Millennials urged: Don’t forget history

MANILA, Philippines - Resigned National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) chair Maria Serena Diokno is urging millennials not to forget the dark days of the Marcos dictatorship.

During the anti-Marcos rally at the People Power Monument in Quezon City Wednesday night, Diokno said the youths’ expressions of outrage over the burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) inspired her to resign.

“Nang makita ko ang inyong ginagawa, lalo na ang mga kabataan, sa bawa’t salita ninyo, sa bawa’t pagbigkas lagi kong nadidinig itong salita, ‘wag nating kalimutan ang ating kasaysayan (when I saw what you’re doing, especially the youth, in your every utterance I hear the words don’t forget our history),” Diokno said.

“Let’s know our history, let’s take it seriously,” she added.

Diokno said that some of her colleagues wanted her to stay at the NHCP for fear that her successor might promote historical revisionism.

But she said that the controversial defiance of the norms in this administration prompted her to quit and join the majority of Filipinos who are fighting for the conservation of history.

Diokno recently resigned as head of the NHCP due to the Marcos burial at the LNMB, lambasting President Duterte for “ignoring” history.

She said that the President seemed to be attached to his allies who wanted to get back power in government.

“Ni isang retaso ng diktadura, hinding hindi tayo papayag na bumalik dito sa ating bayan (Even a tiny remnant of the dictatorship we won’t allow to return),” she said.

She said that she would go back to teaching history a few weeks after her resignation.