The Department of Education assured the public that Philippine history is still being taught in the K-12 curriculum through the Araling Panlipunan (AP) subject. 

With the rising discussion about history on social media, Senator Robin Padilla emphasized the need to revive Philippine history as a subject in the K-12 curriculum of the Department of Education (DepEd).

“Nagugulat sila. Merong isang TV program di alam sino si GOMBURZA [Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora], di alam sino si Apolinario Mabini. Dapat progressive. Siyempre Grade 1 di pwede turuan tungkol sa revolution. High school na yan (They were shocked. There is one TV program where a contestant does not know GOMBURZA, does not know who is Apolinario Mabini. It should be progressive. Of course, Grade 1 should not be taught about revolution. That’s for high school,” Padilla said in a media interview.

“Ang akin naman magsentro tayo sa PH history kasi ang PH history dito imposibleng di mapag-usapan ang Asian at World History (For me, let’s focus on Philippine history because Asian and world history will be also be discussed in the Philippine history subject),” he added.

DepEd said in a statement that stories of inspiring Filipinos and monumental Philippine events will continue to be taught in classrooms for years to come.

“The current AP curriculum covers various Philippine history topics across grade levels. These topics also serve as take-off points in all discussions relative to Asian studies, World History, Economics, and Contemporary issues in Junior High School and Understanding Culture, Society and Politics, and Philippine Politics and Governance in Senior High School,” the DepEd statement read.

Photo Credit: Facebook/DepEdPhilippines