Ending Ignorance

There’s no better way to say it. We shouldn’t be having this dispute whether what to call the late former president Ferdinand Marcos but only a dictator.

To be honest, there are shortcomings or breaches in our own textbooks in elementary to high school regarding Martial law and the EDSA 1986 Revolution. That is why growing up we were once pro-Marcoses and admired him on how he discipled the whole country – this is how misguided people were.

This is a mistake we do not want to happen again for the next generation, we should not censor and change historical facts of the Marcos era.

Now, with the argument on the commentary ‘CNN Philippines struggles on use of dictator vs strongman’ a top editor from CNN Philippines via the Viber group of CNN Philippines’ newsroom issued a directive “Style Alert” referring to the late former president Ferdinand Marcos preferred the usage of a noun which is ‘Strongman’ over ‘Dictator’ to avoid shade and color on the word ‘Dictator’ and to have more neutral sense.

To note, the late Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was democratically elected in 1965 and 1968 then he proceeded to extend his term by implementing martial law in 1972, mandating a personalistic approach to his dictatorship keeping his people scared and ignorant so that he could continue looting the country.

Which leads to corruption and widespread human rights violations. According to Amnesty International records, an estimated 3, 420 were killed, 70,000 were arrested, 34,000 were tortured, and vanished nearly 400.

In addition to that, the late president drove inflation and poverty up with the crony capitalism. From 24% in 1974, poverty rates rose to 40% in 1986.

This data and historical facts clearly reveal how he became a dictator and not a strongman.

It is not a matter of giving neutrality of color and title, but instead giving and doing our job with accountability.

It is only righteous to hold educators and journalists accountable for spreading malicious statements and baseless allegations.

Not merely a word, but rather ending ignorance, this is the last time that we would let 40-year-old propaganda slide in our presence. I, as a student, urge everyone to seek knowledge on Martial Law and the EDSA 1986 Revolution.

I urge any media platforms and curriculum developers to include the stories of martial law victims and to shed light on the darkest chapters of Philippine history, because only then can we finally free ourselves from the chains of the long-gone dictatorship.