A GROUP of Filipino scholars and academics launched a movement to promote “historical truth.”

The group rolled out its “Manifesto in Defense of Historical Truth and Academic Freedom,” which has so far gathered more than 1,000 signatures.

“We want to bring out a strong statement in defense of historical truth against the unrelenting efforts to revise the historical record of plunder and human rights violations during Martial Law and the entire Marcos era,” Prof. Oscar Campomanes of the Ateneo de Manila University, said.

Campomanes was one of the organizers of the movement.

“We also commit ourselves to defend the exercise of academic freedom, resist all forms of censorship such as book-banning, and oppose all attempts at red-tagging,” Campomanes added.

He said that it aims to unite Filipino and non-Filipino scholars based at home and abroad “in calling for activities and creative initiatives to protect our historical and collective memories and disseminate these to broader publics.”