Earlier on Tuesday, Oct. 25, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte issued a statement clarifying that the Department of Education (DepED) is not “rebranding” Martial Law.

Duterte claimed that both the terms “Martial Law” and “New Society” are historically accurate and was only taken into a different context after it went viral on social media.

“The Vice President herself said that New Society only refers to the program implemented by Marcos Sr. She urged [us] to look at the other periods discussed in the module, which included the period of activism (1970-1971) and the post-EDSA 1 Revolution (1986-1995). Clearly these, and all other periods presented in the module are not programs of the government but terms that characterize the socio-political contexts of the time periods discussed. It only follows that Martial Law should have been used instead of New Society,” ACT Chairperson Vladimer Quetua pointed out on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

Considering its “inconsistent” use of terminologies, Quetua said that the module is, without a doubt, inaccurate.

With these observations, the teachers called on DepED to immediately revise the said learning material.

“In the spirit of truth-telling, as is the mission of education, we should call the Martial Law period Martial Law and not by any other name,” Quetua furthered.