My opinion about Marcos' burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was born last September 11, 1917 and died last September 28, 1989. He was a Filipino politician and kleptocrat  who has undergone his presidency in the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was the 10^th President of the Philippines. He ruled as dictator under martial law from 1972 until 1981.While his authority started an unprecedented number of infrastructure projects and monuments (known colloquially as an "edifice complex'" and at great taxpayer cost),it also became known for its corruption, extravagance and brutality (Wikipedia).

Due from his vast of vicious and depraved governance, the Filipino’s rage to him is somehow will not expunge for his policies are dictatorial and he has done many corruption that are nailed in the people’s mind before and until now. Some already forgave him but some just can’t. Because of this, there has been many controversies about his burial at the Heroes’ Cemetery. Many critics, particularly victims of human rights violations during the Martial Law era and participants of the People Power Revolution are opposing attempts and really impel and that he must not be buried at the particular cemetery. They deem urge that he doesn’t deserve to be buried at the Heroes’ Cemetery because of his dictatorial policies and immoral regime before.

In my opinion, despite of the dictatorial governance of the former president Marcos, I support president Duterte’s decision to let Marcos be buried at the Heroes’ Cemetery for he was a president and burying him there won’t change anything. We all know his vicious and hostile policies that somehow most people are being affected before and until now. The children of  today’s generation can’t forgive Marcos’ brutality when their parents and grandparents were under his governance of martial law. No one can burn the burden inside their hearts but we are all human beings who deserve to be forgiven and has responsibility to forgive. His mistakes are kept as a memory that until now, there are still people who refused to let him bury at Heroes’ Cemetery. We can’t judge the people who are being affected to his governance that their families were involved from Marcos’ rampant killings or abuses. But let us think about the etiquette of ethics and religion. If God knows how to forgive, so as we. His sins may never be forgotten but must be forgiven. I believe that Marcos would be the best President if he didn’t impose martial law or any laws that may harm the Filipinos. I have studied and knew that the plans of Marcos before are great that can really improve the country especially the economy. I really think that his corruption are being exerted due to his wife. We can’t blame everything to him nor judge him for we don’t even know what are the real reasons of his plans. As I remembered, somebody told me that if Marcos continued his presidency that no one opposed him, the Philippines would be the top country in the Asia which has the well established economy and well implemented government. If people before have critical thinking that they thought the inside of the box, they will understand Marcos. Unfortunately, the just thought about the outside of the box. They didn’t even listened Marcos’ reasons. They listened to such reports that somehow didn’t tell the whole situation yet the information that may annihilate Marcos name.They wanted the freedom they desired yet they didn’t even think the outcome of the plans of Marcos.And now, I really hope that these controversies and opposing sides will converge and settle. If he will be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, nothing will change but somehow forgiveness is what I am looking for.

Whatever will be the result of the decision, it was all approved and in the accordance of the President. We all hope that the approval may mean no harm nor a cause of any conflicts nor trouble in the country for there are many opposing sides that may lead to public unrest and immoral protests that may harm people. If the burial is being approved or not, we all hope for the allegiance of the citizens to the President’s decision for the peacefulness and settlement of minds.

Duterte on Marcos hero burial: We will follow SC ruling

By: Germelina Lacorte / @inquirerdotnet

Inquirer Mindanao / 04:55 PM October 16, 2016

DAVAO CITY—President Rodrigo Duterte said he will follow whatever the Supreme Court decides on the petition to stop the burial of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

“We will follow what the Supreme Court says, for after all, it is the Supreme Court who interprets the law and decides which of the public interests is served among the contending parties,” the President said during his pre-departure press conference here on Sunday afternoon.

Duterte was leaving for state visits to Brunei and China.

The President earlier said he was allowing the burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, a move opposed by many who suffered under martial law. But Duterte said he was just following a law that allows the burial of a former president at the site.

“My position is that there is that law, it must be followed,” he said, adding that questions on Marcos’ heroism and war medals would have “to be resolved, maybe, in the generations to come.”

“It could not be decided on the group now which were actively, physically and emotionally involved on the issues,” the President said.

Duterte earlier said that the issue on whether or not to bury the former dictator at the Libingan has divided the country.

READ: Duterte on Marcos’ burial at heroes’ cemetery: It will erase one hatred in PH

“We have alienated almost the entire Ilocanos,” he said.

But the President on Sunday said he will respect what the Supreme Court would decide on the issue.

READ: Palace to respect SC ruling on where Marcos should rest

“What the Supreme Court will rule must be followed,” he said. RAM/rga

source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/825891/duterte-on-marcos-hero-burial-we-will-follow-sc-ruling

Philippine court temporarily stops burial of Marcos in heroes' cemetery

WORLD NEWS | Tue Aug 23, 2016 | 6:27am EDT

The Philippine Supreme Court ordered the government on Tuesday to put on hold a divisive plan to bury former dictator Ferdinand Marcos in a heroes' cemetery, a court spokesman said.

A plan supported by President Rodrigo Duterte to bury the former president in the cemetery has been criticised by human rights groups and many politicians, including Vice President Leni Robredo and senators allied with former President Benigno Aquino.

The 15-member high bench of the court, responding to a petition filed last week by opponents of the plan, told the government not to do anything on the issue for 20 days, Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te told reporters.

Te did not elaborate on why the court had issued the order but said it had called for arguments from both sides to help the judges decide on the issue before the planned burial on Sept. 18.

As a dictator in the 1970s and '80s, Marcos, his family and cronies amassed an estimated $10 billion in ill-gotten wealth and thousands of suspected communist rebels and political foes were killed. His wife, Imelda, denies amassing wealth illegally.

In 1986, he was ousted in a "people power" revolt and fled to Hawaii where he died three years later. His remains were returned in the early 1990s and have been kept in a family mausoleum in his hometown in the north.

Newly elected president Duterte has said Marcos, as a former leader and a soldier, should be buried at the cemetery. Marcos was a guerrilla leader during World War Two when the former U.S. colony was occupied by Japanese forces.

Opponents of the plan say burying a dictator at the cemetery, known as the Libingan ng mga Bayani, would violate military regulations that bar "those who have been dishonourable discharged from service or personnel convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude".

(Reporting by Manuel Mogato and Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Robert Birsel)

source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-marcos-idUSKCN10Y0DY

1M signatures for Marcos burial at Libingan

By: Leilanie Adriano / @inquirerdotnet

Inquirer Northern Luzon / 01:13 AM September 08, 2016

 

SUPPORTERS of the Marcos family stage a rally in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday to back the burial of Ferdinand Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani. RICHARD REYES

LAOAG CITY—An online petition and a house-to-house campaign to collect a million signatures to support the move to bury strongman Ferdinand Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani have been launched in Ilocos Norte.

The petition carried through www.change.org was initiated by students and young professionals in the province on Sept. 6, on the eve of the second hearing in the Supreme Court on the opposition to the burial from victims of human rights abuses during the Marcos dictatorship.

“We do not ask you to change what you know of him, or how you remember him, or seek praise for his deeds. Good or evil, good and evil, how you judge former President Ferdinand Marcos, is your personal belief,” said the petition.

“One thing we cannot deny is that he was once a president of the Republic of the Philippines, a former secretary of defense, and a soldier, entitling him, by decree, pursuant to AFP Regulation No. G161-137, to be buried at Libingan ng mga Bayani.”

As of Wednesday, the petition had collected 4,735 signatures.

Roma Aguinaldo, 21, said she learned about the alleged abuses as a student.

“Now that I am grown up,” she said, “I became more open to this issue and saw the brighter side of it. Because of martial law, there was discipline and order.”

Aguinaldo recalled pestering her parents with questions why a classmate, Joseph Simon Marcos, a son of former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., at the Padre Annibale School in Laoag, had security escorts.

“It’s already long overdue. Lay him to rest,” said Aida Borromeo of Quezon City.

“I believe my grandfather and other relatives who witnessed the governance of the late President Marcos. I was deceived by books filled with lies about the Marcoses,” said Almi Cadlum, a Filipino worker in Doha, Qatar.

Gie Jose of Cavite wrote: “He’s not a hero literally but he was a soldier and an excellent leader. History cannot be changed.”

In Hawaii, Noel Calixto, a former Marcos aide, assailed the Supreme Court order delaying the scheduled Sept. 18 burial of Marcos at Libingan.

“Majority of the people want a hero’s burial for President Marcos, compared to the few who oppose it … We really await that time and we are coordinating with Mrs. (Imelda) Marcos. We are getting ready … to be there (in the Philippines) anytime,” said Calixto, who chairs the Bongbong Marcos Global Network, which claims to have 62,000 members.

Festivities

Marcos’ 99th birthday on Sept. 11 would be a big event in light of his scheduled burial 23 years after his body was brought home from Honolulu, Hawaii.

The body is kept in a temperature-controlled crypt at the Marcos ancestral house in Batac City.

A candle-lighting ceremony at 5:30 p.m. at the Imelda Cultural Center in Batac is expected to draw thousands of Marcos loyalists who travel each year to the city to honor their dead leader.

The Ilocos Norte government has asked President Duterte to declare Sept. 11 as a nonworking holiday in Ilocos Norte. But the festivities will start as early as Friday with a “Marcos Fiesta Job Fair” at Robinsons Mall in San Nicolas town, according to Ianree Raquel, head of the Ilocos Norte tourism office.

Also on Friday, students from various Ilocos Norte schools will take part in “Makoy (Marcos’ pet name)” literary and arts contests, a Kalesa painting contest, a quiz show and a debate competition.

