The former president also chides Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos for claiming she was too young to remember Martial Law. ‘Was she a little baby? Of course not.’
UPSET. Former president Fidel Ramos holds a press conference on November 21, 2016. Photo by Camille Elemia/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – Hastily burying Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani is an insult to the military and the police and trivializes their sacrifices, former president and retired Constabulary general Fidel V. Ramos said on Monday, November 21.
In a press conference, Ramos said he felt “very bad” after the Friday, November 18 burial of the late dictator, his cousin. The act was an “insult” to the sacrifices of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police, the Philippine Coast Guard, among others, he said.
Ramos headed the now-defunct Philippine Constabulary during Marcos’ Martial Law regime, and was eventually named by Marcos as vice chief of staff of the AFP. He broke away from Marcos in February 1986 along with mutinous forces under then defense secretary Juan Ponce Enrile. Their revolt against the dictator sparked the EDSA People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos and catapulted Corazon Aquino to the presidency.
“I felt very bad especially for the veterans, as well as the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as well as members of the PNP which I commanded then,” said Ramos. “It was an insult, [a] trivialization of the sacrifices of our Armed Forces, PNP, Coast Guard, veterans – retired and active.”
The former president also took the opportunity to challenge Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos’s claims that she was too young to remember the atrocities during her father’s regime.
Ramos said he did more than apologize for being part of the Martial Law machinery. He, after all, led the military in revolting against his commander-in-chief as AFP vice chief of staff.
“My apology was more than an apology. In the Christian tradition, you confess and then you atone. My atonement was leading the military and the police during the EDSA People Power Revolution. From the 22nd to the 25th of February 1986 and I stand by that record. It’s there in history books,” he said.
Ramos chided Imee Marcos for claiming she was too young to remember.
“That’s a funny story. When she said they were still young, I know how old she is because she is one year older than my oldest daughter,” Ramos said. “At that time, beginning of Martial Law, my daughter was already 18 years old.”
Ramos cited the fact that Imee was even elected president of the Kabataang Barangay during Martial Law. “So was she a little baby? Little musmusin(child) or little kiddie teenager? Of course not. She was a responsible person,” Ramos said.
More than 2,000 supporters of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos traveled all the way from Ilocos Norte to join his family for a thanksgiving Mass at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
As early as 7:30 am on Saturday, November 19, more than 2,200 Marcos loyalists started arriving at the national shrine for heroes in Taguig City aboard at least 50 buses and 40 private vehicles. The pro-Marcos groups said they rented the vehicles and organized the trip to Manila on their own.
(UPDATED) ‘They should not fool the people,’ a guest at the Marcos mausoleum says after finding out that the dictator’s ‘body’ there is only a replica
DICTATOR’S REMAINS. This file photo dated September 11, 2006, shows the body of dictator Ferdinand Marcos lying preserved in a refrigerated glass crypt in Batac, Ilocos Norte. Photo by Jay Directo/AFP
MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – “I feel cheated.”
This was how Maribel Ovilla, a visitor of the Marcos mausoleum in Batac City, Ilocos Norte, described how she felt after seeing what she thought was the real body of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
In a report by GMA News in Ilocos Norte, Ovilla explained, “Kasi hindi naman pala totoo ‘yung nandito (Because what is here is apparently not real).”
Ovilla visited the mausoleum at the Ferdinand E. Marcos Presidential Center in Batac on Friday, November 18.
GMA-7 reporter Saleema Refran said Marcos’ wax figure was still encased in a glass coffin at the Batac mausoleum by 11:30 am on Friday, around the same time that the Marcos burial rites began in Manila.
While taking video was prohibited inside the mausoleum, Refran reported that guests and she herself saw the Marcos figure there on Friday.
A staff member of Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos, the late dictator’s daughter, told GMA News that the figure displayed in the mausoleum was only a replica of Marcos’ original body covered in wax.
In Ilocos Norte, Julius Ovilla said after finding out that the “body” was only a replica: “Hindi maganda ‘yon, hindi maganda. Dapat ipaalam ‘yan. Kung aalisin nila, dapat sabihin ang totoo. Huwag ‘yung lolokohin pa ‘yung tao.“
(That’s not good, that’s not good. They should have told us. If they would remove it, they should tell the truth. They should not fool the people.)
Quoting a Marcos family friend, historian Antonio Montalvan II earlier said that the “body” of Marcos in Batac is “just a wax replica,” and that the real body had already been buried “underneath the glass coffin.”
