks. As Zabala (cited in Umil, 2014) puts it: "What infrastructures were built
during his administration, how people were disciplined and that there were fewer crimes. But the
books say nothing about the crimes committed by the state against the people." Zabala used to
teach Martial Law era, and the Marcos regime during the Basic Education Curriculum (BEC, the
curriculum prior to K-12), which was included in the high school curriculum wherein students
were taught about Marcos, his programs, infrastructure projects, economic programs, law and
order, and what was the result of it. However, he claimed that since the implementation of the
K-12 curriculum, Philippine history was removed and replaced by Asian history. Also, Zabala
(cited in Umil, 2014) claimed that when they were discussing current events, students, even as
early as grade 7, had no idea regarding the Martial Law era - which he thought due to the
shortness of time that a teacher could teach the topic because the Martial Law era can be found in
the fourth quarter of grade 6, where many teaching lessons were distracted due to the preparation
of students for their graduation in elementary. Further, Zabala (cited in Umil, 2014) emphasized
that teaching Philippine history in High School is very important so that students are highly
encouraged to intellectualize, problematize, and synthesize ideas and critical thinking,
particularly with the connection of historical events to the current issues that the country is
facing.
 13

Theoretical Framework

1. Dialectic
G.W.F. Hegel first sought the process of the dialectic in terms of concepts and
ideas wherein Hegel (cited in Maybee, 2016) identified the first moment ー the moment
of understanding which can be called as the thesis. Then, when this thesis will be
obsolete and put to the fore, a new contradicting and opposite concept or idea can come
to challenge this firstly established idea called the antithesis, with the purpose of refuting
and subjugating the former idea, which Hegel described as the process or the dialectic14.
Lastly, the third movement can be achieved when the two opposing ideas will come to a
consensus and agreement ー increasing the result based on the amalgamation of the
commonality between these ideas. This is called the synthesis or the positive rational,
which will serve as the new thesis for the new set of the dialectic (Maybee, 2016).

2. Epistemic Endosmosis
According to Hamid Dabashi (2015), epistemic endosmosis refers to the “fast
knowledge” wherein any government institution assumes its constituents to only consume
distorted and falsified information that they initiated to create ‘disposable knowledge
production’ (Dabashi, 2015, p. 51) with no particular engagement of episteme15, but
rather, consumption and instant gratification. Dabashi (2015) further explained this by
examining the fast food analogy wherein these commodities give false sense of
gratification and satisfaction to the consumers and citizens, where in fact, these are all
forefront in hiding the truth. He (Dabashi, 2015) also argued that during the US invasion
of Afghanistan, think tanks began creating knowledge about the country to supplement
and justify the aims of the country in attacking Afghanistan, which was also used when
the US attacked Iraq because there was no ‘epistemic consistency’ (Dabashi, 2015, p. 52)
manifesting. This theory of Dabashi can be analyzed in terms of the trolls and loyalists of
Ferdinand Marcos who are, with the aid of some government institutions, can execute
mass consumption of fabricated news articles and historical narratives, which becomes
the disposable product of knowledge wherein it provides ‘fast knowledge’ (Dabashi,
2015, p. 52) because these were not created to question, but rather, to consume and to
amplify. Hence, epistemic endosmosis is dangerous considering the ill effects of it when
the constituency had already consumed these disposable products of knowledge.

3. Cognitive Dissonance and Partisanship

14
As per Kaelin (2012, p. 212), dialectic is the “moving principle of the concept, which not only dissolves the
particularization of the universal but also produces them.” Further, Kaelin (2012) seconded the idea that the dialectic
can result in a new synthesis.
15
It refers to the philosophical interpretation of knowledge and a way of understanding concepts and ideas. Michel
Foucault used this term in analyzing the history of science as a set of macrocosms in creating a certain and specific
event in history in a particular event or period of time. From: https://www.lexico.com/definition/episteme
 14

Leon Festinger (cited in Mcleod, 2018) was the first psychologist who
investigated cognitive dissonance wherein he conducted an experiment on cult members
who believed that earth will be destroyed by a flood, which led to the cult followers to
quit their jobs and to fully commit themselves to the deeds of the cult and as expected,
the flood never happened and many have come to think that these members were wrong.
Festinger (cited in Mcleod, 2018) defined cognitive dissonance as inconsistency in one;s
attitudes, behaviors, decision-making skills, and effort, which inevitably leads to this
phenomenon. Festinger (cited in Mcleod, 2018) argued that when cognitive dissonance
occurs, ultimate subservience and strict compliant behavior must be observed and
reflected upon because these are the primary determiners driving a person into the state of
cognitive dissonance. George Orwell (2019) was one of the famous critics of both the far
right and the far left when it comes to partisanship wherein any political party can
advance their agenda by using any loyal supporters to the cause and advocacy of the said
party. Orwell (2019) mentioned that political language used in a common political arena
is full of euphemism and facade diplomacy wherein underlying these statements are the
true motives of both the far right and far left. Hence, any terminology can be distorted
and manipulated depending on the gains of a political party and its loyalists. Zmigrod
(2019) added that partisanship drives people who are living in the same constituency to
have a polarized thinking regarding their political identities and the agendas of these
identities. Also, Eric Hoffer (cited in Zmigrod, 2019) first explained the psychological
factors of leaning to either right or left of the political spectrum wherein he argued that
low self-esteem and personal frustrations are the driving forces in leading people to
commit to partisanship.

Conceptual Framework

Figure 2. The Conceptual Framework of the Hegelian Dialectic and its Application to the
Distortion of Historical Facts regarding the Marcos Regime and the Martial Law Era.
 15

Note: The framework consists of the following: 1.) established historical facts regarding the
Martial Law era and the Marcos regime, 2.) the historical distortion and refabrication of these
historical facts and;, 3.) a divided stand on the public awareness of the Martial Law era. The
relationship between the first box and the second box provides a clear contradiction and dialectic
due to the clash between established facts regarding the Martial Law era and the direct and
indirect effort to refabricate and distort these realities for the sake of political gains whereas the
third box indicates an expected synthesis provided that there is a prevalence of refabrication and
distortion of the Martial Law era.

Research Methodology

The study presents the following methodology based on the formulation and existence of
historical distortions and the level of awareness of youth regarding the Martial Law era, which
will be determined by the current approaches to teach Martial Law to the youth:

Interview Questions:

1. Do you think there is a prevalence of historical distortion regarding the knowledge

dissemination of the Martial Law era? Why do you think so?
2. In your opinion, what are the reasons why people, most especially the youth, fell in on
the fabrication and historical distortion made by trolls and the Marcoses regarding the
Martial Law era? What factors do you think are affecting this condition?
3. In your opinion, what is the role of the youth amidst the current historical distortion
happening in the Philippines?
4. What do you think are the possible effects of these alternative historical facts and
distortions if these will continue to prevail?
5. How would you rate the current level of awareness of the youth on public discourse
regarding Martial Law? [5 - extremely aware, 4 - more aware, 3 - aware, 2 - less aware, 1
- not aware at all]
6. What will you recommend to any/some entity/institution/s to fight the spread of
disinformation and historical distortion?

Research Design, Locale and Population of the Study

This study used descriptive research design using a qualitative method because it was
most appropriate since the research aims to analyze the current tension on the knowledge
dissemination and acquisition regarding the Marcos regime and Martial Law era. This research
used thematic inductive analysis in substantiating the problematiques and the responses of the
respondents in each question.
This study was conducted via teleconferencing application Zoom with 3 respondents
coming from the academe, related to the social science and social studies disciplines. Each of the
respondents were interviewed separately to maintain the reliability and confidentiality of their
 16

responses in each question. The respondents were selected through purposive sampling because
it corresponds to the problematiques presented in the research.

Data Gathering Instrument

To gather the data needed in the study, the researcher first asked the professor of course
PS 201 - Philippines in Asia and the Pacific Region to endorse the respondents based on the
research topic. Then, the approved letters of intent were sent to each of the respondents.
The researcher personally provided the questions to the respondents. The questions were
given on the day of the interview to give authenticity to the responses of respondents in the
study. Each of the interviews was conducted via Zoom whereas the respondents were asked if
they would consent to the recordings of the interview for the transcription process. After the
interview, video recordings of it were transcribed into word documents to help the researcher
further scrutinize and thematize each of the respondent’s answers in each question.

Descriptive Findings

The respondents were selected through purposive sampling because it was sought that the
questions can be answered accordingly based on the selected respondents’ credentials, which
was suitable for the execution of this research.

Data Analysis Procedure

The data analysis procedure used in this study was deductive thematic analysis with
predetermined themes namely: 1.) distortion of facts, 2.) awareness of the people and the youth,
3.) fact checking and combatting historical distortion, and; 4.) seeking and sharing the truth.
Using the above mentioned themes, raw data collected were coded and categorized unto the
themes to further substantiate the data and the result of the procedure. Here are the definitions of
the above mentioned themes:
1. Distortion of Facts - It refers to the direct and indirect means of intentional and
deliberate production and promotion of alternative facts that will serve as tools in
advocating something (e.g. an ideology, a favorable narrative towards to propagator/s,
and certain events). In the context of this study, it means that there is a clear distortion of
facts created by trolls and the Marcos family for political gains.
2. Awareness of the People and the Youth - It refers to the level of discernment and
knowledge of the people and the youth in a particular matter. In the context of this study,
this refers to the level of awareness of the people and the youth regarding the Marcos
regime and Martial Law era, considering that there is a clear indication that these
acquisition of knowledge are currently distorted due to many factors.
3. Fact-Checking and Combating Historical Distortion - It refers to the concerted efforts
of different groups and individuals to take the initiative to fact-check any disinformation
and suspicious news and information to combat historical distortion. In the context of this
study, it means that this theme refers to the current historical distortion to thwart the
 17

realities of the Marcos regime and the Martial Law era and the current steps undertaken
by any entities, individuals, and institutions in fact checking and debunking these
misleading information.
4. Seeking and Sharing the Truth - It refers to the discernment of truth based on the actual
realities regarding a particular subject or matter without any close distortion considering
the means to spread and strengthen the distinction between the truth and lies. In the
context of this study, it means that seeking and sharing the truth regarding historical
events and narratives, particularly during the Marcos regime and the Martial Law era
needs to be conducted due to the prevalence of historical distortion to refabricate and
rebrand a particular matter for political gains.

