University officials, the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission (HRVVMC), and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) signed a deed of transfer that would relocate the UP Diliman (UPD) Campus Maintenance Office (CMO) to a lot near the UP Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
The deed was signed by UP President Angelo A. Jimenez, UPD Chancellor Edgardo Carlo L. Vistan II, HRVVMC Executive Director Carmelo Victor A. Crisanto, and CHR Human Rights Policy Centers Office Director Mary Joyce M. Crisanto.
The deed signing event, dubbed as Freedom Rising, also formalized the transfer of the current 1.4-hectare CMO Complex site to HRVVMC. The CMO Complex will be the future home of the HRVVMC Freedom Memorial Museum.
One of the features of the museum is an AVSECOM (Aviation Security Command; now Philippine Air Force Security Command) van believed to be the van that brought assassinated Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino Jr. to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.
Crisanto said the HRVVMC was able to track down the van in one of the Philippine Air Force motor pool.
“This [van] was supposed to be part of the Presidential Car Museum that was built here in Quezon Memorial Circle. I negotiated with the NHCP [National Historical Commission of the Philippines] and told them that Ninoy was never our president so it should not be part of the Presidential Car Museum and its rightful place is here, in the Freedom Memorial Museum,” Crisanto explained.
“Itong inisyatibang ito ay nagbigay-diin sa pakikipagtulungan ng Unibersidad na mapanatiling buhay ang kabayanihan ng mga lumaban sa paniniil ng diktaduryang Marcos Sr. at sa pagbibigay-karangalan, pag-alala sa mga biktima ng paglabag sa mga karapatang-pantao noong panahon ng Batas Militar o Martial Law (ML),” said Vistan in his message.
“Ito ay hudyat ng pagpapanday ng ating magkatulad na layuning huwag malimutan ang madilim na bahagi ng ating kasaysayan upang hindi na ito maulit. Ang museong ito, marami itong magiging kahulugan para sa atin at para sa bansa sa mga darating na panahon. Pero pumasok sa isip ko ang isang kasabihan nating mga Pilipino na winika ni Jose Rizal. Sabi niya, ‘Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa paroroonan’,” Vistan added.
For his part, Crisanto said, “This is a day of gratitude. On 21 Sept. 2018, some of you were with us at the AS Steps. We’re more than a thousand there and we were very, very joyful that at that point in time, UP stood shoulder to shoulder with the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission to give us land to build the Freedom Memorial Museum.”
“This occasion is a testimony that, side-by-side, UP and the Memorial Commission can make things happen. On this day, I tell everyone, every naysayer, every critic, ‘No one can stop us now’,” Crisanto continued.
Among the witnesses of the deed signing were former CHR chair and Akbayan Party-list Rep. Etta Rosales, Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation Director May Rodriguez, UP Professor Emeritus Judy Taguiwalo who was also a former UP Faculty Regent and current Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) council member, Bayan Chair Emeritus Carol Araullo, Karapatan Deputy Secretary General Jigs Clamor, HRVVMC Board of Trustees member and current UPD University Librarian Elvira Lapuz, Gabriela Women’s Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Party-list Rep. France Castro, UP Executive Vice President Jose Fernando Alcantara, and UP AVP for Academic Affairs (Student Affairs) Ma. Shari Niña Oliquino, and other survivors of the ML period.
Crisanto acknowledged Brosas and Castro as staunch defenders of HRVVMC at the House of Representatives.
The signing took place on Sept. 27 at the Quezon Hall lobby. A ceremonial fence-cutting followed at the CMO Complex signaling the tearing down of the fence separating the current CMO Complex site and the new site where CMO will move.
