Rodrigo Duterte has supported the burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Heroes' Cemetery, even before he assumed presidency and expressed this stance at his presidential campaign in the 2016 elections. Duterte has expressed that a burial of Marcos at the site would commence the "healing" of the Philippines and pointed out Marcos' idealism and vision for the country through his projects which "stood the test of time" and that Marcos' dictatorship "remains to be debated". Duterte has also previously stated that Marcos could have been the best president if not for the abuses during the Martial law period under Marcos' watch. At the Visayas leg of the Pilipinas Debates 2016, Duterte and fellow candidate Jejomar Binay expressed their support for a Marcos burial at the heroes' cemetery.
Announcement and rationale
On August 7, 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte gave the order to bury former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Heroes' Cemetery saying that Marcos is qualified to be buried at the cemetery due to being a "former president and a soldier". Duterte said he is open to demonstrations against the burial plan but insist that the former President is qualified to be buried at the cemetery. He also added that the burial date may be moved to September 11 which is the birthday of the deceased president.
Amidst criticism that Marcos does not deserve to be buried at the cemetery, Duterte says that burying Marcos at the site does not equate to Marcos being a "hero in the true sense of the word". He points out that former soldiers and presidents are allowed to be buried at the cemetery and that he would be violating the law if he did not push through with the burial and added that the previous administrations should have passed a law to bar Marcos from being buried at the Heroes' Cemetery. Duterte said he doesn't care about the dispute regarding the authenticity of Marcos' war medals and the non-appearance of Marcos' alleged World War II service in United States records.
Response to burial plans
An initiative called Bawa’t Bato (lit. For each stone) was launched, urging those who oppose the plan to dump stones with names of victims of abuses during the Martial Law era of Ferdinand Marcos or a personal message at the proposed site of the burial of Marcos within the Heroes' Cemetery.
About 2,000 people held protest against the burial plans, saying that Marcos was not a hero; organizers have clarified that the protests were not against the Duterte administration itself, but are targeted towards the burial plan.
It was reported that Rafael Alunan said that those who oppose the burial plans of Marcos at the Heroes' Cemetery could invoke the 1992 agreement with the Marcos family and the Philippine government under then President Fidel V. Ramos but he clarified on August 17, 2016 that the agreement was a memorandum of understanding which is not binding compared to a formal agreement or deal.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burial_of_Ferdinand_Marcos
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burial_of_Ferdinand_Marcos
No comments:
Post a Comment