Results

The results of the conducted interviews are presented below, including the coding and
general themes based on the transcripted interviews:

RESPONSES OF RESPONDENT NO. 1

Research Raw Data Codes Themes

Questions

Do you think “Oh, definitely I think, ah, conscious effort na - Distortion of Distortion of
there is a i-distort ang kung anong nangyari nu’ng Martial historical facts
prevalence of Law Era. At alam natin kung saan nanggagaling narrative/event
historical ang mga bagay na ito, no? If I may so, sa - Changing of
distortion pamilya ng mga Marcoses dahil gusto nilang narrative
regarding the baguhin ang narrative kasi in the past parang -Fabrication
knowledge tingin sila ang kontrabida, ano lalo na nu’ng -Fake news
dissemination Post-EDSA Revolution. Secondly, because -Challenges
of the Martial Bongbong Marcos has this ambition to be -Human rights
Law era? Why another president Marcos, therefore kailangan abuses
do you think n’ya talagang tuntungan ang positive narrative -Academe
so? from their point of view. Kung kaya`t -Sharing of
sinusuportahan nila ang mga fake news, Experiences
including mga videos of supposedly golden age
nu’ng panahon ng Martial Law. Unfortunately,
kasi yung kabilang kampo na who stated
otherwise, hindi conscious sa ganitong effort.
Wala silang consorted effort na, ah ipalabas ano
talaga ang nangyare nu’n. Hindi pa ‘yung ah
kontrahin ‘yung propaganda, e. Kundi talagang
a. . . Ano bang nangyari during that time kasi
naman marami talagang ah, gaps ng mga
nangyari nung panahong yun. At ah, marami
 18

sa...including mga naging victims nung panahong

iyon, may time na talagang sila mismo ay ah
natakot, napaso, ah na-trauma sa mga ganitong
ah... Paglabas ng mga ganitong kwento. Kaya't
ako ang tingin ko ang isang malaking hamon ay
nasa academe e. Kasi sila ang maaring
makapagtuwid kung ano man ang ah, actual na
nangyare. Unfortunately, sa maraming mga
nagtuturo ng kasaysayan lalong lalo na sa
elementary at high school, nakikikwento nila sa
‘ken, hindi sila umaabot sa panahon ng Martial
Law, yung iba nga panahon ng Kastila pa e,
nagtapos na ang school year, e. problema sa
nangyari, kasi alam ko na nu’ng time na yun
dahil 'eto rin ang panahon ko ay talagang, ah
una muna sinara ang mass media, sinara ang
television stations, sinara ang mga radyo, sinara
ang mga TV, sinara ang mga newspapers, at ang
pinayagan lamang ang mga Marcos-controlled
papers. So, unang-una na ang Daily Express na
hindi nagkikwento ng mga kritikal sa mga
nangyayari nung panahong ‘yun, kaya't yung
mga buhay nu’ng time na ‘yun, hindi talaga
alam, anong nangyayari. Minsan nga, kapag ah,
nakakapagk’wento ako ng aking mga karanasan,
doon lang nagpagtatahi-tahi nung iba. Kasi
halimbawa, meron akong isang time na ah,
speaker ako sa group ng mga kabataan, tapos
‘yung mga parents nila buhay na nung
henerasyong ‘yun, pero walang nakikwento sa
kanila. Pero napagtahi-tahi nila na kahit bata
raw sila, ‘eto taga-Batangas ah. Sabi nya, "’Pag
lumalabas ako ng bahay, sasabihan ako ng nanay
ko na kapag may nagtanong, ah 'wag mong
ikikwento na sino nakatira sa bahay, 'wag
makipag-usap...”

In your “Ah first of all, admittedly, ah di ako pamilyar - Easily fooled Fact-Checking
opinion, what kung talagang ang mga kabataan ay madaling by fabrications and
are the reasons maniwala, ano? Ay ah, so wala akong datos du’n - Fake news Combating
why people, to say so. Pero admittedly rin, maraming mga - Tsismis - Historical
most Pilipino madaling maniwala sa mga fabrications Gossips Distortion
especially the ng mga truth, historical distortion, ah kahit - Undenial
youth, fell in kabataan man ke hindi. Ah so wala lang akong -
on the datos kung more bang kabataan or more na mas Sensationalism
 19

fabrication and matanda. So, ah kung bakit ah kasi nga over factual
historical nababasa nila. Sa katunayan, ang nangyayari news
distortion tungkol sa fake news ay isang modernong paraan - Youth’s
made by trolls ng dati nang pamamaraan sa kulturang Pilipino involvement
and the ‘yung ah, chismis… ‘Yung kuyog, ibig-sabihin - Retelling the
Marcoses 'pag merong masamang k’wento tungkol sa isang story of Martial
regarding the bagay. Tulad ng ah, s'ya magnanakaw. Ang Law
Martial Law dali-dali nyang kumalat… Like wildfire kesa s'ya - Too much
era? What ay mabuting tao. May ganu’ng given at restraint
factors do you sinamantala ito ng ah, ghost na gusto ngang - Sharing of
think are i-fabricate ang truth by spreading lies. Ah, experiences
affecting this bagamat naiko-connect sa ngayon, ano? Ah sa
condition? ngayon merong mga fact checkers, ta’s may
nako-correct na this is fake news whether nung
panahon ng Marcos era or ah sa kasalukuyan,
pero unfortunately, una marami sa nag-share na
fake news ah, hindi na nila nai-aadmit na sila ay
na-fake. Hindi na nila gagawin yung thing na...
Imi-message na naman yu’ng lahat ng iba "Ay
sorry nakapagkalat ako ng fake news." Hindi nila
gagawin yu’n. So, kakalat at kakalat yu’n. At
ikalawa, ah ang mga tao, talagang madaling
mapaniwala sa mga things that are sensational
kesa sa parang isang boring na… Istorya so,
‘yung mga parang mga... kasi ako isang
anthropologist, madalas akong naiinterview sa
media tungkol sa mga kwentong kababalaghan
tulad ng undas, aswang ganyan. Lagi kong
tinatanong sa kanila, bakit ba lagi nyo akong
in-interview, e paulit-ulit lang naman sinasabi
ko? Ang sagot sa akin diretsahan, "Sir, because
it sells." Mataas ang ratings namin 'pag mga
ganito ang k’wento. So, ganyan den, ang
mga kwentong ah, peke. Ang dali-daling
bumenta, kasi "ah ganu’n pala, ay gan’yan
pala." So, sila ay mga makabagong folklore na
hindi na naitutuwid. Ang... again babalik ako sa
challenge ko na mga taong... kasi yu’ng iba,
sinisisi kasi ‘yung mga kabataan, kaya medyo ah,
ingat ako ng konti dito sa question number two,
may iba kasi sisihin ang kabataan, "e kasi, a
apathetic, apolitical, gan’yan, walang pakialam."
Ako ang sisisihin ko ang people of my generation
na ‘di nila ipinasa ang ah. katotohanan ah, sa
aktibong paraan, ano? Including myself, ako
 20

noong nagtuturo na ako sabi nga nu’ng ibang

estudyante ko 'pag nababasa nila yung mga
naging karanasan ko nung Martial Law, sabi
nila, "ay dati kong professor pero 'di n'ya
nakikwento ‘yun sa amin. Kasi hindi ko
ginagawa ‘yun. So, dapat humanap siguro ng
ibang pamamaraan makikiliti ang imahinasyon
ng mga kabataan, so it can be an internet game,
or an act na patungkol sa panahong ‘yun at
matuwa ang kanilang ah...ah, makuha nila ang
interes sa ganitong panahon na ano du’n, na
nabiktima tulad ng nakulong, natorture, ah
parang...parang ang balita kasi lang nila lang all
is well, e. Kasi all is well dahil sa fear, ganun
naman kasi ah kaya wala din silang maipapasa
kasi ako, halimbawa ah, ah so 1972 declare ang
Martial Law, ah ako first year high school ako
nu’n. At ah, nu’ng panahong ‘yun, wala kaming
student organizations dahil banned, walang
student council, walang student paper kaya ako
nga wala akong titignan na memories, wala
kaming graduation book, eto kaming magkaklase.
So parang ini-erased ang aming memory. So, ano
rin ang ikikwento mo? Ah, buti na lang, "buti na
hindi mabuti nung... Nakulong nga ako, meron
akong memories nung ako'y makulong. Meron
akong news clippings. Pero sa iba na walang
ganu’n naman na karanasan, anong ipapasa
nilang mga kwento? So, dahil binura ang
pup’wedeng nilang ikwento.”

In your “Ah, ano ang p’wede nilang gawin by - Seek Seeking and
opinion, what documenting stories. Ako nanghihinayang dun sa information and Sharing the
is the role of namamatay na mga tito, tita na hindi ko man lang specific details Truth
the youth na-i-interview, at t’saka isinusulat ang kanilang - Gathering data
amidst the ah, kanilang mga kwento. It may even be an and unbiased
current older generation, sa panahon ng Hapon pero sources
historical parang ngayon, lahat ng iyon hearsay na lang. - Reading and
distortion Pero kung nagkaroon ng isang conscious ah researching
happening in grassroots projects na ang mga kabataan, ah - Comparison
the mag-interview kayo ng inyong matatandang between the
Philippines? kamag-anak, mag-interview kayo ng past and present
matatandang kapit-bahay sa inyong community - Old and new
tungkol sa kanilang mga naging karanasan nu’ng distortions
kapanahunan ng Martial Law, positibo - Steps
 21

man o negatibo. Kasi I'm sure meron ding undertaken by

makukuhang positibo tulad ng so called na may older generation
“peace and order” daw, ano? So, ah may
maidodokumento ‘yun, maisusulat so which kasi
bilang isang social scientist, we should be of
course with the permission of informants, take
interviews or ah video interviews, tapos
i-transcribe, ah i-translate, ah preferably
i-publish ah tapos, siguro sa instrumento rin ng
mga teknolohiya den ng mga kabataan ngayon,
ah bato-bato sa langit kasi mga kabataan 'di na
nagbabasa ng mga libro-libro so, i-upload na
lang sa YouTube, i-upload sa ah Kumu, asa kung
saan man. Ang mga ganitong stories dahil
nakukuha rin ang interes ng kapwa kabataan.
Secondly, ah maiuugnay sa kasalukuyan kasi
kung kasaysayan lang na diverse sa challenges
ng present. Ah, hindi rin interesante, e. Parang
sasabihin, "ah ganun ba nangyari dun? So what?
" Pero kung ah nakadugtong sya sa "alam mo
yung palang pangyayari ngayon, nangyari na
dati? Ganyang-ganyan din pala ang pattern
ngayon, tinatawag lang na tokhang, pero dati
they were salvaged." Doon lilitaw na, huh hindi
pala 'to yung ini-invention may kinopya lang pala
ng kasalukuyang presidente natin sa kanyang
idolong presidente ang mga nangyayari sa
ngayon. Uhm...kahit yung halimbawa ‘yung
dolomite beach, eh dati si Imelda
nagwawa-whitewash den ng mga nagtatayo ng
mga fences para itago, takpan ang mga squatter
communities. So, these are not new pero
s’yempre may new twist, ano? Pero the same in
form of substance. So ‘pag nakita ng kabataan na
ganito pala so, we can learn from it. Tapos, ano
bang ginawa ng mga older generation para
i-expose at tutulan ang mga nangyayari nun. So,
dun naman sa magkaka-interes, ay bakit merong
mga binansagan noon na komunista. Tulad
ngayon ng mga artista natin na binansagan den
na komunista. So, ah nakikita na we learn from
the past with the intention of moving forward to
the future.”
 22

What do you If these ah, historical distortions continue then - Failure in Seeking and
think are the ah we don't learn from the past, we don't learn learning history Sharing the
possible from the mistakes of the past and therefore, new - Broken Truth
effects of these problems will eventually arise... Ah kasi ah ah, promises
alternative nangyari na pala ‘yun dati at nagresulta s’ya sa - Endless cycle
historical facts pagkawasak ng ating ekonomiya. Ah pagkawasak of distortion
and distortions ng ating political systems at tinatawag tayo nu’n -Analysis of
if these will na Casket Case of Asia, baka ganu’n na naman positive
continue to ang mangyari kung magpatuloy at magpatuloy. narrative of the
prevail? Ah, nag ah...nag ano tayo nago-glorify ng isang Marcos regime
past that does not exist but only a pigment of the and the Martial
imagination at ah humahanap tayo ng someone Law era
who can resent that glorious past na hindi naman
pala, so after magsabi s’ya na in three to six
months ay mai-improve ko ang sitwasyon, asa na
naman tayo. Paulit-ulit ay ililigtas na naman
tayo sa kahirapan pero ultimately, hindi na
naman pala. Panibago na naman palang empty
promises, so ganito na lang ba ang kasaysayan
natin? Paulit-ulit na pagsisisi na ah at hindi tayo
natuto mula sa nakaraan so ah ayun ang
importansya ng ah ipaglaban ang katotohanan ah
at the minimum. ‘Yan nga, mailabas ang
iba't-ibang narratives, kasi hindi ko rin naman
gusto na isang one-sided ah narrative kasi
definitely merong mga nakinabang nu’ng
kapanahunan ng Martial Law at ah dapat natin
himayin, sino yung mga nakinabang na ‘yun,
tulad ng cronies, ilan sa mga political elite. So,
ah ganu’n din sa nangyayari ngayon, meron
nakikinabang merong hindi nakikibabang at
ako naniniwala na mayorya ng mga Pilipino ay
hindi nakikinabang sa mga nangyayari.

