Malacañang supports proposed martial law museum in UP—HRVVMC
Malacañang is supportive of the plan to establish a museum honoring the victims of the martial law regime, according to the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission (HRVVMC).
At a Senate budget hearing on Wednesday, HRVVMC executive director Carmelo Victor Crisanto reiterated that the Palace had nothing to do with the delay in the construction of the Freedom Memorial Museum, which will memorialize the victims and survivors of human rights abuses during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Crisanto said that Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin had actually asked him about the developments in the construction of the structure, which was mandated under Republic Act No. 10368, or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.
He also noted that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) even increased by P10 million its original budget request of P50 million for 2025.
“During the (current) administration of President Marcos, we have never received any instruction to stop what we are doing,” Crisanto said in response to a question by Senate president pro tempore Jinggoy Estrada, who led the budget deliberations.
“The Palace expresses its support through the (DBM),” he said. “In fact, under this administration, we have always been supported by DBM in the provision of our trust receipts and increases in our (budget).”
The HRVVMC head wanted to speak with the president personally to discuss the status of the project.
“Last April… Bersamin asked me, ‘Why is the museum isn’t finished yet? That should have been completed two years ago, isn’t it? What’s delaying you?’ That was our conversation,” Crisanto added.
Completion date
Estrada, who will also sponsor the proposed annual budget of the Commission on Human Rights, then quizzed Crisanto about the target completion date of the seven-story museum.
“As we speak, there’s still no structure? What’s your target date? So this is not the problem of the government?” Estrada asked.
As he told the House of Representatives last week, Crisanto said the project was hampered by the failure of the University of the Philippines (UP) to clear the 1.4-hectare property where the museum would be built.
Crisanto and a group of martial law survivors had already met with UP President Angelo Jimenez to resolve the problem.
“As of the moment, it is the problem of UP to move out quickly to the relocation sites we have built for the UP Campus Maintenance Offices,” Crisanto said.
He expected UP to clear the property in about eight months. “(After that), we will be able to finish the construction of the museum in 18 months,” he said.
In a joint statement issued last Friday, Sept. 6, the university and the commission “agreed on united efforts to expedite” the construction of the Freedom Memorial on a 1.4-hectare property on the state university’s flagship Diliman campus, which was a bastion of student activism and resistance to the dictatorship of the late Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Read more: UP, martial law victims resolve delay in museum construction
The deed of transfer to be signed on Sept. 27 covers the new UP Diliman Campus Maintenance Offices and workshops funded by the HRVVMC in exchange for the UP property, where these offices used to stand.
Once signed, the offices and their staff would move into their new home and HRVVMC can begin demolishing the old structures and begin museum construction.
Both agencies are hoping to break ground for the new museum by December this year. With a report from
