HAVE you ever wondered why no one has ever thought of wrapping our mistakes in a lumpia wrapper? As students, we make mistakes in written activities, whether they may be misspellings in essays, wrong choices in quizzes, or errors in solutions to mathematical problems. We either erase our mistakes by using a correction tape or draw a line that strikes through it. 

It would be great if we could just wrap up our mistakes and deep fry them to enjoy them, but that isn’t always the case. Our flaws are markers of our humanity and symbolize our capacity for errors and mishaps. Some of these slips are quite forgivable, stemming from the limitations inherent to being human. There is an expanse of mistakes understandable, but an inadmissible category of mistakes are those done in deliberation, mistakes that one clearly sees as planned. These are wrongdoings, and who would admit to tolerating them? That brings us to the question of whether these wrongs should even be classified as mistakes. 

If we delve into the history of the Philippines, one of the most significant chapters marked by terrible errors was the Marcos Dictatorship. This "mistake" cannot be merely erased with correction tape, but it seems that the children of tomorrow will be attempting just that with the revised curriculum proposed by the Department of Education (DepEd). The new curriculum proposes the erasure of the name “Marcos” from the term “Diktadurang Marcos” simplifying it down to just “Diktadura.” While the intention might be to focus on broader themes and concepts of that historical period, it places the responsibility for the dictatorship solely on external factors.

These erasures don't stop there. Recently, the celebration of the EDSA People Power Revolution was omitted from the list of holidays for 2024 in an announcement from the Palace. This should be an early warning sign of historical revisionism. Once we turn a blind eye to the unity of our predecessors to free us from the atrocities of Marcos Sr., how then will we stand in “unity” under his son?

The continuous manipulation and erasure of historical events serve as a powerful tool for the current president, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Junior. It raises concerns about an ongoing effort to rewrite history and cover up significant events. With the government leading these actions, it leaves us wondering - what can we do to protect our history and how it is understood?