Victims of human rights abuses during the years of martial law are opposing the move to rename Mariano Marcos State University in Batac, Ilocos Norte, to Ferdinand E. Marcos State University.
“This is a brazen attempt to deodorize the stink of the dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., whose blood-soaked regime violated the rights of thousands of Filipinos and plundered the nation’s coffers,” said Danilo dela Fuente, vice chairperson of the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA), in a statement.
Rep. Angelo Marcos Barba of the Second district of Ilocos Norte said his House Bill 2407 aims “to honor the son, similar to how a father passes the torch to his son.”
“The only torch being passed around here is their family’s legacy of corruption, nepotism, and conceit,” said Dela Fuente.
“We cannot expect the youth to develop nationalism and respect for human rights if we keep on naming public institutions – especially schools and universities – after founders of political dynasties and corrupt government officials,” added the rights activist.
The Mariano Marcos State University is a higher education institution with campuses and facilities throughout Ilocos Norte province in the Philippines.
Established on Jan. 6, 1976, by virtue of PD 1279 otherwise known as its Charter, Mariano Marcos State University was a merger of two growing state colleges in the province of Ilocos Norte: the Mariano Marcos Memorial College of Science and Technology in Batac and the Northern Luzon State College in Laoag City.
Also integrated were the tertiary level courses of the Ilocos Norte Agricultural College in Pasuquin and the Ilocos Norte College of Arts and Trades in Laoag.
The school was named after Mariano Marcos, a lawyer, educator, and politician from Batac, Ilocos Norte. He was congressman from 1925 to 1931, and he is best known for being the father of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and the grandfather of current president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
