Date: Sep 27, 2022
On September 21, 1972, the former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. declared Proclamation No. 1081, placing the entire Philippine under martial law. Fifty years later, the University of the Philippines pronounced the 21st and 22nd of September as the days to commemorate the history, injustices, struggles, and human rights violations endured during the Martial Law era and the first Marcos regime. On the 2022 Day of Remembrance, the University of Philippines Mindanao invited Prof. Cecilia B. Tangian, PhD., professor of Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology, to talk about historiography, historical awareness, and historical revisionism in Mindanao.
Prof. Tangian discusses the importance of contextualizing and learning the perspectives of history to better understand the Martial Law era and the first Marcos regime. “If we are going to talk about those from oral testimonies who had been into or had experienced during the martial law years—either what particular group of people,” says Prof. Tangian, “then we really have to consider [the facts] and then the context.”
One can only verify the degree of accuracy of the data gathered if the process of gathering the information was in a truthful, factual, and with integrity. “Context maybe in terms of social space, where he came from, the background,” continues Prof. Tangian. “At the same time, his religious background or his political acumen, his integration, his involvement—we have to know that.”
Prof. Tangian also highlights the importance of conducting critical examination, validation, and analysis of both the primary and secondary sources. This is to further expose and explore issues that are hidden from the popular knowledge and to better understand the participation of Mindanao during the Martial Law era. To further validate history, there should be inclusivity of informants when confirming documented and undocumented accounts.
In the course of the session, several reactors presented accounts of injustices and crimes against political prisoners, sexual assaults against women, recorded and unrecorded massacres during the Martial Law era, and the subsequent attempts of historical revisionism that resulted in the rise of the current regime and the return of the Marcoses in power. Accounts of human rights abuses and violation were rampant. Some of these were documented and presented by Prof. Theresa Mae Gallardo. “These historical testimonies of the injustices committed during the Marcos era serve as an extremely…vital reminder,” says Prof. Gallardo, “not let ourselves forget the past, and never repeat the same mistakes.”
With all the abuses and injustices that happened during the Martial Law era and under the first Marcos regime, what were Mindanao’s participations and experiences? What accounts were documented and undocumented? Were the accounts of the primary and secondary sources valid and accurate? How can we examine the evidences critically? What are the factors that were needed to consider to deepen the discussions?