Xiao Talks: Dilim at Liwanag, The Martial Law Lecture of Xiao Chua

The talk on Martial Law and the Marcos Regime that Xiao Chua gave a number of times already was delivered in full via webinar at the event "It’s Xiao Time! Kwentuhan with Xiao Chua on Batas Militar: Dilim at Liwanag" on 21 September 2020; 9:00-11:30 AM via Zoom and Facebook Live for the Ateneo de Iloilo - Santa Maria Catholic School in commemoration of the 48th anniversary of the Proclamation of Martial Law.
Source video: / 248685966491521
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Memorandum No. 66 s. 2020
Date: 16 September 2020
To: ADI-SMCS Community
Subject: MARTIAL LAW TALK WITH HISTORIAN DR. XIAO CHUA
Warm liberating greetings!
The school has been a staunch advocate in the cultivation of our stakeholders’ national consciousness and social conscience as an antidote to “fake news,” social apathy, historical revisionism, and culture of impunity and violence. We have been consistently organizing relevant activities that rekindle and enhance the level of social awareness and responsiveness of the Atenean community especially on matters pertaining to the past, present, and future of our nation and society.
With this, we are delighted to invite everyone to participate in the “Talk on Batas Militar: Dilim at Liwanag” sub-titled as “It’s Xiao Time with historian Prof. Xiao Chua” on September 21, 9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m. via Zoom and School’s FB Page Live.
Prof. Chua, to note, is a history professor at De La Salle University. He is an academic and television personality, best known for his scholarly works on Philippine history and his numerous appearances as an effective commentator on historical topics on television and in KZbin, including a regular appearance on a news segment called “It’s Xiao Time” on People’s Television Network.
During this webinar, all Grades 7-12 students, faculty, and staff are expected to “drop everything and watch” the talk. IL session/s will still be given by teachers to students but the latter are expected to do their IL tasks in their free time before or after the talk.
Social studies and other humanities subjects shall include this webinar as one of its academic requirements in class. Other subjects may also follow suit and make this one of their IL activities if they feel that the material is aligned with their own subject’s set of learning competencies.
On the other hand, Grade 6 students shall be asked to watch the recorded version saved in our FB page @AteneodeIloiloSMCS as this will form part of their lesson on Martial Law. We also respectfully ask our dear parents, guardians, and alumni to also participate in the talk or watch its recorded version for their own personal consumption and reflection.
This activity is organized by our Social Studies Program to commit to memory the evils of Martial Law (ML). The 48th anniversary of the declaration of Batas Militar invites us to “recall a dark period in our nation’s history and the many horrors that had fallen on those who stood up against the oppressive regime.” Yet, this seemingly hopeless epoch of our history also calls us to cultivate our faith response as we yearn relentlessly for vigilance, truth, justice, and democracy. ML likewise reminds us with one of the Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs) of the Society of Jesus to continue to “walk with the poor and the outcasts whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice.”
As Atenean educators, students, parents, guardians, and alumni, we are known to be persons with in-depth historical background in which the desire to keep at bay any looming semblance of the nation’s troubled and tumultuous past is everyone’s business. In essence, this talk reminds us of our being Atenista, persons with a high sense of community, compassion and conscience.
And so we reiterate our cordial invitation to everyone to take this talk seriously and zealously. In the light of a faith that does justice, we say, “never forget, never again.” AMDG+
In Omnibus Amare et Servire Domino,
Dr. HERMAN M. LAGON
School Principal