The provincial government is also staging a memorabilia contest. The winning photographs and souvenirs will be put on display at the newly expanded San Nicolas mall.

During the event, students will be  asked to join the “Ferdie and Imelda sing-a-like and look-a-like” contests, featuring the couple’s favorite love songs.

On Sunday, Batac is staging a cooking fest featuring Ilocano delicacies, including “dinengdeng (a vegetable soup with fish paste),” which was Marcos’ favorite dish.

The celebration will culminate with a 4 p.m. Mass at Our Lady of Immaculate Concepcion Church in Batac.

source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/813762/1m-signatures-for-marcos-burial-at-libingan

No to Marcos burial, no offense to Bongbong–Grace

By: Yolanda Sotelo / @inquirerdotnet

SAN CARLOS CITY, Philippines—Sen. Grace Poe on Friday said a commission should be formed to determine whether important figures, like the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, should be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

No president should be able to decide who would be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, said Poe, who was visiting the hometown of her late father, actor Fernando Poe Jr., on the eve of her 48th birthday.

The commission should decide who deserves to be buried at the Libingan, “so no politics should come into play,” she said.

“They said [Marcos] was a soldier so he can be buried at the Libingan, so there is something vague there. So a commission should really be formed for that purpose,” she said.

Poe said she would oppose a Libingan burial for the late strongman even if it may hurt the feelings of former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

“I am thankful that the issue is already at the Supreme Court. Even during the last [election] campaign period, I already said there would be chaos [if the Marcos family would insist on a hero’s burial] because we have a law recognizing the atrocities of martial law,” she said.

She did not elaborate but she may have been referring to Republic Act No. 10368, which grants reparations for victims of martial law. The same law acknowledges human rights violations committed during the more than 20 years of Marcos rule.

Poe also referred to Bongbong as “kabsat” (brother). She and the former senator had made light of speculation that she was the late dictator’s daughter by referring to each other as “kabsat.”

When reporters first asked about the burial, Poe said: “Come on, you guys. That issue has already offended my brother. He calls me sister.”

Addressing former Senator Marcos, she said, “Whatever you believe in, if it is lawful, then stand by that decision. I praised [Gov. Imee Marcos] for her initiatives in Ilocos Norte. But there are things that as a senator, you should decide based on the law.”

Poe also said she saw no obstacles to the passage of the Senate version of a proposed Freedom of Information law, which requires, among other things, heads of agencies to automatically upload their statements of assets, liabilities and networth (SALN) on the government website.

“For instance, a senator earns P60,000 monthly yet has many listed properties…perhaps you can say [that senator] is a drug lord,” she said.

During the visit, Poe launched a feeding program for school children, a project which she said she would pursue nationwide. The visit was her first since the May 9 elections, “after resting and spending time with the family,” she said.

“After the elections, I was a little emotional. Now I am stronger and I can face the people without drama,” she said.

source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/812396/no-to-marcos-burial-no-offense-to-bongbong-grace

Marcos hero's burial plan prompts Philippines protests

Rally condemns plans to bury in a cemetery for national icons president who was toppled by popular revolt in 1996.

Protests have erupted in Manila over Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's plans to honour the late leader Ferdinand Marcos with a state burial.

About 2,000 people gathered in heavy rain on Sunday to denounce Duterte's plans to move Marcos' remains from his northern hometown to the National Heroes' Cemetery in the capital, Manila, next month.

"Protesters are clarifying that this is not an anti-Duterte protest," said Al Jazeera's Jamela Alindogan, reporting from Manila.

"This has nothing to do in general with his administration.

"During his campaign, President Duterte promised that he was going to make sure that President Marcos would be buried at the Heroes' Cemetery in Manila. Now, he’s given a date, September 18.

"Here at the rally, they say they are opposing that, because they say Marcos is not a hero."

Marcos's family have kept his preserved body on display after he died in exile in 1989 following a popular revolt three years earlier, demanding that it be buried with full honours in the Heroes' Cemetery.

Marcos was elected president in 1965 and declared martial law in 1972, allowing him to rule as a dictator while he, his family and allies enriched themselves through massive corruption and his troops stamped out dissent.

But Duterte, who has styled himself as an anti-corruption crusader, defended Marcos, noting that his father had served in the Marcos cabinet and he himself had even voted for Marcos before.

Rodrigo Duterte's drug war: Do human rights matter?

Duterte has previously said that he won the May 9 elections partly with the support of the Marcos family, who remain influential in their bailiwick in the northern Philippines.

A small protest was also staged by human rights victims outside Duterte's southern hometown of Davao city, where candles and flowers were placed outside the city hall, television reports said.

The protests on Sunday were joined by Marcos-era victims of torture and imprisonment as well as relatives of victims of extrajudicial killings, which historians say claimed thousands of lives.

