Following the election of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Carmelo Victor A Crisanto, the executive director of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission, is rushing to preserve the accounts of victims under martial law. He is focused on digitizing victims’ case files so that they are protected and more widely accessible to researchers. The digitized files relate to 11,103 individuals who secured reparations from the Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board, which began its work in 2014 and has since closed. The true number of victims is likely far higher, said Crisanto; in total, 75,749 submitted cases to the board. Most were rejected because they could not provide sufficient evidence to substantiate allegations of abuses that took place decades ago.
Last month, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the late dictator, won a landslide victory in the presidential election, following a surge of online disinformation that glorified his father’s rule, which was marked by an abuse of power after declaring martial law. In the weeks after the election result, many have rushed to protect the country’s past. Shops have sold out of history books that depict the plunder and abuses that occurred during the Marcos era, while 1,700 academics have signed a manifesto promising to protect the truth and academic freedom. The Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission is a government agency. It is protected by law, says Crisanto, “but it can be starved.” Its budget is reviewed annually by Congress.
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