How would “Ah so 'eto medyo hula-hula hindi ako Pulse - Less Awareness of
you rate the Asia. So, wala akong batayan ng pagsukat at isa aware/Lack of the People and
current level rin kasi, I come from the tradition in awareness the Youth
of awareness Anthropology na more qualitative than - Fragments of
of the youth quantitative. Pero importante ang pagsukat ano, information
on public kaya lang hindi ito ang aking field. Ah, so ngayon regarding the
discourse ah batay sa paghula. Tingin ko, they are less Martial Law era
regarding aware so number two. Ibig-sabihin merong, - Challenge to
Martial Law? merong mga aware pero generally ah, minority raise the level
[5 - extremely sila mas maraming hindi pa aware sa nangyayari of awareness
 23

aware, 4 - at ah meron ding mga aware ah, pockets of - Educational

more aware, 3 knowledge here and there, no. Alam namin na system and the
- aware, 2 - meron ah, which is good na meron ah political academe
less aware, 1 - prisoners during that time. Ah, sinara ni Marcos - Teaching the
not aware at ang Congress, pero mga ganu’n lang mga bits Martial Law era
all] and pieces. Hindi nakikita ‘yung kabuuan nu’ng -
kapanahunang ‘yun. Ah so, malaki pa ang Demarcosificati
challenge na itaas yan sa level of awareness, ah on
ang tingin ko kasi, ah hindi dapat iwanan sa
mismong kabataan lang yung pagpapataas ng
awareness. Isa na ‘yung sa educational system
so, mabuti sa U.P. meron ng mga na-approved
na new courses, ang panitikan nung panahon ng
Martial Law. So, ‘yun, nakakadagdag pero again
U.P. is just one of so many universities in the
country. Pero still, long way to go. Ah, so,
educational system. Ikalawa, alam ko rin, may
plano na itatayo ‘di ko lang alam kung kailan ah
uhm... Martial Law Museum. So, ah ganu’n pala,
gan’yan nakikita nila mas nakakaano ewan ko
kung napanood mo na ba yung naano rin na
lumabas yung buhay ko sa channel two. Siguro,
panahon rin nu’ng ‘yun ng... Ah, “Paano Kita
Mapasasalamatan” na ang host ay si Judy Ann
Santos. Sarili ko nang buhay ‘yun ah, pero nu’ng
napanood ko, ah ako mismo naiyak. So, kung
simpleng boring na magkwento ako na ginanito...
ginanito... ginanyan. Walang masyadong impact,
pero kung ah meron ah, dramatization, merong
re-enactment, merong visuals, not just pictures
and videos dun mas tumatatak sa
ah, utak ng tao ang ganitong levels of awareness.
So, ah ‘yun. ‘Yun naman ang p’wedeng
i-contribute ng labas sa educational system, ng
ating mass media, na unfortunately pinasara ang
ABS-CBN, tapos mismong sana, kaya lang 'eto ay
long way to go mismo sana gobyerno. Ah dito
kasi sisisihin kahit gobyernong Cory Aquino kasi
ang gobyernong Cory Aquino nu’ng 1986 ang
panawagan ay National Reconciliation, so
nagkasundo tayo na lahat magkaisa...
gan’yan-gan’yan ang mga tema ng noon kaya
parang ang mga sins of the past winawalis lang
sa ilalim ng rug, ano? Sa halip na may natutuhan
tayo. Ah, dapat talaga ba magkaroon ng effort,
 24

‘no ng demarcosification. Sa ngayon, maraming

presidential decrees si Marcos up to now are still
law, maraming kalsada named after the
Marcoses, or his father, eskwelahan, so ah, unlike
sa Nazi Germany na after ah ma-overthrow si
Hitler, talagang bawal na may mga anti-fascist
laws. Ah, tayo walang ganu’n kaya't umuulit
lang ang ating problema.”

What will you “Ah okay, sige. Basta i-ano ko lang, e ayusin ko - Effective and Fact-Checking
recommend to lang so ah entities, institutions to fight, deliberate and
any/some unang-una na sa mga eskwelahan, ano? Ah, kasi teaching in the Combating
entity/instituti naman masyadong pinapaiksi ang classroom academe and Historical
on/s to fight hours para sa Kasaysayan. At pati na din kung educational Distortion
the spread of papaano itinuturo ang kasaysayan ay napaka-old institutions
disinformation school… na parang nung 1521...nung 1565... - Formal
and historical nu’ng ... ganu’n sa halip na thematic. Pwede turnover and
distortion? naman thematic na iba't-ibang panahon ng acquisition of
pagsupil kalayaan, kahit ito ay panahon ng knowledge
Hapon, o kaya panahon Martial Law o panahon - Gradual
ni Duterte, ganito ang mga nangyari, ano so ah establishment of
‘yun ang isang challenge sa mga eskwelahan, the truth
challenge sa mga educators, ah una muna
magsulat, ah kasi ah marami nabuhay nu’ng
henerasyong yun pero hindi sinusulat ang
kanilang karanasan, makakatulong yun kasi
madalas kapag dumadalo ah sa mga probinsya,
"Sir, ano bang reference materials, ano bang
mga textbooks? Parang kulang-kulang, kung
meron man, ah hindi sya academic. Ah,
naiintindihan ko ‘yung problema kasi pala ang
DepEd eh, dapat merong imprint kahit
supplementary reading material. Hindi, kahit
supplementary kailangan namin i-approve yan.
So, masyadong ah, makitid pa din ‘yung ating
sistemang pang-edukasyon. Ah, binibigyang
halaga ko ‘yung role ng educational system,
unang una because I'm in the educational sector.
Pero pangalawa, kasi eto ‘yung mga magpapasa
formally sa mga kabataan ng knowledge. Ah, so
ah ‘yun, ikalawa ‘yun nga nabanggit ko na din sa
antas ng ah mass media, including social media,
ah magpakalat pa ng impormasyon. Huwag
magsawa na i-correct ang mga fake news, ah
habulin ‘yung mga...mga ano. Kasi hindi
 25

napaparusahan, e. Habulin yung mga nagkalat

ng fake news. Habulin din ‘yung mga ah lumulon
o naniwala sa fake news na yun na "Oy, nabasa
mo ba ‘yung ganu’n, alam mo ba na hindi ‘yan
‘yun ah tunay na bersyon." Halimbawa, meron
kaming chat group na magkakamag-anak, ano?
Minsan mismong kapwa kamag-anak e, no?
Nagsi-share ng fake news, sasagot naman na
"Oy, fake news ‘yan ano”, pero hindi dapat
matapos du’n. Okay, so tapos anong batayan mo?
Sa mga kabataan, of course, ah
napakaimportante na magdevelop ng critical
thinking. Paano ba idi-discern, alin ang totoo,
alin ang peke? Ah, kasi kung may ganu’n sila ah,
kaya nilang ah makilatis kung binobola lamang
ba sila ng isang impormasyon by looking at the
sources, references. San ba 'to nanggaling? Ano
reputation neto? Gan’yan. Sa iba pang sectors,
nabanggit ko ‘yung museum kasi rin, I come from
the International Council Museums. Ah, sa
gobyerno, ah naku masyadong pessimistic ako sa
present administration. Pero medyo hopeful ako
sa mga local government kasi maraming...ay ako
taga-Pasig ako, sabi ko sa ‘yo proud ako… sa
aming Mayor, ah meron namang mga bata, mga
alternative na mga politicians na who can start
ah, fresh by ah having ah, project ang initiatives
para ma-address ang mga problemang ito. Sige,
kung sabihin mang nu’ng panahon ng Martial
Law, kundi anything na napeke. How do you
respond to it? How do you deal with it? Kasi
pwede namang sa isang local government,
merong kumalat na pekeng balitang, "Uy
ide-demolish daw tayo." ‘Yun pala, hearsay
naman ‘yun ano, pwede i-proyekto ‘yang mga
‘yan sa... at the local level kasi ang Pilipinas. Sa
totoo lang marami tayong good ah, good and
positive ah cases at the local level. At the
grassroots pero at the national level, that's where
we fail. So ‘yun, ah positive experiences at local
level. Ah ‘yun siguro ang mga nakikita ko na mga
p’wedeng gawin.

Based on the interview, the first respondent answered question no. 1, “Do you think there
is a prevalence of historical distortion regarding the knowledge dissemination of the Martial
 26

Law era? Why do you think so?” based on his observation and shared experiences and came up
with the following codes: 1.) distortion of narrative/event, 2.) changing of narrative, 3.)
fabrication, 4.) fake news, 5.) challenges, 6.) human rights abuses, 7.) academe, and; 8.) sharing
of experiences. The above mentioned codes were formed based on the raw data that the
respondent provided in answering the first research question and based on these codes, these can
go under the theme, “Distortion of Facts” since the respondent’s answer suffice with the coherent
analysis of the predetermined theme 一 which affirmed the alternative hypothesis provided in
Chapter 1. Also, the respondent highlighted the aims of the Marcos family to purposely distort
the narration in terms of family for political gains, as well as the fault of those who truly
experienced the Marcos regime who only told their stories based on their individual experiences.

Next, in research question no.2, “In your opinion, what are the reasons why people, most
especially the youth, fell in on the fabrication and historical distortion made by trolls and the
Marcoses regarding the Martial Law era? What factors do you think are affecting this
condition?”, based on the respondent’s answer, the following codes have been generated: 1.)
easily fooled by fabrication, 2.) fake news, 3.) gossips/tsismis, 4.) undeniable, 5.) sensationalism
over factual news, 6.) youth’s involvement, 7.) retelling the story of martial law, 8.) Too much
restraint, and; 9.) sharing of experiences. With the aforementioned codes, the answer of the
respondent can be traced under the theme, “Fact-Checking and Combating Historical Distortion”
due to the respondent’s emphasis of the importance of fact checking, verifying news articles, and
the inculcation of the Filipino “kuyog” culture and gossips, which in respondent’s perspective,
are driving factors of the prevalence of historical distortions occurring in the present.

Then, in research question no.3, “In your opinion, what is the role of the youth amidst the
current historical distortion happening in the Philippines?”, based on the respondent’s answer,
the following codes have been generated: 1.) Seeking information and specific details, 2.)
gathering data and unbiased sources, 3.) reading and researching, 4.) comparison between the
past and present, 5.) old and new distortions, and; 6.) steps undertaken by older generations.
Based on the aforementioned codes, the theme, “Seeking and Sharing the Truth” had emerged
because the response of the respondent matched with the predetermined theme 一 saying that
documenting stories, data, narratives, and other means of documenting must be done
consistently. The respondent also pointed out that the younger generation tends to become more
tedious in terms of reading and researching. The respondent also emphasized the role of the older
generation in terms of knowledge dissemination and teaching the younger generation regarding
the Martial Law era.

