By Francheska Griño
Recent discussions about historical distortion and revisionism inspired Eufemio Agbayani III, a Historic Sites Development Officer II of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), to elaborate facts based on actual events and what students learn from textbooks.
During the webinar titled, “Backtrack: An Educational Webinar on the Presidents of the 1987 Philippine Constitution”, Agbayani expressed that people are intrigued to learn information not taught in schools.
“This is an opportunity for us to look back at what was taught to children like us during the grade five and grade six education,” he added.
According to his observation in textbooks, a president’s priority during their terms essentializes a central concept, such as Corazon “Cory” Aquino’s restoration of democracy, Fidel V. Ramos’ (FVR) economic recovery, and Joseph “Erap” Estrada’s emphasis on the poor.
Furthermore, corruption allegations aside from Erap’s were minimized in textbooks unless connected with EDSA II.
“Kalimitan, hindi masyadong napag-uusapan kung nagkaroon ng corruption allegations, halimbawa si Cory at si Ramos. I have to mention this because mayroong mga corruption controversies during that time.” Agbayani added, referring to FVR’s PEA-Amari case and Expo Filipino controversy.
Moreover, textbooks rarely discuss events related to violence, while there is always a sentence about infrastructures established such as fly-overs.
“Laging positive yung pagtingin kaya hindi mo rin masisi ang bata kung bakit ‘di niya maalala yung negative parts o yung mga limitations ng mga presidenteng ito,” he stated. Agbayani concluded that it is also understandable that some textbooks lack crucial information as violent historical events are not ideal for a child’s knowledge, and there is only a limited time discussing it at schools.
To watch the full replay of the webinar, click the link below:
