By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

PHOTO: Screengrab from Sen. Imee R. Marcos Facebook page

Senator Imee Marcos and actress Ella Cruz sit in another Darryl Yap series, discuss Cruz’ “history is like tsismis” gaffe.

The ‘Maid in Malacanang’ actress trended in the past week over a comment that likens history to gossiping— bound to filtering and modifications. Her statement expectedly launched criticism and conversations, including remarks from historians.

Breaking her silence, the 25-year-old actress argued that the public have misconstrued her statement, explaining that “History is like tsismis” is different to what “History is tsismis” means. She reiterated that bashers only focused on that specific phrase and missed her succeeding clarification.

“Mali po ba yung sinabi ko na ‘History is like tsismis’? ‘Di ko naman sinabi na ‘History is tsismis’.  Tapos diyan na lang sila nag-focus, hindi na sa paliwanag,” Cruz said.

Meanwhile, Marcos maintained that Cruz’ comment comes from the perspective of a student and artist, not a historian.

Cruz, who claimed she is not smart, or all-knowing, but reads and goes to school, furthered that “history is opinionated”. She posited that one cannot be a historian if they don't know how to interpret.

Concurrently, Marcos agreed to Cruz’ comment, arguing that the process of interpretation comes from the person’s estimation of opinion, but should be based on research.

Marcos added that historians should also be aggressive in assessing themselves, especially at what point they are already telling an opinion. Historians expressing their opinions sans “evidentiary support” could lead to “tsismis”, Marcos reckoned.

The two also mentioned classic quotes on history penned by Oscar Wilde, Elbert Hubbard, Gore Vidal, and George Santayana.

Marcos concluded that as long as history is not proven, it will always remain “like a 'tsismis'.”