Martial law historical advisory committee formed

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has issued an administrative order creating the Martial Law Historical Advisory Committee tasked to compile materials on the true account of events that transpired during the Marcos regime.

Aquino announced during the 40th anniversary of the declaration of martial law at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani (Heroes Monument) in Quezon City on Friday that he has ordered the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) to form a commission that would “thoroughly collect experiences and stories from individuals who were alive” during the dictatorship.

Under Administrative Order 30, the NHCP is mandated to research, compile and safeguard the history of the Filipino people.

He said there is a need for an independent body to collect and compile information pertaining to the events during those times because the Filipino people must remember those who sacrificed their lives “for us to have the freedom we experience today.”

The order stated that the committee would undertake the systematic gathering, preservation and publication of testimonies, oral histories, documentaries, film and audio records of the martial law era.

The committee will be headed by the five-member board composed of the NHCP chief as chair, the director of the National Library of the Philippines, the executive director of the National Archives of the Philippines, and two others to be appointed by the President.

Aquino said he wanted the commission formed “to make certain that the information we pass on to our children is based on true historical events.”

“There is a saying: ‘Those who forget the mistakes of the past are bound to repeat it.’ Let us not allow our rights and our freedom to ever be imperiled again. I will not bequeath the mistakes of history to the coming generations,” he said.

The President said that sometimes he does not know whether to laugh or cry whenever he hears someone insisting that life was better during martial law, as there were many conflicting opinions during that period.

Aquino said he was only 12 years old when martial law was declared and did not have any idea of the monumental effect September 1972 would have on his family.