MANILA – More than a thousand educators and scholars have signed a manifesto vowing to defend historical truth and academic freedom, as they fear that the apparent victory of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr in the May 9 presidential elections would spell more attempts at erasing “memories of plunder and human rights violations” committed under his father’s martial law rule.

This comes after Marcos named his running mate, vice presidential frontrunner Sara Duterte-Carpio, as the next secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), raising concerns that changes would be made in the teaching of history, especially the Marcos dictatorship years.