Wazzup Pilipinas!
"The Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines is the repository of government documents as stated by law.
We are not in the business of revising history. We only convey what is documented in the official records.
We continually update materials to keep them as historically accurate as possible.
The Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines is devoid of any political color and affiliations." - Ramon L. Cualoping III, Assistant Secretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office
Above is the team behind the
Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines' efforts to revise our history. Huddling with another corrupt president who will probably receive a special greeting like the dictator.
The Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines drew flak from netizens late Sunday for supposedly applying "historical revisionism" in its post commemorating the birth anniversary of late President Ferdinand Marcos late Sunday. For its part, the Official Gazette says it is "not in the business of revising history" and only states "what is documented in the official records."
The Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines has become a tool for historical revisionism! People running the Official Gazette now (Duterte’s term) are insulting the very set of people they’re supposed to serve.
According to reports, the Official Gazette on Sunday, September 11, posted on its Facebook page the late dictator's photo with a long caption, edited the caption to allegedly downplay the Martial Law era, deleted that photo after going viral, and then reposted it with a shorter caption.
Netizens who are anti-Marcos, many of whom are pro-Aquino, criticized the Presidential Communications Office and accused it of attempting to revise the country's history. Some even called it "miscommunications office" and called on President Rodrigo Duterte to fire the staff.
The Presidential Communications Office has admitted to failing to think thoroughly about the implications of the Official Gazette’s Facebook post glorifying the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos for his birthday.
This is what happens when the Official Gazette is not managed by professional and credible historians. Please stop using our tax money to sanitize our country's dark history. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. We demand a public apology!
The Office of Disinformation and Miscommunication should rename theOfficial Gazette to Official Marcos Fairy Tales. I wonder how it would commemorate the September 21 declaration of martial law? On September 21, 1972, Filipinos lived happily ever after.
Former deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte has taken to social media to vent her frustration over the Official Gazette’s seeming evolution (or is it devolution?) from a chronicler of important events in the country’s history to a government-run Marcos propaganda machine.
PCO Asec Ramon Cualoping III explains the Social Media Card to commemorate former Pres. Ferdinand Marcos' 99th birthday and the corrections made on the caption posted on the Official Gazette on Sunday.
"We continually update materials to keep it as historically accurate as possible. The
Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines is devoid of any political color and affiliations," he said.
He reiterated that "there was no revision of history and there will never be."
We got the comments (on the first caption of the Social Media card that was posted) from social media, and "we adjusted and edited the caption immediately," he said.
"This is a learning lesson for us and we will improve accordingly based on our efforts to have a streamlined national communications policy," he added.
To the people presently running the Official Gazette, we, the Filipino people, are not paying you with taxes from our hard-earned income just to be an instrument of pro-Marcos revisionism of our history.
In the name of truth, fairness and justice, please add the following facts about Ferdinand Marcos:
1. He was a dictator.
2. He was a mass murderer.
3. He was a human rights violator.
4. He was a thief and plunderer.
5. He allowed his family and cronies to steal from the Filipino people.
6. He ordered and/or allowed the torture, illegal detention, forced disappearance and summary execution of the people who were against his policies.
7. He was ousted by the Filipino people themselves through a popular and peaceful revolution.
This the truth and nothing but the whole truth.
This government is mobilizing taxpayer resources to rehabilitate the image of a dictator who raped and plundered the country.
Marco Angelo Cabrera, the person running the Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines, worked for Bongbong Marcos.
I hope that if indeed he worked for Bongbong Marcos, that he would have the delicadeza to (1) at the very least to recuse or inhibit from any Presidential Communications about the Marcoses especially about their place in history or (2) at the very most, resign.
The conflict of interest is so glaring and palpable. Multiple issues and events will require him to post on matters touching Ferdinand Marcos and his family - from the current issue on his burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani to future commemorations of the declaration of Martial Law and the EDSA Revolution.
Addendum: "Marcos became the longest serving president of the country after declaring Martial Law in 1972, following a fake assassination attempt to Juan Ponce Enrile which he used to justify his declaration.
He was thrown out of office by a People Power revolt in 1986, but not before he and his family amassed billions in ill-gotten wealth that to this date, continue to haunt Filipinos, more than a quarter of whom remain poor.
Because of the magnitude of his crime, Marcos was pronounced the second most corrupt leader by Transparency International, next only to Indonesia's Suharto, by measure of the amount he stole from the people."
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