Moreover, in research question no.4, “What do you think are the possible effects of these
alternative historical facts and distortions if these will continue to prevail?”, based on the
response of the respondent, the following codes have been generated: 1.) failure in learning
history, 2.) broken promises, 3.) endless cycle of distortion, and; 4.) analysis of the positive
narrative of the Marcos regime and the Martial Law era. Based on these codes, the theme,
“Seeking and Sharing the Truth” had emerged as the predetermined theme. The respondent
pointed out the impending doom if the masses and the people will no longer value the lessons of
history, as well as the endless cycle of politicking and broken promises made by politicians just
to win over the populace.
 27

Further, in research question no.5, “How would you rate the current level of awareness of
the youth on public discourse regarding Martial Law? [5 - extremely aware, 4 - more aware, 3 -
aware, 2 - less aware, 1 - not aware at all]”, based on the answer of the respondent, the following
codes have been generated: 1.) lack of awareness, 2.) fragments of information, 3.) challenges to
raise awareness, 4.) educational system and the academe, 5.) teaching the Martial Law era, and;
6.) demarcosification. Based on these codes, the theme, “Awareness of the People and the Youth”
had emerged because the response and the raw data suffice with the demand of the question, as
well as the respondent’s emphasize of efforts to be made in order to raise the level of awareness
of the youth regarding Marcos regime and the Martial Law era.

Lastly, in research question no. 6, “What will you recommend to any/some

entity/institution/s to fight the spread of disinformation and historical distortion?”, based on the
answer of the respondent, the following codes have been generated: 1.) effective and deliberate
teaching in the academe and educational institutions, 2.) formal turnover and acquisition of
knowledge, and; 3.) gradual establishment of the truth. Based on these codes, the theme, “Fact
Checking and Combating Historical Distortion” had emerged due to the justification of the
respondent regarding the reforms needed to strengthen how Marcos and the Martial Law era are
being taught in basic educational institutions and the academe. The respondent also highlighted
the responsible use of social media, as well as the importance of formal knowledge
dissemination and establishment of facts, which need to be assessed by different credible
institutions before releasing it to the public.

RESPONSES OF RESPONDENT NO. 2

Research Raw Data Codes Themes

Questions

Do you think “Okay. Ah, kasi ah, sa akin as a teacher kasi - Distinction Fact-Checking
there is a dalawa ‘yan as a teacher, as a teacher and a between and
prevalence of citizen magkaiba kasi ‘yung role ng dalawa 'di profession and Combating
historical ba? Ah, me as a History teacher, mahirap sa mga citizenship Historical
distortion estudyante na ipahayag or ituro ang Martial - Experiences Distortion
regarding the Law. Lalo na't meron silang naka... meron nang inside the
knowledge information sa utak nila na pinaniniwalaan nila classroom
dissemination so ‘yun. So, ah gaya nga ng sinulat ko dito - Distinction
of the Martial kaninang madaling araw, ah sa knowledge between true or
Law era? Why dissemination as a teacher ‘yun nga, mahirap false
do you think talaga kasi may provider na ‘yung mga - The use of
so? estudyante like what happened ah nung 2018, ah social media
‘yun naman kasi is Economics but may balitaan - The
kasi ‘yun and then ah dumating sa point na ‘yung knowledge
balita is about Martial Law and then ah ‘yung acquisition of
 28

isang estudyante ay nagtanong sa ‘ken about the

Martial Law gan’yan ba't si... Totoo po bang si students/learner
Marcos ang pinakamagaling na Presidente? Ah, s outside the
totoo po ba na... Lahat ng information n'ya galing classroom
sa-...internet, ‘yung mga nababasa n'ya and then,
ah ako as teacher 'di ko s’ya totally, ‘di ko s’ya
p’wedeng sabihin na Oo, totoo, Oo, hindi ah,
hindi totoo o totoo. Kasi magiging bias tayo sa
information so gina--gagawin ko, ang ginagawa
ko Sir as a teacher in the next daw magpi-present
ako ng presentation, ‘yung question n’ya and then
ah du’n sa bata ‘yung question ng bata nakalagay
du’n sa ano, totoo ba na si Marcos ang, ah
pinakamatalinong presidente? And then, ah
kumuha den ako ng sources, Sir through internet
din, pero ‘yung verified sources, 'di sya ‘yung ah
mga trolls, galing sa mga troll groups or ‘yung
galing sa ibang site na may talagang pinapanigan
as in talagang inilagay ko dub lahat, and then ah
sabi nga nu’ng ah after nu’n, sabi ng bata ay so,
‘yun po pala, ‘di po pala totoo ‘yung mga
nakalagay sa YouTube kasi ano, e. Sinabi n'ya
napanood n'ya sa YouTube ‘yung ano, e. Kasi
madami rin naman talaga 'di ba? Kung ikaw
magsi-search doon sa YouTube ng about Marcos,
mga nagawa ni Marcos na magaganda,
maniniwala ka talaga if you don't have knowledge
about Martial Law Era, 'di ba? So, so ‘yun ang
ah sagot ko diyan, yes gaya nu’ng example ko
nababago. Ang masama neto is what if yung
teacher na ‘yun is pro? Kasi, ako kasi I am not a
pro, hindi rin naman ako against. Parang
binabalanse ko kasi, kasi ang gusto ko ‘yung
bata mismo ang... Oo, magdecide if ano ‘yung
tama at mali kasi hindi naman kasi lahat na
pup’wede na, ay si Ma'am Lena sinabi 'to kasi
idol n’ya si Marcos. Ayaw ko madiktahan ‘yung
bata. So ayun, pa'no kapag ang teacher ay
pro-Marcos? Paano n'ya i-explain so, isa na
‘yung problema d'yan sa tanong mo. And then,
as a citizen so sabi ko nga kanina, iba ‘yung
teacher tsaka ‘yung pagiging mamamayan mo sa
lipunan, so ah 'eto ‘yung mga nababasa ko sa
Facebook, sa Twitter, sa YouTube ah, sa mga
Sociak Media. Ahm, ang ‘yung pag-disseminate
 29

ng knowledge when it comes to Martial Law is

hindi makontrol ah, hindi mo s’ya makontrol in
terms of ah, unang-una legit ba ‘yung
information. Second one, sino ‘yung mga
nakakabasa, sino ‘yung audience like students?
Ahm ‘yung mga mahihirap na tao na, sabihin
natin na non - hindi nakapag-aral, okay. And or
then, sa mga edukado na, ano lang just for fun na
'di bahala na or ‘yung mga edukado talaga na
walang pakialam. Like example, yun sa UP nga,
nakakatuwa kasi consistent talaga ang UP about
sa ano ng Martial Law and nakikita ko ‘yung
connection ng youth sa paglaban sa rehimeng
Marcos. Until now, so ‘yun, ‘yun Sir ang sagot ko
sa question number one. Yes, tapos may nakikita
ako na, din na mga estudyante ko, nag-share sila
ng ano, ng mga information na about Marcos, na
totoo pala ganu’n gan’yan ah, hindi naman
masama si Marcos, 'eto ‘yung hindi alam ng lahat
ganun. So, ah ang ano ko is, anong basehan?
Saan nag-base ang bata? Kasi nakakaawa kung
ang bata ay naka-based lamang sa information
through ah ano sa social media. Kasi napansin ko
‘yun ‘yung pinaka-access ng bata, social media.
Kasi ang bata ah to be honest ah, in my
observation ang bata ngayon 'di na nagbabasa sa
book. ‘Yun ang mas gusto ng bata na manood ng
mga videos, e kalimitan sa mga information
about sa Martial Law Era naka-video. So,
makikita mo kung naka-video na gan’yan
panoorin n'yo 'to. 'Eto pala ‘yung totoo 'tas
makikita ko ‘yung mga comment ah, mga
comment na talagang na parang ah,
nane-neglect yung sacrifices nu’ng mga namatay
nu’ng Martial Law Era. Yun, ‘yun lang, Sir.”

In your “I think, thirst of, we're thirsty for knowledge - Thirst for Seeking and
opinion, what about Martial Law era, uhaw sila sa kaalaman. knowledge Sharing the
are the reasons Why? As a student din kasi grad-ah, graduate regarding the Truth
why people, student din ako, sa BSU ah, nagbabasa din Martial Law
most naman ako pero about ‘yung kay Marcos, wala era
especially the akong nakitang ano, parang karamihan sa mga - Wider
youth, fell in ano, sa mga nababasa ko is against Marcos. 'Di perspective and
on the ba sabi ko sa ‘yo kanina, question number one, views
fabrication ayoko maging bias. Sabi ko, bakit ano kayang - Citing sources
 30

and historical nagawa ni Marcos na mali, du’n pa lang, assess - Distinction

distortion with that, ‘yung curiosity ko is na-wider and between true
made by trolls became wider kasi, ah ‘yun nga wala saan ka and false
and the makakakita may makikita ka bang libro na or - Production of
Marcoses meron pa bang mga articles na lumalabas na, Pro-Marcos
regarding the nagsisilabasan about Marcos, pro-Marcos source
Martial Law article? Parang kakaunti, kakaunti lang ‘yung materials
era? What ano, ‘yung andyan or sabi nga nu’ng professor ko - Access to
factors do you sa graduate school, sabi n’ya may isa daw na information
think are website nandu’n daw lahat ‘yung mga nagawa ni
affecting this Marcos, achievement ni Marcos, ‘yung lahat ng
condition? magagandang as in talagang magaganda,
nandu’n lang sa website na ‘yun. And 'di ko s’ya
matandaan kung ano kasi tinanong ko sa
kan’ya, ‘yung professor ko, Sir wala naman
akong nakitang ano, bakit po, against Marcos
‘yung mga articles, so wala po kasi akong
makita. Though, I am not pro, I am not against
Marcos. Gusto ko lang mabasa. We should be
informed dahil hindi naman tayo nabuhay nu’ng
Martial Law, 'di ba? Ano, through readings lang
naman pictures, videos ‘yung makikita, then but
at the same time 'di natin naramdaman ‘yung
naramdaman nila so, kelangan maging ah, bias
and then certain one, youths are, we're not taught
of checking facts. Hindi naturuan ‘yung mga bata
kung paano mag-check ng mga, context with
reference kasi ah, gaya ng sinasabi ko sa
Economics 9, ah kapag merong mag-re-report
kayo, or even magbabalitaan laging may sources
kasi bawat sabihin ng tao, lalo na 'pag ‘yung
taong ‘yun ay trusted mo and kasi ka na n'yang
maniniwala alam mo ah, ang words natin or
‘yung ah, nakikita natin when it comes to ah
Martial Law, lalo na ‘yung mga fake news, so
madali ‘yan na maniwala ‘yung tao. Kasi ah,
unang-una hindi alam ng tao na kailangan ah,
kasama ‘yung sources kasi ah example 'wag na
natin sabihin na Martial Law, sample natin si
Mocha Uson. Hmm, DDS s'ya. Siya ay supporter,
artista o dating artista and then, naging public
official. Ah, ‘yung mga nakikita ko kasi yung mga
post n'ya, anong mga source n'ya? Kasi,
sometimes parang lagi fake news na ‘yung
 31

pino-post nu’ng public official para lang ma-lift

up ‘yung pangalan. So, that siguro talagang
dapat turuan from the very beginning lalo na
‘yung mga batang bago sa gadgets, lalo na ‘yung
online. May sources po talaga dapat ahm,
nakakaapekto doon sa fabrication ng mga
historical distortion made by trolls and the
Marcoses regarding the Martial Law.

