By Clarist Zablan
(July 11, 2022) – A Manila-based Jesuit university on Monday defended a historian who graduated from the institution after he was harassed online by pro-administration pages and accounts for correcting false information on Philippine history.
Roberto Yap SJ, president of the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), condemned the attacks against award-winning historian Ambeth Ocampo and other historians and academics, describing it as a “sustained campaign to malign their work and their reputation.”
“[Ocampo], like many others who fight to preserve facts in understanding our nation’s story, is now the subject of harassment, attacks, and intimidation just because he is standing up for the truth,” Yap said in a memo published on ADMU’s website.
Kinondena ng Ateneo de Manila ang mga pang-aatake sa historyador at kanilang faculty member na si Ambeth Ocampo matapos siyang tumugon sa pahayag ng aktres na si Ella Cruz na ang kasaysayan aniya ay parang tsismis.
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— News5 (@News5PH) July 11, 2022
“We condemn these attacks, not just because it maligns Dr Ocampo, but because it severely undermines our battle against historical distortion and disinformation.”
Last week, Ocampo made a Facebook post commenting on remarks by actress Ella Cruz likening history as a field of study to “tsismis” or gossip. He disputed this, noting that while history may “have bias,” it is still based on truth rather than mere opinion.
Cruz plays a major role in a controversial upcoming film that describes itself as a depiction of the last days of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the father of the incumbent President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., in Malacañang from the point of view of the late dictator and his family.
Ocampo’s comment, which was reported by news organizations, drew angry reactions from supporters of the late dictator’s family on social media, discrediting the historian’s expertise.
“Only with truthful history can we move forward as a nation, and only through recognition of the failures and successes of the past can we create solutions for the problems that beset our society,” Yap said.
Marcos Sr.’s two decades-long rule saw the imposition of martial law marked by rampant human rights violations and corruption. Rights groups have tallied thousands who were incarcerated, tortured, and killed under his rule. At least $5 billion were estimated to have been stolen by the late dictator and his family and associates.
His family gradually came back to power over the next decades, with his son Marcos Jr. winning by landslide in last May’s presidential race.
Critics of the dictatorship have blamed this on social media disinformation and the inadequate history education in the basic curriculum.
Last week, ACT Teachers congresswoman France Castro proposed reviving Philippine history as a separate subject in high school in response to Cruz’ comments, stressing a need for a basic education curriculum that will not aid in the distortion of history.
(MM)
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