Daily TribuneIt is an assertion that the truth in our history is shaped by the might of the cultural and political leaders on the winning side of history instead of reasoned and learned interpretive historical scholars.
There is a growing concern over the influence of propaganda on the public psyche and, of course, opinion.
During the first Marcos administration and after the 1986 EDSA Revolution, the Marcos family was depicted as monsters, marauding butchers with bloody cleavers.
In the last May elections, the contest between Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who eventually won the presidency, versus former vice president Leni Robredo was so intense that supporters of the former were labeled as "bobo" (stupid) and revisionists. Friends broke their bonds, and even children disowned their parents for aligning themselves with the "son of a late authoritarian who plundered the nations of billions of dollars."
The problem with demonizing your enemy is it justifies whatever inhumane treatment to the latter by making them look as evil as possible.
The propaganda machinery used by the pink camp (still yellow) in traditional and social media platforms demonizes the Marcos camp, effectively dehumanizing them and their supporters altogether.
In the second Aquino administration, the PNoy government used the same tactic against its predecessor when it demonized and dehumanized the projects and the Arroyo family.
Among GMA's projects thoroughly painted by the yellow army as "evil" was the National Broadband Network contract with China's ZTE Corp., the NorthRail project that would reduce travel time from Caloocan City and Malolos, Bulacan, to 30 minutes, and the SouthRail project that was intended to link Laguna to Bicol provinces.
Good thing the new Marcos government saw the light and the benefits of said initiatives, and they are now in various stages of implementation.
As the saying goes, "history is written by the victors." It is an assertion that the truth in our history is shaped by the might of the cultural and political leaders on the winning side of history instead of reasoned and learned interpretive historical scholars. Or even a factual study of the past.
The winning side has power and control over the historical narrative, extending its influence in movies, public iconography, school textbooks, social media, and other mediums.
Indeed, these channels are potent mediums to shape personal assumptions and establish political ideologies about our history and how our system works.
Ultimately, the victors can exploit the power of the narratives to achieve their own ends. Unfortunately, the victors of the EDSA People Power Revolution have shaped, and sometimes dictated, how we remember our past.
With the victory of Marcos Jr. in the last May elections, the people are presented with the rare opportunity to correct the narratives instilled in us after 1986. However, with its hallmark insistence on the monopoly of "historical facts," the yellow camp describes all narratives contrary to theirs as "historical revisionism."
No, we are not revising our past and history and correcting your narratives. We were there too, and we saw and experienced your narratives.
The "alternative truth," to borrow the words of the late former President Benigno Aquino, Jr., should be challenged if it only conforms with the vision of the yellow camp to maintain their interest in power. This "useable past" cannot continue to function as a critical tool to uphold the status of one family or political force.
Demonizing your enemy is, in truth, to differentiate one force from its perceived enemy to create opposing forces of good vs. evil, with the victors as good. Well, good thing their winning streak has ended.
