MANILA - Three decades after People Power, a historian said many millennials have a shallow understanding of the 1986 EDSA Revolution.

Today's millennial Filipinos fail to appreciate that behind the bloodless revolt which set the country free, thousands were tortured, jailed, and killed in their fight against the Marcos dictatorship.

Xiao Chua said many young Filipinos today take their freedoms for granted such as freedom of expression and assembly, which were taken away by the Marcos regime.

Chua said the country's educational institutions failed to instill in the youth a firmer grasp of the abuses committed during the Marcos dictatorship-- considered as the darkest period in our nation's history.

"Hindi lang pagtuturo sa EDSA na parang bloodless revolution, kundi ito yung EDSA as a long struggle from the 1970s na ang daming namatay para ipagtanggol ang kalayaan," said Chua.

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The education department agrees. The old curricula of previous administrations may have failed in providing the proper historical background and context surrounding Martial Law and the 1986 revolt.

Department of Education (DepEd) Assistant Secretary Tonisito Umali said this is one of the issues the new K to12 curriculum seeks to correct.

While some elementary textbooks on history discuss the horrors of Martial Law extensively, others barely mention it.

But the DepEd explained that aside from textbooks, teachers can also use teaching guides and other reference materials to help their students learn more about Martial Law and People Power.

"Guided learning. ‘Yan po naman ang ginagawa namin sa DepEd. Doon papasok ‘yung pagbibigay ng mga datos o impormasyion, yung konteksto kung ano po ba ang ating expirensiya ng ating mga guro," Umali said.

Umali added that with the rise of social media, Filipinos have to be critical in sifting through all sorts of information to identify which are accurate and provide context.

He said teachers and parents also have a shared responsibility in guiding children and ensuring they have a deep and accurate appreciation of their country's history.