(SPOT.ph) While our ancestors and country's heroes fought for independence in literal trenches against foreign oppressors barely century ago, today's generation of tech-savvy Filipino's seem to be in the trenches daily, arguing in social media comment sections over statements made by the people in power and those feeling in power.
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What has Pinoys riled up this week? A certain comment equating history to chismis, or "gossip." As you can imagine, there were no "xoxo's" for this gossip girl, just a lot of heated debate online. One group of lawmakers, however, are taking the opportunity to push the ever-relevant need for reform in the current Philippine education system back in the limelight.
Representing the ACT Teachers Party-List, Representative France Castro urged the new government's House Leadership to give urgent prioritization to proposed House Bill 207, An Act Mandating the Inclusion of Philippine History as a Subject in the High School Curriculum. "Hindi dapat simpleng isinisingit na lamang ang kasaysayan sa ibang mga asignatura ng mga kabataan. Nawawala ang fundamentals na ipagiiba ang kasaysayan na bahagi ng social science sa simpleng 'tsismis' o pagmamarites," Castro said in a statement posted to their Facebook page.
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Should History be added as its own subject in Philippine education system? ACT Teachers Party-List weighs in:
House Bill 207 was filed by Castro on June 30. As mentioned in the statement, Department of Education Order 20 removed Philippine History as its own singular subject for high school students, as part of an educational reform platform. Topics regarding Philippine History were then relegated to only being discussed and taught within the confines of other subjects.
Aside from urging the House to put House Bill 207 into law, Castro also urged the Secretary of Education, the newly appointed Vice President Sara Duterte, to ensure that history has its place in the modern-day educational system.
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All this comes after Ella Cruz, an actress portraying Irene Marcos-Araneta in an upcoming film, compared history to chismis, saying "hindi natin alim what is the real history. As long as we are here alive at may kanya-kanyang opinion, I respect everyone's opinion."
Commentators from both the political press and entertainment media were quick to point out the potential harm that could be caused by the basic misreading of fact and opinion. One of which being news anchor and TV host Gretchen Ho, who tweeted the following:
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For more information, check out the ACT Teachers Party List's official Facebook page and website.
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this strange new world.