Protesters shed tears during the three-hour protest and organisers launched a signature campaign to try to reverse Duterte's decision.

Marcos was elected president in 1965 and declared martial law in 1972 [Romeo Ranoco/Reuters]

Ricardo Jose, a University of the Philippines professor, alleged that to win war medals for bravery, Marcos faked his service record in the anti-Japanese resistance when Japan occupied the country in World War II.

"There are World War II heroes buried there who sacrificed their lives ... But here's one guy who distorted things in his favour," Jose told AFP at the rally.

Martin Andanar, Duterte's spokesman, said on Sunday that while the leader allowed protests against the burial plan, he "remains firm" it will be carried out.

Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/08/marcos-hero-burial-plan-sparks-philippines-protests-160814102232553.html

Rock against Marcos: Group protests Libingan burial

By Janvic Mateo (The Philippine Star) | Updated June 29, 2016 - 12:00am

Relatives of martial law victims place stones at the proposed gravesite of the late president Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani last Sunday. Facebook photos by Bubut Vasquez, Susan Quimpo

MANILA, Philippines – Stones bearing the names of victims of human rights abuses during martial law have been placed at an empty gravesite supposedly allotted for the late president Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

An initiative called Bawa’t Bato was launched Sunday to protest the pronouncements of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte supporting the burial of Marcos at the heroes’ cemetery.

A call to action posted on Facebook read: “In the center of our Cemetery of Heroes lies a hole – across the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, beneath the Philippine flag at half-mast. It is intended for a man who is neither hero nor patriot, who denied millions dignity, and died not in glory but in shame.

“We can each place a stone: at his grave or in places stained by the atrocities of martial law – memorializing its thousands of victims, and for us tens of millions who’ve not lived as we all deserved in the decades since. We can each place a stone: our silent symbols of dissent – heaped high upon any monument built there, burying now and constantly the vainglory and lies.” 

On Sunday, the first batch of stones bearing the names of the victims was placed at the gravesite.

Bubut Vasquez, one of those who took part in the activity, said in a Facebook post: “This is just the start as more stones with more names are laid so that their memories shall not be forgotten. This is a public space and all are welcome to pay their respects and honor the real heroes.”

Messages encouraging Filipinos to take part in the initiative are posted on social media.

Organizers said: “Bring a rock to the proposed gravesite for Ferdinand Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani. Write a name of one of the martial law victims or a personal message, if you happen to have a pentel pen with you. Drop the rock inside the grave site, as a sign of your dissent and in memory of all those who suffered and died for our freedom.”

Among those who are part of the initiative are the Martial Law Chronicles Project, UP Samasa Alumni, Claimants 1081, Nameless Heroes and Martyrs, Akbayan Youth, Akbayan, Dakila and TBWA\SMP.

Poll protest reset

Meanwhile, the camp of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has reset today’s scheduled filing of an election protest before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal against vice president-elect Leni Robredo to accommodate more witnesses and evidence.

Abakada Rep. Jonathan de la Cruz, political adviser of Marcos, told The STAR they have consolidated their complaint with cases involving other party-list groups which have also filed  election-related cases.

“We are expecting the PET to resolve our protest in six months,” he said.

They have already gathered enough evidence  and will seek a recount or setting aside questionable results in at least 30 areas, he added.

De la Cruz said they are filing the election protest because they owe it to those who voted for Marcos and to the entire Filipino people to find out what really happened in the May 2016 elections.

“We believe that we have enough evidence to show that there was massive rigging and manipulation of votes,” he said.

In an advisory the camp of Marcos said he will file his election protest at 11 a.m. today at the Supreme Court.

A press conference will follow immediately at Max’s Restaurant along Maria Orosa street, Manila.

Written on the stones were the names of those kidnapped, tortured or killed during martial law

Ilocanos back death penalty

In Laoag City, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos expressed support for president-elect Duterte’s plan to re-impose the death penalty against criminals, especially those involved in illegal drugs.

Marcos vowed “total compliance” of Ilocos Norte for the death penalty,  as she promised to continue the battle against crime and illegal drugs in her province.

She emphasized the importance of protecting the rights of the citizens, especially the youth and victims of heinous crimes.

She urged her provincemates to report suspects as well as advise those involved in drug-related activities to surrender to authorities as early as possible. 

“Surely our police are ready and we are also ready to charge the culprits,” she added.

Earlier this year, the Ilocos Norte Provincial Anti-Illegal Drug Special Operation Task Group arrested several local officials involved in the illegal drug trade.

Marcos condemned the officials as she assured the people of the provincial government’s continued efforts in ensuring a safe and peaceful province through effective law enforcement. – With Perseus Echeminada, Artemio Dumlao, Ariel Paolo Tejada

source::http/06/29/1597750/rock-against-marcos-group-protests-libingan-burial://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016