A source privy to the burial preparations told Rappler on Sunday, November 20, that they left a “replica” of his body in his mausoleum in Ilocos Norte on the day he was interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. (READ: Inside Track: ‘Replica’ left in mausoleum on day of Marcos burial) – Rappler.com
(5th UPDATE) The Marcos family asked for ‘simple and private’ funeral rites, says PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa
MANILA, Philippines (5th UPDATE) – Former president Ferdinand Marcos was buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani with full military honors past noon Friday, November 18, giving closure to his family and supporters but reopening wounds inflicted by his 21-year rule marked by human rights atrocities.
The “simple and private” funeral rites, as requested by the Marcos family, were carried out late Friday morning so that the remains of Marcos would be interred by noon, Chief Superintendent Oscar Albayalde said in an interview with different media groups. (READ: Marcos family arranged for a private burial)
Albayalde said there was a 21-gun salute for the late strongman as part of the military honors, but there was no parade that marked a state funeral service. (READ: Marcos burial captured in ‘same-day’ edit video)
Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa told reporters outside the cemetery gates that 3 helicopters brought members of the Marcos family and the remains of the late dictator to the Libingan.
Reporters who were at the Heroes’ Cemetery said they thought there would only be a rehearsal for the burial until the PNP chief himself arrived on site. (READ: TIMELINE: The Marcos burial controversy)
Dela Rosa said police were only informed about the final schedule of the burial on Thursday night. He said authorities were ordered to ensure that the former president would be “buried properly.”
Palace spokespersons said they did not know about the burial, which was carried out while President Rodrigo Duterte was abroad. He left Manila on Thursday to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting in Peru.
Maximum tolerance
Asked how the police would deal with anti-Marcos groups who were expected to flock to the area, Dela Rosa said, “Maximum tolerance, hindi maximum paluan (not maximum beating)….We are prepared [for them].” (READ: Live updates on protests and other Marcos burial-related activities)
RJ Piniera, a media relations officer of Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos, said Imee flew to Manila last night.
“Kaming mga Ilocano pupunta ng Manila kasi [may] pasasalamat rally baka sakali mailibing (We Ilocanos will go to Manila because there’s a thanksgiving rally in case the burial pushes through),” Piniera said.
Marcos supporters were reportedly informed about the plan but were asked to keep it confidential.
The funeral rites for Marcos took place over a week after the Supreme Court, voting 9-5, ruled in favor of a hero’s burial for the former president. The petitioners against a state interment for Marcos, mostly Martial Law victims, had filed manifestations before the Court that they would file a motion for reconsideration on the ruling.
SC spokesperson Theodore Te said the burial is not prohibited as the Court had already lifted the status quo ante order on it.
‘Like a thief in the night’
Vice President Leni Robredo strongly condemned the hero’s burial for Marcos and reiterated her position that “he is no hero.”
“Like a thief in the night, the Marcos family deliberately hid the information of burying former president Marcos today from the Filipino people,” Robredo said in a statement.
Barry Gutierrez, counsel for the anti-Marcos court petitioners, said the burial was illegal because of the outstanding appeals.
“It’s not really surprising that this is happening. Marcos flouted the law when he was still alive, and even at his burial, he is still breaking the law,” Gutierrez told Agence France-Presse.
“We are shocked and angered,” Gutierrez added.
Anti-Marcos groups and others opposed to the burial, who were caught flat-footed by the surprise burial, also slammed the Marcoses for their “underhandedness” and said they would mark the day with a “Black Friday” protest.
“This is a continuing deception, deviousness, abuse, and underhandedness of the Marcos family. They are just continuing the abuses and atrocities committed during the Martial Law regime,” said Albay Representative Edcel Lagman.
Rule of plunder, abuse
Marcos ruled the Philippines for two decades until forced into US exile by the “People Power” revolution, a largely peaceful event that inspired democracy movements throughout Asia and around the world.
Marcos, his infamously flamboyant wife Imelda, and their cronies plundered up to $10 billion from state coffers during his rule, according to government investigators and historians.
The dictator also oversaw widespread human rights abuses to maintain his control of the country and enable his plundering, with thousands of people killed and tortured, previous Philippine governments said.
Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International in 2004 named Marcos the second most corrupt leader of all time, behind Indonesian dictator Suharto.
The Philippines’ foreign debt went from $2.67 billion in 1972, when Marcos declared martial law, to $28.2 billion in 1986, according to the World Bank.
After Marcos died in Hawaii in 1989, his family began a successful political comeback and tried repeatedly to have him buried at the heroes’ cemetery, where other presidents and celebrated military figures are interred.
Imelda became a congresswoman and fended off all corruption charges against her.
Two of her children established themselves as influential politicians. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, was the more successful, becoming a senator before almost winning the vice presidency this year.
