INTRODUCTION TO ONE PAST, MANY HISTORIES

During the campaign for the recent elections, there were a lot of
propagandist information that come out to manipulate the opinion of the
Filipino voters. Not only that, these information changed the historical
narratives in order to favor some people and families and sanitize their
transgressions against the Filipino people during their regime. They make
fantastic claims and turn themselves into victims instead of offenders. They
offer out-of-the-world riches, promising the poor that they will get a share of
the fabled gold as long as they vote for their candidate in the elections.
As history teachers, we are alarmed at the spread of false information in social
media and how some of the Filipinos gobble them up and even share it among
their friends.
How do you know if the news or claims you are reading is true or not? How
do you make sure that you are not fooled into believing their narrative?
How do you ascertain if what they say is verifiable?

Here is an example of how a primary source - Atty. Ruben Carranza, former

PCGG Commissioner - refutes a claim from somebody who declared
something false. Please take note that the Philippine Commission on Good
Government (PCGG) was created in 1986 to specifically recover the ill-gotten
wealth of the Marcoses and return it to the Philippine government. Its creation
was the first Executive Order of the Corazon Aquino administration which was
signed on 28 February 1986.
READ THE THREAD OF THE CONVERSATION:
There are always two sides to a story and it matters to listen to each side so
you will have the chance to evaluate and discern which one is telling the truth.
It is good to have legitimate sources - preferably primary sources - to assure
you the truth of the matter. This conversation shows you somebody who raises
a false claim - that the Marcoses did not steal -and when presented facts by a
PCGG Commissioner himself, he refuses to listen and sticks to his distorted
belief.

For further information, here are links to the Supreme Court decisions (2003,
2012, 2017 respectively) confirming that the Marcoses stole from the
government. These are taken from the library of the Supreme Court of the
Philippines.
You may click on the following links:
Swiss Accounts Declared as Ill-gotten Wealth of the Marcoses Forfeiture of
an Account in Singapore in favor of the Philippine Government
Forfeiture of the Jewelry Collection of Imelda Marcos in favor of the Philippine
Government

Yes, we respect opinions but on the condition that these are based on facts.
We can not, in any way, accept any false claim especially if it refuses to
acknowledge facts. In history, it is essential that we base our judgment on
facts, not on mere opinion. That is why, we need to present evidence and hard
facts.

Hindi tsismis ang ating kasaysayan.

This subject is trying to help you think more critically. You may be given two
choices - believe in false claims or believe in evidence-based facts. So when
you see yourself in similar situations, you do not automatically take a stand or
make a comment without knowing and understanding the two sides.
So how is this related to our lesson?

One past, many histories.

Like any other coin, like any other history, there will always be other versions
or two sides. As we progress in this course, we hope that you have learned to
be critical in understanding and in analyzing history. Remember that in the
previous lesson, we said that not all things in the past are considered history.
The past events are carefully chosen to qualify as historically significant. You
also learned the theories and analyzing tools to distinguish and determine
sources
that could support historical claims. Now, you must practice what you have
learned by focusing on Stephen Toulmin's Argument Model to analyze such
events.