In your “Okay, I think ‘yung role ng youth is to promote - Promotion of Fact-Checking

opinion, what FACTS, pure facts, hinati ko ‘yun sa limang facts and
is the role of salita. F-stop fake news come from fake sites, ah - Stopping fake Combating
the youth tama naman kasi ‘yung fake news, san ba galing news from Historical
amidst the ‘yun? Edi sa fake site. ‘Yung fake site ay hindi spreading Distortion
current verified or sources ay hindi kapani-paniwala and - Authenticity
historical i-promote ‘yun, ‘yung A ko dito is yung author, it and authorship
distortion should be written by a professional. Kasi - Checkin of
happening in halimbawa si Juan nag-post about kay Marcos information
the and ano ‘yung background ni Juan? Wala, ano - Verification
Philippines? lang ah pro-Marcos, against Marcos but 'di ba of source
dapat ah sino ‘yung ating paniniwalaan ‘yung ah materials
mga lecturer o ‘yung mga nabuhay nu’ng Marcos
regime, pero sila ‘yung ah, parang ki-nontinue
nila, gumawa sila ng libro gumawa sila ng
journals, nag-seminar, ‘yung talagang sulat
talaga ng mga, isang professional and then C is
check the date kasi ah parang ‘yung mga bata
kasi ahm, parang naniniwala na lang sila sa uso,
kung ano ‘yung uso, kung ‘yung balitang uso
ngayon, ah ‘yung ano ‘yung tinitingnan nila and
kailangan din tingnan ‘yun, ‘yung tinitingnan
nila, and kailangan din tingnan ‘yung ano, ‘yung
date kung kelan ni-release ‘yung ah, source na
‘yun or kapani-paniwala, next is letter T-truthful
facts, alam mo sa kung ikaw ay talagang
naga-ano, mahilig ka magbasa, okay, ahm
mahilig ka magbasa alam mong binabasa mo
kung alin ang tunay o hindi tama? Lalo na kapag
ah, you have so many ah, resources sa utak mo
null resources na kung saan ah, nababalanse mo
yung knowledge mo, e. And then nakabasa ka ng
nagpost ng ganito na fun text sige, sasabihin mo
ay ito, ay hindi ko 'to. So kailangan ah, sa truthful
facts hindi s’ya basta truthful facts na
i-memorized but s'ya ‘yung dadalhin mo, e kung
 32

ikaw ‘yung educator dadalhin mo s’ya, ‘yun

‘yung ituturo mo sa mga bata. Hindi ‘yung
magbi-base sa ano, sa mga nabasa through na
gawa-gawa lang din naman ng ng kung sino
mang tao and then letter S, sources it should be
verified yun nga ah, ano ‘yung sources, baka 'eto
e, troll, supporter ni Marcos, baka naman hindi
'to supporter ni Marcos gusto lang makigulo, so
ah ‘yun yung ‘role ng youth to promote FACTS
kasi yung na-neglect sa atin, kasi ano ‘yung
nakita ng bata yun yung pinaniniwalaan.”
 33

What do you “Ah, real facts will be vanished and ah, truth will - Abolition and Distortion of
think are the be forever gone. Sige, sa real will be vanished, abandonment Facts
possible mawawala ‘yung sense ng facts mismo kasi 'pag of facts
effects of sinabi kong facts ‘yung iniisa-isa ko kanina na - Prevalence of
these once marami naniwala du’n sa mga ginagawa historical
alternative ‘yung alternative historical facts and distortion distortion
historical facts ng ah, mga kung sino man na supporter or hindi -
and distortions ay mane-neglect ‘yung sinabi ko na facts. Hindi,
if these will magtitingin ng sources ‘yung bata hindi or kung
continue to sino man na supporter or hindi ay mane-neglect
prevail? ‘yung sinabi ko na FACTS. Hindi magtitingin ng
source ‘yung bata hindi or kung sino man hindi
ichi-check kung sino ‘yung author or kung sino
man hindi ichi-check kung sino ‘yung author or
maniniwala na lang du’n sa context, ‘yung
truthful buried... Ah anong ‘yung totoo kasi once
na nawala ‘yung facts, ‘yung katotohanan
aboutdu’n sa nangyari nu’ng panahon ng
rehimeng Marcos, mawawala ‘yun lalo na ngayon
ang mga bata tamad magbasa. Lalo na ngayon
ang mga bata mas gusto pang tumambay sa
YouTube kesa magbasa. Pero may mga
naniniwala, kahit sabihin mo na isa, dalawa, tatlo
apat na tao maniwala. May naniniwala pa den.
So ‘yun.”

How would ‘Yung age ba na youth is 'eto ba ay 16 pataas or - Lack of Awareness of

you rate the kasama ‘yung mga 14, 16… Okay, based on reading habit the People and
current level observation iri-rate ko sila number two, less - Lack of the Youth
of awareness aware. Ah, bakit unang una ‘yung books, mga accurate
of the youth libro ahm, I know nakapagbasa ka mga books information
on public mga elementary at high school, ah, meron naman - Lack of
du’n naman du’n about ano, Marcos topic kay awareness
 34

discourse Marcos pero 'di lahat ng bata nakakahawak ng

regarding mga libro. Imagine, Philippine History ah, ten
Martial Law? books ta’s, book tas ini-read sa ng 50 students.
[5 - extremely Parang... Printing nga 'di sapat, ahm kung ano
aware, 4 - ah, reading comprehension ng bata. Ah parang...
more aware, 3 eto nasa experience ko magi-grade 6 kasi, lalo
- aware, 2 - na sa public, 'di talaga ano, naabot talaga ano na
less aware, 1 - naabot talaga ng ah, right access ng learning
not aware at talaga. Hirap silang ano, hirap silang
all] mag-comprehend ng kahit simpleng
pangungusap. Ang hirap intindihin sa kanila how
much more ‘yung topic about Marcos na,
sensitive ‘yung content kasi alam naman nangyari
nu’ng sa Martial Law Era. So, a hindi makahirap
intindihin. Third problem, binago ni DepEd ang
ano ng curriculum... ...ng Araling Panlipunan,
which is talagang magiging against ako
du’n... Oo naman, yeah. Ahm, bakit ang grade 6
kasi laru-laro lang, e. ‘Yun nga, wala. Dapat
kasi ladderized. Ladderized yung learning nu’ng
bata ah ituturo mo 'to sa grade 6, tapos sa grade
7 ‘yung topic na ganito, parang, “Ay, Ma'am
alam po namin ‘yan ng Grade 6 tinuro po yan sa
amin, information po kami yan po.” Imagine
kung example neto, grade 7 ah, sinong pumatay
kay Magellan? ‘Yun kasi nagdidiscuss ako ng
Asya ‘yung about sa, ano ni Magellan. ‘Yun,
na-di-discuss ako nu’n, ta’s walang nakakaalam,
walang ano, walang... Talagang ano, ikot ako sa
room, sinong pumatay kay Magellan, sino?
Ma'am ‘di po talaga namin alam,
gan’yan-gan’yan, ‘yun pa lang ang hirap nang
ituro, ahm ,on the very beginning walang stock
knowledge ang bata. Tapos ano, ahm, ‘di sya ah,
balik tayo kay Marcos, si ladderized ‘yung
learning ng ‘yung tinuturo. Grade 7, Grade 8
World History okay, ‘yung topic naman nu’ng
Marcos is nasa pinaka-last. 'Di ba dapat, kung
ako ‘yung author ng libro, ah kung World History
mag-uumpisa ako sa ano, e sa localization, dito
muna sa atin. Loob muna pupuntang palabas ang
topic kasi ah, pangungunahan mo ‘yung topic
about kay Hitler... ‘Yun mga nabanggit n’yo na
mga pangalan ahm, meron kaming activity nu’n
sa grade 8 i-share ko lang 'to ah Hitler,
 35

Mussolini, ‘yung mga nabanggit mo ‘yun ay

kanilang idi-describe, kung ano ang paraan ng
kanilang... pamumuno, ano ‘yung ginawa nila,
alam mo ang nakaka-sad lang du’n, is walang
nakalagay du’n na Marcos ‘yung sa atin mismo.
Kasi kahit sabihin mo ngayon, oh ‘naman
ginawa ni Marcos, e. ‘Di naman gan’yan,
isasama den. Unang-una, ano ‘yung nasa libro,
real facts ‘yun, e 'di ba? Real facts ‘yun.
Nangyari ‘yun so, kahit at least man lang ginawa
ng bata, Pilipinong naging isang ganu’n din.
Mailagay man lang as an example. Du’n pa lang
sa activity ‘yun, natatandaan ko ‘yun, ah kaya
ang ginawa ko, ako na lang nag-adjust nilagyan
ko ng Marcos. May nagtanong, ah nilagay ko
‘yung Marcos mag-uumpisa, mag-di-discuss, ko
s’ya very light kasi wala naman, wala s’ya du’n
sa topic, Ma'am sino si Marcos? Tapos sabi ng
isa 'di ba presidente ‘yan. Tapos, e ah sabi nu’ng
bata ‘yun daw ano magaling na presidente,
ganito, ‘yun mga ganu’n na parang sabi ko, saan
'to nakuha ng mga bata? Sino nag-ano ng
knowledge? Saan mo na-ano yan? “Ma'am
napanood ko po sa YouTube" . Ayan, sabi ko, ah
sige makinig muna kayo sa ‘kin, ah kasi ano and
then ah, ‘yung way ng pagtuturo ko about ‘yun
nga sa History is k’wento talaga ako. Inilalagay
ko sila sa scenario and then ‘yun ah,
binabalangkas talaga namin kung sino sumulat.”

What will you “Ah, unang-una, we have the power to voice out - Voicing out Fact-Checking
recommend to over, the real facts, okay. Meron ang bawat isa sa and spreading and
any/some atin meron kapangyarihang mag-voice out kung awareness Combating
entity/instituti alin ‘yung totoo. But mahirap kasi mag-voice out - Social media Historical
on/s to fight if wala kang nakikitang campaign about sa campaigns Distortion
the spread of disinformation or historical distortion. Ah siguro - Inculcation of
disinformation ‘yung sa akin lamang magsimula ito sa mga, teaching about
and historical magbigay ng campaign through social media like, historical
distortion? ahm, YouTube free translation kasi du’n ka du’n distortion to the
yu’ng dun kasi kumakalat ‘yung ano, e ‘yung basic
misinformation o disinformation and historical educational
distortion na nakikita ng mga tao o mga bata, institutions
pangalawa is the goal… ...itself, okay, ah, - Initiative to
magkaroon siguro sila ng ano ng ah, program or verify and fact
committee na lumalaban sa disinformation at check
 36

historical distortion, ng ganitong ah event, pero information

ay hirap ng mga, ang hirap kasi sa totoo lang ay
hirap kapag nakaupo is kampi du’n sa, du’n sa
ano, or pro or kumakampi. 'Diba nga si Marcos
nailibing sa libingan ng mga bayani, kasi
na-describe as soldier pero at the same time
nagkaroon s’ya ng ahm, malaking pagkakamali
sa as a president ng Philippines nagkaroong
martial law nagkagulo so, ahm, pangatlo is to
show is ‘yung school, ‘yung mga schools,.. ...lahat
naman ay may pinapapasok na or lahat naman
may tumatanggap ng estudyante, okay. And last is
yung subject itself. Siguro sya ay maipapasok sa
grade 10 na subject, contemporary issues, kasi
dun natatalakay ang issues ng lipunan.
contemporary issues una pa lang bago at ano,
orientation pa lang sana nakalagay na agad
‘yung ah, para maiwasan ang misinformation and
historical distortion sa klase, kasi hinihingi natin
‘yung opinion ng mga bata sa’n ba nanggaling
ang opinion ng mga bata? Sa nakikita nila. Ay
teacher, orientation palang sabihin mo na agad
na, bawal sa klaseng ito ang disinformation,
historical distortion, kailangan may sources,
kailangan verified ‘yung account, verified ‘yung
sumulat kasi ‘yung contemporary issues kasi
unang-una sa amin kasi ah, ang libro lang ‘yung
teacher, so ‘yung mga students din, through
research lang sila nag-bi-base. Ah, search sa
internet so, ah, ngayon ah, kung ano ‘yung
makukuha ng mga bata kung ano, 'edi ‘yan ang
ilalagay nila, bahala na si teacher kung paano
ipapaliwanag, so yun. So ‘yun ‘yung, ano Sir.
Ahm, ano then, thing sa para malabanan natin
ang pag-spread ng disinformation and historical
distortion. Ah, maging knowledgeable tayo sa
sarili, ‘yun kasi hindi naman, hindi nagkakaroon
ng ganu’n kung maniniwala agad tayo, tama?
Maging knowledgeable, balikan ‘yung sinabi ko
kanina, ‘yung FACTS, ‘yung every words may sa
facts ‘yun, ‘yun, o kung gusto mo talaga makuha
‘yung katotohanan nu’ng nangyaring kasi wala
na naman tayo nu’ng nangyari ‘yung martial law
diba? Is magsimula ka sa sarili mo, ikaw ang
humanap ng ano, ng information and then i-apply
 37

