Construction of martial law museum to proceed

MANILA, Philippines — The construction of the martial law museum dedicated to the victims of human rights violations will proceed, even with the government now headed by the son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, according to Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairman Richard Palpal-latoc.

Palpal-latoc, who also chairs the Human Rights Violations Victims Memorial Commission (HRVVMC), said they will soon reopen the bidding for the construction of the museum.

“Before I assumed office, I believe that there was already a contract. Unfortunately, COVID happened… there were several problems, that’s why the contract was cancelled,” he said in Filipino during a roundtable with the media yesterday.

“Now, we will again conduct the bidding,” he added.

Palpal-latoc did not provide an exact timeline for the project, but said they hope to conduct the bidding “within the next few months.”

He said the HRVVMC, which is co-chaired by the head of the National Historical Commission, will still have to discuss certain issues.

The commission’s members include the heads of the Commission on Higher Education, National Commission on Culture and the Arts, Department of Education and the University of the Philippines-Diliman Main Library.

Republic Act 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 mandates the establishment of a memorial, museum or library in honor and in memory of the victims of human rights violations during the dictatorship.

A compendium of the victims’ sacrifices, accessible online, shall be prepared by the commission.

The law allocated a budget of at least P500 million from the accrued interest of the P10-billion reparation fund provided to the victims.

As of this year, the accrued interest that can be used for the memorial, museum, library and compendium is already at P659 million, according to budget documents.

The University of the Philippines earlier donated 1.4 hectares of land in its Diliman campus in Quezon City for the museum, which will be called the Freedom Memorial Museum.