It’s been several days since the faculty of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) took a “stand” on the alleged “historical revisionism of the Martial Law years”. The stand takes the form of a statement published on the ADMU official website here.
Suffice to say, the Ateneo community is now in the midst of a frenzied soul-searching as a result of the fallout from that statement.
It is interesting to note that the statement contains the following passage: “We vow as teachers and formators to continue to tell the stories of the brutality and corruption of the Marcos family, regime, and closest allies…”
Accused of ‘brutality’: Senator and vice presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos
Uh oh. Presumably, Senator Bongbong Marcos is a member of “the Marcos family” that the statement seems to be referring to. So, in a sense, the faculty of the Ateneo de Manila have published a serious allegation against a Philippine Senator. And so the onus to prove these allegations is on the Ateneo faculty members who have authored and signed this statement.
It seems then that Senator Marcos now stands accused of acts of “brutality” by the faculty of the Ateneo de Manila. Is he guilty of said brutality as alleged? Only a Philippine court can decide that. But that fact about Philippine law did not seem to stop the ADMU faculty from going on record about the accusation anyway — and on a document hosted for download on an ADMU website.
Following the publication of Ilda’s seminal article, Is the Ateneo de Manila University engaging in patronage politics by siding with the Aquinos?, Ateneans seem to have gone “apeshit crazy” about being called out for sloppy thinking and making, on the back of that, irresponsible statements in such a manner as my colleague Ilda writes…
How can supposedly educated people like [the ADMU faculty] go on and on accusing the Marcoses of atrocities when the latter haven’t been tried in court? I know what some of you are going to say. You’ll say that just because the court hasn’t found them guilty doesn’t mean they are not. But what has become of Philippine society when Filipinos are reduced to judging others based on hearsay? At least BS Aquino’s grandfather was actually tried and found guilty of treason. It is something that media owned and operated by Aquino allies do not want to highlight.
The assertion now being made by some folks who have come to the defense of the Ateneo faculty that these 400-plus “signatories” to the statement acted “as individuals”, however, does not fly. The caption that accompanies the photo included in the statement article on the ADMU website starts with the sentence “Ateneo faculty take a stand.”
Clearly, the authors and signatories of this statement aimed to be knowncollectively as “Ateneo faculty” and they make a categorical statement accusing Senator Bongbong Marcos of acts of “brutality” against the Filipino people — allegations that beg to be proven now that the statement has been made public.
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