‘yung information sa facts ito ba ay verified, ito

ba ay totoo, check the dates. Eto ba ‘yang ah,
galing sa fake sites, fake news ba ito? So, ‘yun sa
tingin ko nababawasan ang disinformation or
historical distortion. Sa mga ‘yung and then ano
‘yung, ang nakakainis kasi, katulad netong is ano,
set na natin example hah, si Mocha, si Mocha
parang hindi may mga public official tayo na
hindi sa publiko naninilbihan. Parang sa kung
sino nalang namumuno. Naiintindihan mo ba
‘yun? Oo, tapos sila ‘yung maglalabas ng all
sources, ng content, ang daming uses ng
facebook, feeling ko Pilipinas ang
pinakamaraming users ng facebook, e. Ang
daming nagbabasa, ang daming ano naniniwala.
Minsan ano, pag about sa Marcos, comment
section talaga agad ako. E tinitingnan ko ‘yung,
ino-obserbahan ko yung talagang sinasabi ng tao.
Minsan merong ano ah, talagang against, meron
din, minsan pro. So, balanse lang dapat sa
pag-spread ng information and historical ah
facts, sa taong bayan and naniniwala ako sa
educators na isa tayo sa key para masugpo ‘yung
spread of disinformation or historical distortion
sa atin, ‘yun Sir.

Based on the interview, the second respondent answered question no. 1, “Do you think
there is a prevalence of historical distortion regarding the knowledge dissemination of the
Martial Law era? Why do you think so?” based on her observation and shared experiences and
came up with the following codes: 1.) distinction between profession and citizenship, 2.)
experiences inside the classroom, 3.) distinction between true and false, 4.) the use of social
media, and; 5.) the knowledge acquisition of the students/learners outside the classroom. The
above mentioned codes were formed based on the raw data that the respondent provided in
answering the first research question and based on these codes, these can go under the theme,
“Fact-Checking and Combating Historical Distortions.” The second respondent pointed out that
in public basic educational institutions, students tend to believe distorted information due to
different sources that the students have encountered and some students tend to get curious about
the opinion and the information given by the teacher. Also, the second respondent emphasized
the forefront dilemma of children not having the habit to read books and analyze texts, which
forms a reading comprehension dilemma.

Next, in research question no.2, “In your opinion, what are the reasons why people, most
especially the youth, fell in on the fabrication and historical distortion made by trolls and the
Marcoses regarding the Martial Law era? What factors do you think are affecting this
condition?”, based on the second respondent’s answer, the following codes have been generated:
 38

1.) thirst for knowledge regarding the Martial Law era, 2.) wide perspectives and views, 3.)
citing sources, 4.) citing sources, 5.) distinction between true and false, 6.) production of
pro-Marcos sources, and; 7.) access to information. With the aforementioned codes, the answer
of the second respondent can be traced under the theme, “Seeking and Sharing the Truth” which
contributed from the thirst for knowledge of the people regarding the Martial Law era because in
retrospect, according to the second respondent, these are unfinished due to the vague knowledge
dissemination of the older generation down to the new generation. Also, the second respondent
noted that the curriculum must be changed, particularly on how the Marcos regime and the
Martial Law era are being taught in the basic educational institutions.

Then, in research question no.3, “In your opinion, what is the role of the youth amidst the
current historical distortion happening in the Philippines?”, based on the second respondent’s
answer, the following codes have been generated: 1.) promotion of facts, 2.) stopping fake news
from spreading, 3.) authenticity and authorship, 4.) checking of information, and; 5.) verification
of source materials. Based on the aforementioned codes, the theme, “Fact-Checking and
Combating Historical Distortion” had emerged and the response of the second respondent
matched with the predetermined theme. The second respondent created an initialism F.A.C.T.S.:
F - stop fake news coming from fake/fictitious sites, A - author should be a professional, C -
check the date of publication, T - truthful facts, and; S - sources. These initials, according to the
second respondent, are ways on how to combat fake news and historical distortions regarding the
Martial Law era.

Moreover, in research question no.4, “What do you think are the possible effects of these
alternative historical facts and distortions if these will continue to prevail?”, based on the
response of the second respondent, the following codes have been generated: 1.) Abolition,
abandonment of facts and’ 2.) prevalence of historical distortion. Based on these codes, the
theme, “Distortion of Facts” had emerged as the predetermined theme. The second respondent
explained the importance of the initials that was provided in the previous question and in
particular, the importance of facts regarding the Martial Law era.

Further, in research question no.5, “How would you rate the current level of awareness of
the youth on public discourse regarding Martial Law? [5 - extremely aware, 4 - more aware, 3 -
aware, 2 - less aware, 1 - not aware at all]”, based on the answer of the respondent, the
following codes have been generated: 1.) lack of reading habit, 2.) lack of accurate information,
and; 3.) lack of awareness. Based on these codes, the theme, “Awareness of the People and the
Youth” had emerged. The second respondent responded that the youth have less awareness in
terms of their knowledge and understanding of the Marcos regime and the Martial Law era based
on his/her experiences in teaching in the basic educational institution wherein according to the
second respondent, the educational system should first focus on the reading comprehension and
establishing the habit or reading to the learners before forcing them to learn complex topics such
as the Marcos regime and the Martial Law era.

Lastly, in research question no. 6, “What will you recommend to any/some

entity/institution/s to fight the spread of disinformation and historical distortion?”, based on the
answer of the respondent, the following codes have been generated: 1.) effective and deliberate
teaching in the academe and educational institutions, 2.) formal turnover and acquisition of
 39

knowledge, and; 3.) gradual establishment of the truth. Based on these codes, the theme,
“Fact-Checking and Combating Historical Distortion” had emerged due to the justification of the
respondent regarding the reforms needed to strengthen how Marcos and the Martial Law era are
being taught in basic educational institutions and the academe. The respondent also highlighted
the responsible use of social media, as well as the importance of formal knowledge
dissemination and establishment of facts, which need to be assessed by different credible
institutions before releasing it to the public.

RESPONSES OF RESPONDENT NO. 3

Research Raw Data Codes Themes

Questions

Do you think “Hmm... Well first of all, ah maybe kasi ah, ah - Marcos as a Distortion of
there is a etong questions, regarding ah, Martial Law part of Facts
prevalence of nakakatuwa na nakakatawa kasi laging sinasabi formative years
historical ko sa klase, started my schooling nu’ng grade - Ambiguity of
distortion school, si Marcos na ang presidente. Natapos ako the era
regarding the ng grade school and high school si Marcos pa - Clear
knowledge rin. Natapos ako ng college, si Marcos pa rin. At distortion of
dissemination nagtrabaho ako si Marcos pa din nu’ng umpisa facts
of the Martial kasi nagstart ako magturo sa UP, 1985, so 1986 - Distortion for
Law era? Why ‘yung EDSA Revolution, ano? So, ang tinanong political gains
do you think sa ‘kin ng mga klase, how did I feel daw when, - Concerted
so? when Martial Law, when Marcos left? Parang effort to distort
nabigla lang ako kasi after all these years para facts
bang 'eto lang nakikita, ano? So naging part na
ng buhay ko si Marcos in good and bad things,
okay. And secondly, nu’ng naging estudyante ‘ko
sa UP Diliman, tinatanong ng mga estudyante,
aktibista daw ako. Sabi ko, hindi kasi that time
siguro nasanay na
kami sa Martial Law. Nasanay na bawal ito,
bawal ito. Ah, we were... ganu’n na lang ‘yung
buhay namen. So, normal na ‘yung we know that
somebody is watching us... na somebody is tailing
us. Ako naman, never ako na-tag except once
nu’ng kinwento ko sayo, that was ah, ah kasi at
that time, ‘pag may libro kang pula medyo
p’wede kang pag-initan. Kaya binabalot namin
mga libro namin, kasi 'wag, para di lang
mapansin na, The History of the Filipino People
ni Agoncillo Pula 'di ba? Si Bonifacio pa.
Anyway, ‘yung book na ‘yun Red Star over China
 40

ay ginawa kong book review sa class ko in

Political Science. And hiniram ng classmate ko
na ayun nakita ko na lang sa TV na nahuli
kasama dalawang tao at nagdidistribute daw ng
ah subersive materials. And ah, ah because of
that ‘yung pangalan ko nasa libro and my student
number. So bago makuha nu’ng police, sinira
n’ya ‘yung page na ‘yun. So, ah natanong,
in-interview din s’ya, di... “Sino ‘yan? Sino
‘yan?!” “Wala.” “Sino yan?! Anong pangalan
niyan?!” Ganu’n. Ah, nagbigay na lang s’ya ng
false lead. But anyway, anyway ‘yun ang mga
experiences ko nu’ng Martial Law. Well, if you
are to ask, ano? If there is a prevalence, well,
uhm, I see, there… merong distortion, historical
distortion kasi ah, there are people na of course
literally distorting the facts, ano? Ah they are
saying otherwise. And then, at the same time this
is what ah, what I tell my students, ano? When
you study Martial Law na this particular period,
you have to have an open mind kasi. If you only
interview people who have been victimized by
Martial Law, that's only one side. Of course, you
have to interview also people who were never
victimized by Martial Law, but actually supported
it kasi nga ah, nakapagtataka ano nakakagulat
din kasi everyday na pumapasok ako sa Ateneo I
ask the driver ng grab, Oo, nakikipag-usap sila
when they raised the question. So, anong teacher
ba kayo? Ah, anong tingin nyo sa ganito, ganito
nu’ng panahon ni Marcos? Well, ah, “May
disiplina,” sabi ko, “May order, pero ang mga tao
takot din, kasi may abused din.” Okay, kasi ah,
ako I grew up to, that period. Tapos, sinasabi
lang nila na "Oo nga daw ang panahon na ‘yun,
Sir" ganu’n ano? Ako naman 'di na ako
nakikipagdiskusyon, but you know, the majority
na mga nakakausap ko na mga tao ang paniwala
nila na it was a good period. Okay, kasi ako I
grew up to, that period. Wala naman nangyari sa
‘min sa family ko, wala. They obey the law, but
we also heard of people being arrested, kasi nga,
violation of curfew, violation of this or that you
know... So, ang sinasabi lang nu’ng father ko
nu’ng panahon namen ay "Stay away from them.”
 41

Okay, “Stay away from… ganito, ganitong gulo."

