MARCOSIAN ATROCITIES:

HISTORICAL REVISIONISM AND THE

LEGAL CONSTRAINTS ON FORGETTING

ABSTRACT

The Philippines resoundingly cried never again to the horrors of the Marcos regime through
the People Power revolution of 1986. Just 30 years later, the Filipino people have come to
realise that success is indeed fleeting. On 18 November 2016, the dictators remains were
buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayanithe Heroes Cemetery. The Philippine Supreme
Court insists that the heros burial for the author of our countrys darkest chapter is a political
question. By looking at established doctrine here and abroad, the authors seek to derive the
political answer. This paper will look at the legitimacy of state-sanctioned narratives within
the Philippine Constitutional framework. Finding guidance from the Auschiwtz lie case of
the German Constitutional Court, the paper proposes the passage of memory laws to regulate
historical revisionism and prohibit the Marcosian lie. Our research begins by looking at the
resurgence of authoritarianism as seen through the populist presidency of Rodrigue Roa
Duterte. It will then proceed in addressing the threshold question on whether the state may
indeed legislate history. Recognising that the duty to establish the truth is the power to
determine the narrative, our research seeks to reconcile the conflicting demands of the
freedom of thought and the right to the truth. Utilizing the fact-opinion distinction, this paper
will also demonstrate how Marcosian atrocities are deeply entrenched in law and
jurisprudence, and may be the valid subject of regulation. The last phase of the research
looks into the approaches adopted by the UN Human Rights Committee and the European
Courts of Human Rights in dealing with historical negationism and revisionism.