Sara: No historical rebranding

Vice President Sara Z. Duterte on Tuesday denied there is such a thing as historical rebranding, saying it is not on her mandate, as Secretary of Education, to destroy the integrity of Philippine history.

"Just like millions of our fellow Filipinos, I know the importance of Martial Law and the EDSA Revolution in our history as a nation," Duterte said in a statement.

"As a child, I can't count the yellow pages in the phone directory that I cut up to make into confetti Yellow Friday Movement demonstrations led by Soledad Duterte, my late grandmother in Davao City.

We seem to contribute more to anti-Martial Law actions than some vociferous anti-Marcos today," she added.

Duterte stressed that her agency — which is currently engaged in improving the quality of basic education in the country — has no time for historical revisionism which some anti-Marcos groups insist.

"The DepEd spokesperson earlier said that the so-called rebranding of our history is not true. And I reiterate what Atty. Michael Po said: rebranding is not true," she said.

"The terms New Society/Bagong Lipunan and Martial Law are both historical facts. It is a historical fact that New Society refers to the program launched by Former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. during his administration. And it is another historical fact that Martial Law refers to the 14-year rule of the former President," the DepEd chief added.

She said both terms have been used in DepEd textbooks since 2000 — within their proper context.

"DepEd is not in the business of erasing these facts and replacing them with something else," she added.

Durterte explained that a social media post of a learner from Marinduque regarding the use of a DepEd module with the term New Society can be seen only on a single line.

"The entire module page is not displayed. That is, it lacks context and can be distorted according to a narrative of those who criticize DepEd and those who peddle lies about rebranding and historical revisionism," she said.

"The whole page clearly deals with the long years of Martial Law and EDSA Revolution. I encourage everyone to be careful on actions that maliciously aims to inflame the feelings of the people against Martial Law using the DepEd,"she said.