At nakita ko ‘yun kasi nag-aral sa San Beda ah,
nakita ko ‘yung rallies, nakita ko on the school
bus, at to be honest, du’n ako nakakita ng dugo
for the first time na nasa kalye kasi nakita ko na
nagkakagulo sa Mendiola nu’n e. So again, to
this question, ah the in the present period that we
are in right now, there are those who are for and
against it. And of course there are people who are
ah, saying otherwise regarding Martial Law,
okay. Ah may mga, there is, you know, naging
issue ngayon ‘yung Historical Revisionism. Okay,
revising facts or the non-recognition of the truth,
of the facts. Okay, we all could say that of the
Marcos family. And so ako naniniwala ako, ako I
believe that, yes there is a constant distortion of
the past, okay. Ah, ah and ah, in this particular
period, there are so many questions unanswered,
ano?”

In your “Hmm, very good question kasi ah, few weeks - Acquired Awareness of
opinion, what ago there was a news ah naba-- nakita ko sa knowledge the People and
are the reasons television regarding a survey among the youth regarding the the Youth
why people, and it surprised the producers kasi the majority of Martial Law
most the youth who answered the question, what they era
especially the think of Martial Law and the Marcoses, lahat - Level of
youth, fell in positive. Because their parents said, that was a awareness of
on the good time, there was a quiet, walang problema, the youth
fabrication and walang,.. we had jobs which is true, because I tell - The slow take
historical my students also, ano? That, not that I am off in terms of
distortion defending Marcos sabi ko, but you know, when political power
made by trolls there was a crisis, the rice ah, there was a lack of - Political gain
and the rice, ah 1970... I see people lining up on the -Uncertainty in
Marcoses streets fighting over rice. We did not go hungry, terms of belief
regarding the kasi government made sure that Filipinos do not - Lack of time
Martial Law go hungry. Land reform, there was land reform in terms of
era? What so, and it was quite successful as well you know teaching
factors do you because people really believed that Martial Law
think are was good. That the Marcoses were really serious
affecting this land reform then. Now, in the case of the youth
condition? now I see that there is what you call a lack of
information din regarding this particular period
kasi for many many years no one talk about
Martial Law e, ano? It's like people just talked
about it and tried to forget it, okay. And ah,
 42

actually I think it's only around recently, maybe

for the past, last ten years, ano? Ten years that
suddenly the issue of Martial Law became a very
popular subject, kasi the Marcos family ah, was
slowly returning to political power you know so
their winning on their home province in the Ilocos
area, in Leyte and ah, of course they were quiet
successful in the returning to politics kasi in their
home areas they were really free to winning.
Another thing that ah, I believe is also
contributing to this condition is that I think
people are quiet, siguro lack of a better word,
nagiging nostalgic about that period kasi when
their and people talk about lack of crime, I know
kasi know in my student years at UP sa bus pa
lang going to UP ah, I saw Martials with guns ah,
you know, arresting people. I saw right in front of
me, as not simply being arrested or people around
the top you know. And at the time the common
belief that we had was that these were people who
were doing bad, okay so kaya nakukulong sila.
And then of course ah, ah, we know that they will
be imprisoned, okay so, among the youths now,
ah I see, too a division, e. There are those who
rage against Martial Law without actually
knowing what exactly was it you know, and those
who are for it and so, it is important na, there is
a, that it should include it in the discussion in our
History classes. Kasi ah, ah, ang problema is
that when I teach pre- ang haba, mahaba
masyado pagdating sa, this period when we reach
this period ay, ah, kulang na ‘yung oras, ano?
Kaya minsan para bang, ‘yun ang problema, e.
Kaya nga ang proposal nga is to, this say is to
propose a History course in Philippine History
that would focus on the Modern Era para
ma-tackle, mas ma-tackle ang Martial Law,
okay.”

In your Well, definitely the youth has a very important - The role of Seeking and
opinion, what role to play kasi sila na ‘yung magdadala ng ah, the youth Sharing the
is the role of history natin until next generation, eh. Ako, I tell - Passing on the Truth
the youth people o may student na ako, the young history torch of
amidst the teacher, kami imagine 'pag wala na kami so it is information
current all up to you now. And of course the students that - Individual
 43

historical I teach now, out the different generation ah, ano? responsibility
distortion From the Martial Law to EDSA Revolution, to discern the
happening in everything is from their readings from the truth
the documentaries, okay. So it is the duty of the youth
Philippines? now basically to make sure that the story of what
happened during that time is taught to the next
generation, or to their generation. Okay, ah kasi
if ever mawala ito, mawawala na rin 'to. I mean,
it will simply be forgotten you know and, ah, I
think the fact that the Marcoses are also gaining
so much power nearing the presidency, ano? If
you look at the last election 2016. Maraming
na-shock kasi, just imagine in the span of less
than 30 years nakalimutan na ng tao ang
nangyari nu’ng EDSA Revolution 1986. Ah may
nagsabi nga sa... kasalanan n’yo ‘yan mga
teachers kasi 'di n'yo itinuro. Well, ang sabi rin
namin, well you know, bago pumasok ang
estudyante sa eskwelahan lalo na sa unibersidad
dapat alam na rin nila 'to kasi sa mga magulang
nila nabuhay nu’ng panahong ito. So, dapat
sinasabi nila ito, kinikwento. So, hindi namin
maituro nan todo kasi nga, ay, ay, ah, it's ah, not
because nabawal kundi hindi namin nabibigyan
ng mas’yadong panahon, okay. Masyadong
panahon 'etong particular part of our history. Oo,
kasi kung meron kang introduction to Philippine
History 'di mo naman p’wedeng pag-usapan lang
from the very beginning si Marcos. Ilang
centuries pa ‘yun bago mag-Marcos, 'di ba?
Mahaba pa, then, nga itong time, etong, etong
online session ngayon naging in a way maganda
kasi dahil sa modules, pero ‘yung for the first
time, nabibigyan ko ng panahon sa klase 'etong
period for the first, nabibigyan ko ng panahon sa
klase 'etong period na 'to. Kasi nga modules eh,
kaya dapat by this time 'eto na ‘yung modules, so
modular, so 'di na katulad ng syllabus na
napakahaba. Susundan mo pa part pa n’yan
‘yung module kaya masaya ako at natutukan ko
'to ng isang buwan bago matapos ang session sa
klase.”
 44

RQ4: What do “Ah well, If I may add lang, ano? If you will - The danger of Seeking and
you think are help the uneducated people kasi, narinig mo na an uneducated Sharing the
the possible siguro 'to Juniesy, ano? What a government fears population Truth
effects of these the most is an educated population. If ang - The
alternative population ay hindi edukado ay walang importance of
historical facts mangyayari kasi tatanggapin na lang natin ang history in
and distortions ginagawa sa'tin, ano? So that will, eto ‘yung people’s lives
if these will mangyayari sa mga batang walang alam sa
continue to nakaraan, ‘di alam kung wala silang what you
prevail? call that ah, ah power to make an ethical and
moral statement na regarding sa ah, period of the
history, sabihin na, altough hindi nila na-pass,
hindi nila, hindi sila nabuhay nu’ng panahon na
‘yun, ay p’wedeng nakik’wento na 'eto talaga
‘yung nangyari, based on the use of sources, ano?
That's why very important na talagang malaman
nila ang dapat nilang matutunan especially
mabasa, okay, at kung wala na ‘to, 'to wala na.
So, magiging ano lang, misinformed public and
uneducated population ang lalabas.”

RQ5: How Nako, actually, I'm putting between 3 and 4, e - Uncertainty in Awareness of
would you rate kasi they are not extremely aware, but people, terms of the People and
the current there are aware of it, pero of course, sasabihin ng principles and the Youth
level of mga kabataan, lalo na ngayon para bang "Alam ideals
awareness of namin, nagka-Martial Law so, ano ngayon?” 'Di
the youth on ba? So, especially ah, depende rin ano, ako nga
public natutuwa, ah to give an example, lumabas ‘yung
discourse mga estudyante ko, lumabas sa Ateneo ‘yung
regarding issue ng paglilibing ni Marcos sa libingan ng
Martial Law? mga Bayani lumabas sila nagsisisigaw dun
[5 - extremely nagsisipagmura ‘yung lahat ng pagmumura
aware, 4 - naririnig ko, tapos bumalik sa classroom
more aware, 3 tinanong ko, "Oh, anong natutunan n’yo, bakit
- aware, 2 - kayo nasa labas?" "Kasi ang sabi sa ‘min
less aware, 1 - masama daw si Marcos, ganito sa ‘men." "Kayo,
not aware at may alam ba kayo? Nagbasa ba kayo before you
all] went out, pinag-aralan n’yong mabuti 'tong
ginagawa nyo?” Well, aware nga sila pero, to be,
pero alam ba talaga nila ‘yung ginagawa nila?
Okay? So, para bang hinarap mo sa giyera na
walang armas. Tapos hindi... so ako, I would say
na from aware to being more aware, okay. Oo,
kasi depende rin sa sa mga estudyante kasi kung,
I know in some schools, aware ang mga
 45

estudyante kaso, depende, ano? Depende sa

pagtuturo, depende sa eskwelahan, e. Kapag,
meron din sa Ateneo, meron kaming, ah, meron
kaming particular office na nagtatayo ng Museum
on Martial Law at tsaka nga readings den, okay.
Ah, ‘di ko na masasabi na it's a popular course
pero it's a course na rin na ini-offer, ano? Pero it
has to gain ground, e. Okay, ahm, I think mas
popular pa ang history sa Political Science
students, kesa sa mga general student. Okay,
alright.

RQ6: What “ ‘Yung ah, ako, my answer to this, is that to - Sustaining Seeking and
will you maintain the teaching of Humanities and Social humanities and Sharing the
recommend to Sciences, ‘yun ang very important kasi kung social sciences Truth
any/some aalisin mo ang, which is happening now in - Individual
entity/institutio Europe, na ‘etong mga course kasi nga gusto nila vis-a-vis citizen
n/s to fight the maging worker na ‘yung mga tao, magtrabaho challenge
spread of na. Sa atin, dahil sa mga changes 'di ba? - Lack of
disinformation Filipino, muntik na mawala ang History courses collective
and historical mawawala na, mababawasan. I mean, a thought
distortion? university cannot exist kung walang Humanities - Culture
and Social Sciences. And this is the solution to the
spread of disinformation and historical distortion,
ano? Gawin pa ding general courses ang
pag-aaral ng kasaysayan, pag-aaral ng
antropolohiya, sosyolohiya, okay. Kasi, if not,
wala, e. Kasi ah, ang mga tao, we will just be
teaching students to start working in the
hospitality industry. Ah, magiging gusto lang nila
magtrabaho para mabuhay, gusto nila
magtrabaho para magbayad lang sa SSS, GSIS,
‘yun lang pero walang magandang bases sa
History, Humanities and Social Sciences ah,
magiging kawawa ang mga estudyante. Ano, nasa
kultura natin na up to now, ay hindi pa natin
naalis, ano? Na hindi pa tayo nagbabago, okay.
'Di masama 'tong, di ko masasabing masama ang
kultura natin from the past. Kaya lang dapat
magbago rin tayo, dapat ito ang ah, tinatawag
na aksyon ng sitwasyon natin ngayon na dapat
tayo ay mag-adjust, okay. Ahm, ang sabi ng ni Dr.
Justan, nag-uusap kami bakit, bakit very popular,
ano? If I may ano, bakit very popular si
President Duterte no matter what, ano? Ang
 46

sagot n'ya e, sa amin ay, kasi ang Filipino before

the coming of Spaniards warrior class ang tingin
natin sa isang leader ay dapat warrior. So, up to
now, ang mga tao kahit na gan’yan ang ating
Presidente pero importante sa atin, matapang
ano? Kahit bastos, matapang. Oo, so ‘yun na
nga ang ating definition ng leadership. Yes, ‘yun
ang ating kultura natin, e. ‘Yun ang hinahanap
natin, e. So, ano ba naman ‘yung kanta 'di ba?
Maginoo pero medyo bastos. Well, ‘pag ginamit
ko ang word na ‘yun using that the base sa
naririnig natin, nakikita, ano? Bakit after all of
these ay ganu’n pa den, okay.

