MANILA— Political coalition 1SAMBAYAN on Tuesday urged the public to reject what it called "lies" and "historical distortions" from the Marcos family after former Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. declared his 2022 presidential bid.

In a statement, the group stressed that the administration of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was not the "golden era" of the Philippines, contrary to what was being propagated by the family's supporters.

"We call on the youth of today, or those who were either too young to remember or weren’t even born yet, to resist this attempt to rewrite the pages of our storied past, especially the one where we fought hard to regain our democracy," 1SAMBAYAN said.

"Do not be deceived by paid internet trolls who peddle lies after lies, so that what happened during the Marcos era will not repeat itself at your time," it added.

The coalition also reminded the public of the "unconscionable amounts of money stolen from the people" during the Marcos regime.

The group also appealed to the Department of Education (DepEd) to form a committee that would craft guidelines for the inclusion of the Marcos administration in history books to counter attempts of historical revisionism.

The DepEd earlier said human rights abuses committed during Marcos' martial law were being taught in schools.

• Human rights abuses during martial law taught in schools: DepEd

On Tuesday, Bongbong announced he would run for president in the May 2022 elections, 6 years after he lost his bid for vice president.

• Bongbong Marcos declares 2022 run for president

Data from Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) showed that at least 9,000 victims of human rights violations were monitored during the late dictator's administration.

• BY THE NUMBERS: Human rights violations during Marcos' rule

The Marcos family also amassed an estimated $5 to $10 billion or more than P500 billion in ill-gotten wealth, based on a study of the World Bank-United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Stolen Asset Recovery report.

Last year, a whistleblower of Cambridge Analytica — a defunct British political consulting firm — said Bongbong asked the firm to rebrand his family's image on social media. The Marcos camp denied the claim.

• Bongbong Marcos requested Cambridge Analytica to rebrand family image: whistleblower

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