MANILA, Philippines — More than 400 professors of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) on Wednesday condemned the “willful distortion” of the country’s history.

“We deplore the shameless refusal to acknowledge the crimes of the Martial Law regime,” the Ateneo community said in a statement signed by 412 faculty member and formators.

This statement is in response to the call of vice presidential aspirant Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. that judgement about his late father’s administration should be left to history teachers and students.

The Ateneo professors stressed that the dictatorship of the late President Ferdinand Marcos was one of the darkest periods of Philippine history.

“We condemn, in strongest possible terms, attempts by some individuals and particularly public figures, to whitewash the Marcos regime’s wanton violation of human rights and to distort its political-economic record,” the statement read.

The ADMU statement also called on those who are running for office in the May 9 elections to take a definite stand on the human rights violations during the Marcos era.

“We challenge them to join our call never again to allow the conditions of tyranny to take root in our society,” the statement read.

The statement also expressed its opposition against any attempt to give Marcos a hero’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

In his speech during the 30th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution last week, President Beingno Aquino III stressed that the Marcos regime was not the country’s “golden age.”

“Napapailing na nga lang po ako, dahil may mga nagsasabi raw na ang panahon ni Ginoong Marcos ang siyang golden age ng Pilipinas,” Aquino said.

SOURCE: http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/03/03/1559107/ateneo-profs-condemn-historical-distortion-marcos-era