Based on the interview, the third respondent answered question no. 1, “Do you think there
is a prevalence of historical distortion regarding the knowledge dissemination of the Martial
Law era? Why do you think so?” based on his observation and shared experiences, they
generated the following codes: 1.) Marcos as a part of formative years, 2.) ambiguity of the era,
3.) clear distortion of facts, 4.) distortion for political gains, and; 5.) concerted effort to distort
facts. Based on these codes, the theme “Distortion of Facts” can be traced due to the emphasis of
the third respondents on the ambiguity of how the Marcos regime and the Martial Law era were
presented to the public, as well as the respondent’s experiences when Marcos was still in power.
The third respondent agreed with the first question and shared some of his/her experiences and
expertise in analyzing and problematizing the matter.

Next, in research question no.2, “In your opinion, what are the reasons why people, most
especially the youth, fell in on the fabrication and historical distortion made by trolls and the
Marcoses regarding the Martial Law era? What factors do you think are affecting this
condition?”, based on the third respondent’s answer, the following codes have been generated:
1.) acquired knowledge regarding the Martial Law era, 2.) level of awareness of the youth, 3.)
the slow take off of political power, 4.) political gain, 5.) uncertainty in terms of belief, and; 6.)
lack of time in terms of teaching. With the aforementioned codes, the answer of the respondent
can be traced under the theme, “Awareness of the People and the Youth.” The third respondent
explained the comparison between the awareness of the youth during the Marcos regime and the
awareness of the youth today. The third respondent pointed out that the issue regarding the
Martial Law and the Marcos regime are becoming more intense due to the sudden comeback of
the family in politics 一 gaining more influence in today’s political climate. The third respondent
has also sought that teaching Martial Law must be thematic and localized.

Then, in research question no.3, “In your opinion, what is the role of the youth amidst the
current historical distortion happening in the Philippines?”, based on the third respondent’s
answer, the following codes have been generated: 1.) the role of the youth, 2.) passing on the
torch of information, and; 3.) individual responsibility to discern the truth. Based on the
aforementioned codes, the theme, “Seeking and Sharing the Truth” had emerged. The third
respondent emphasized the importance of youth taking action on passing and teaching the next
 47

generations about the horrors and the real narratives and accounts of the Marcos regime and the
Martial Law era. The third respondent also highlighted and expounded on the realities of
teaching the Martial Law era because of the short period of time, which can contribute to the
shallowness of the understanding of the people regarding this particular period in Philippine
history.

Moreover, in research question no.4, “What do you think are the possible effects of these
alternative historical facts and distortions if these will continue to prevail?”, based on the
response of the third respondent, the following codes have been generated: 1.) the danger of an
uneducated population and; 2.) the importance of history in people’s lives. Based on these codes,
the theme, “Seeking and Sharing the Truth” had emerged as the predetermined theme. The third
respondent highlighted the role of politics and the perception of politicians with regards to the
educated civilians. The third respondent provided some examples, which were already
mentioned in the previous questions, such as the teaching of the true and authentic narrative
regarding the aforementioned period and the aim of the Marcos family to bounce back from the
negative portrayal given to them over the years.

Further, in research question no.5, “How would you rate the current level of awareness of
the youth on public discourse regarding Martial Law? [5 - extremely aware, 4 - more aware, 3 -
aware, 2 - less aware, 1 - not aware at all]”, based on the answer of the third respondent, only
one code had been generated: 1.) uncertainty in terms of principles and ideals. Based on these
codes, the theme, “Awareness of the People and the Youth” had emerged based on the emphasis
of the third respondent regarding the strength and gauging of youth’s principles because
according to the respondent, there were some instances wherein some students who participated
in protests and rallies were not certain about their principles regarding the Marcos regime and the
Martial Law because majority of the time, the students were responding just because they were
oriented that Marcos was bad, but they have not done anything (e.g.. documenting, reading,
researching) to further strengthen their beliefs regarding the matter. In relation to this, the
respondent gauged their perception at number 3 - aware.

Lastly, in research question no. 6, “What will you recommend to any/some

entity/institution/s to fight the spread of disinformation and historical distortion?”, based on the
answer of the third respondent, the following codes have been generated: 1.) sustaining
humanities and social sciences, 2.) individual vis-á-vis citizens as a challenge, and; 3.) lack of
collective thought, and; 4.) culture. Based on these codes, the theme, “Seeking and Sharing the
Truth” had emerged due to the emphasis of the third respondent regarding the reforms in the
educational system that gradually weakens the understanding of the students regarding concepts,
ideas, perspectives, and theories in humanities and social sciences. The third respondent argued
that these two pillars in the academe must be sustained because an individual cannot emancipate
his collective thought without these aforementioned disciplines.

Discussions

The Hegelian dialectic can be applied in Filipino’s current struggle against the historical
distortion on how the Marcos regime and the Martial Law era are presented and discussed in the
 48

public mainly due to the widespread use of fake news and distorted historical narratives in favor
of Ferdinand Marcos and the Marcos family - which was also supported by the review of
related literature and studies.

The public perceives and absorbs historical facts regarding the Martial Law era based on
language and how one can understand a particular article. Based on the review of related
literature and the interviews conducted in this study, one contributing factor in the difficulty to
establish and strengthen the authentic historical narratives, particularly those that are related to
the Marcos regime and the Martial Law era is the medium of communication used to disseminate
information. One angle that can be observed and further investigated is the correlation between
the language used in disseminating fake and fictitious news articles and historical narratives and
how the academic and professional institutions execute the knowledge dissemination process.

The possible effects of the prominence of alternative facts regarding the Martial Law era are
wide scale. First, an impending doom to repeat the events of history can happen again. Second,
there is a constant dialectical between the authentic narratives and fictitious and fabricated
narratives, which can greatly affect other factual information outside the topic of Marcos regime
and the Martial Law era. Then, the future generation and the youth can be further divided, which
was strengthened by the RRL and the responses in the interviews.

Summary of Findings

Based on the responses of the first respondent, all four predetermined themes have
emerged. The themes “Seeking and Sharing the Truth” and “Fact-Checking and Combating
Historical Distortion” have emerged twice in research questions no. 3 and 4 and 2 and 6
respectively. While, the themes, “Distortion of Facts” and “Awareness of the People and the
Youth” appeared only once in research questions no.1 and 5 respectively. Hence, the respondent
emphasized the importance of fact checking, verification of all sorts of information, and ways on
how to improve the knowledge dissemination process regarding the Martial Law era, and the
relevance of determining the truth regarding the Martial Law era.

On the other hand, based on the responses of the second respondent, all four
predetermined themes have emerged. The theme “Fact-Checking and Combating Historical
Distortion” had emerged thrice in research questions no. 1, 3, and 6 respectively. While, the
themes, “Distortion of Facts”, “Seeking and Sharing the Truth”, and “Awareness of the People
and the Youth” appeared only once in research questions no. 4, 5, and 2respectively. Hence, the
respondent emphasized the relevance of fact checking as well as the habit of reading and
analyzing texts, particularly as of now that the majority of the youth now have unlimited and
unrestricted access to the internet and different sources of information, which cannot be validated
easily by credible and professional institutions.

While, based on the responses of the third respondent, only three out of the four themes
have emerged. The theme, “Seeking and Sharing the Truth” appeared thrice in research questions
no. 3, 4, and 6 respectively. While, the theme, “Awareness of the People and the Youth” had
emerged in research questions no. 2 and 5 respectively. Also, the theme “Distortion of Facts” can
 49

be traced in research question no. 1. The only theme that has not been manifested in the third
respondent’s responses was the theme, “Fact-Checking and Combating Historical Distortion.”
The third respondent focused mainly on the role of the educational system, the role of politics,
and the active and passive involvement of youth regarding the historical distortion happening in
the present.

Moreover, the findings strengthen the alternative hypothesis established in Chapter 1,

which states that, “There is a direct struggle between the formulation of historical distortion
made by the Marcoses and trolls, how the Martial Law era is being taught in different
educational institutions, and the current level of awareness of the youth regarding the Martial
Law era.” based on the review of related literature and studies conducted, as well as the result
and raw data from the three interviews conducted together with the three respondents who
generously shared their knowledge and insights in each question posted by the researcher.

Conclusion

Based on the review of related literature and interviews conducted in the study, the
following answers, based on the questions in the statement of the problem, were also answered
by the researcher:
1. The Hegelian dialectic can be applied in Filipino’s current struggle against the historical
distortion on how the Marcos regime and the Martial Law era are presented and discussed
in the public mainly due to the widespread use of fake news and distorted historical
narratives in favor of Ferdinand Marcos and the Marcos family - which was also
supported by the review of related literature and studies.
2. The public perceives and absorbs historical facts regarding the Martial Law era based on
language and how one can understand a particular article. Based on the review of related
literature and the interviews conducted in this study, one contributing factor in the
difficulty to establish and strengthen the authentic historical narratives, particularly those
that are related to the Marcos regime and the Martial Law era is the medium of
communication used to disseminate information. One angle that can be observed and
further investigated is the correlation between the language used in disseminating fake
and fictitious news articles and historical narratives and how the academic and
professional institutions execute the knowledge dissemination process.
3. The possible effects of the prominence of alternative facts regarding the Martial Law era
are wide scale. First, an impending doom to repeat the events of history can happen
again. Second, there is a constant dialectical between the authentic narratives and
fictitious and fabricated narratives, which can greatly affect other factual information
outside the topic of Marcos regime and the Martial Law era. Then, the future generation
and the youth can be further divided, which was strengthened by the RRL and the
responses in the interviews.

Recommendations

The following are the recommendations based on the findings of this research:
 50

1. There must be a concrete and competent fact-checking to be conducted by social media

platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to fight the spread of disinformation
and historical distortion, which was also provided in the recommendation of the study of
Alporha (2019) regarding the spread of disinformation and fabrication of Marcos’ legacy.
2. The professional institutions such as the Commission on Higher Education (CHED),
National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), Philippine Historical
Association (PHA), Organization of Social Studies Teachers in the Philippines (OSSTP),
and others should create programs and steps on combating historical distortions spreading
in the cyberspace by creating credible and interactive platforms and source materials,
considering also the use of language in disseminating knowledge to the people. The
language used in creating source materials should also be considerate in terms of
language, given that the Philippines is a multicultural and multilingual nation 一 to cater
all people regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, educational attainment, and
religious affiliation.
3. The Department of Education should consider the revising of the current K-12
curriculum, particularly the Araling Panlipunan curriculum for grades 1-10 into a
thematic curriculum, starting the flow of the topics based on its theme and similarities.
The authentic learning of grade 6 learners who are studying the Marcos regime and the
Martial Law era is questionable given that the Philippines was ranked 79 out of 79
countries in reading comprehension (San Juan, 2019), which was also discussed in the
interview by all three respondents. It is recommended that the subject Philippine History
be ladderized, as also stated by all respondents in their respective interviews, to further
strengthen the orientation of localized versions of terms based on the Western setting.
4. In terms of future researches, it is recommend to conduct a quantitative study regarding
this study because there are other variables that are quantifiable, which was not done in
this study such as surveys on the actual level of awareness of the youth regarding the
Marcos regime and the Martial Law era, their level of mastery when it comes to
understanding the topic given the time and period provided by the basic education
institutions in teaching Martial Law, and other variables that can be further scrutinized
using statistical treatment and other research methodologies.

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