However previous presidents had refused to allow the burial in the heroes’ cemetery because of Marcos’s crimes, so the family kept the preserved body in a glass casket at his home in the northern province of Ilocos Norte.
The family’s fortunes changed with the election of Duterte, a longtime ally of the Marcos family, as president in May this year.
He said Marcos deserved to be buried at the heroes’ cemetery based on the fact he had been a president and a veteran of World War II.
Duterte also said he owed loyalty to the family because his father served in the Marcos government and the family had helped fund his election campaign. – with a report from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com
CONDEMNATION. Marcos burial protesters gather at the People Power Monument and encourage motorists to join their noise barrage on November 18, 2016. Photo by Alecs Ongcal/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines (4th UPDATE) – In a remarkable demonstration of solidarity with Martial Law victims, thousands of students across the country led protest actions against the surprise burial of the late dictator in the Libingan ng mga Bayani on Friday., November 18.
Thousands of protesters, mostly the youth, gathered at the People Power Monument along EDSA late Friday.
They said they expected more protest marchers from the provinces to arrive in Metro Manila to join anti-Marcos activities, and vowed to sustain rallies in key cities until the end of November, the day the country also honors revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio.
‘NEVER A HERO.’ Protesters ended their program at the People Power Monument but many remained, urging motorists to honk their car horns in protest of the Marcos burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on November 18, 2016. Photo by LeAnne Jazul/Rappler
Earlier, students, faculty members, and staff of 3 major schools in Quezon City – the University of the Philippines, the Ateneo de Manila University, and Miriam College – flooded Katipunan Avenue, also to make a statement: “Marcos is not a hero.”
Next steps
“The events right after the burial are proof that the millennials despite the belittling of our capacity to absorb, even taunting us that we are too detached, have proven ourselves in the ‘parliament of the streets,” Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK) spokesperson Joanne Lim said.
“The youth must not view this as a one-day affair. We must push on until justice is served; the culture of impunity is extinguished and we cherish a system of governance where the genuine empowerment of the marginalized is its focal point,” she said.
At the People Power Monument, hundreds of protesters who were first to arrive, led by the Coalition Against Marcos Burial (Camb), shouted “Hukayin!” (Exhume!)
Camb called for protesters to sustain the rallies across the country. Outside the National Capital Region, demonstrations were held in the cities of Baguio, Puerto Princesa, Bacolod, Cebu, and Davao.
The #BlockMarcos Movement, which is also coordinating with Camb, planned to troop to the Heroes’ Cemetery on November 30, to stage an Occupy Libingan ng mga Bayani protest.
DEMONSTRATION. Marcos burial protesters gather at the People Power Monument on November 18, 2016.
The Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses in Malacañang (Carmma), another protest group working with the leftist Bayan Muna, said its members will hold continuous rallies.
Former Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares said they are still studying whether they will file a motion for reconsideration before the Supreme Court. He was the lead counsel for one of the petitioner groups that lost their bid to stop Marcos’ burial at the Heroes’ Cemetery.
Make Duterte accountable
The protesters expressed anger against President Rodrigo Duterte, who gave the go signal for the burial.
“Dapat siya managot kasi siya naman talaga ang nagbigay pahintulot at nag-encourage na ilibing si Marcos sa Libingan ng mga Bayani,” Ellecer Carlos of human rights group iDefend said.
(He should be held accountable because he really is to blame. He allowed and encouraged the burial of Marcos at the Heroes’ Cemetery.)
Other leftist groups echoed the call. The Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, for instance, said, “We hold the Duterte administration responsible for this latest insult to the victims of Martial Law and to the valiant struggle of our people to bring down the conjugal dictatorship.”
However, Akbayan Youth chairperson Rafaela David, one of the organizers of the Friday night rally, said it was too early at this point to consider legal actions.
“But for sure, we are really disappointed at the support the administration has given [to the Marcoses], and, of course, they have to be held accountable,” she said.
Negrenses join protest
PROTEST RALLY. Negrenses stage a rally at the Fountain of Justice in Bacolod City following the hero’s burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos on November 18, 2016. Photo by Marchel P. Espina/Rappler
In Bacolod City, Negrenses joined the nationwide protest against a hero’s burial for Marcos by holding a rally at the Fountain of Justice.
Christian Tuayon, secretary-general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Negros (Bayan-Negros), expressed outrage because the burial was kept a secret to the public. He added that Filipinos, especially Martial Law victims,were betrayed.
He slammed the Duterte administration for allowing it, saying: “He (Duterte) claims he’s pro-people. Before he left the country [for Peru], he had a press conference and he didn’t even mention the burial. He kept it a secret [from] the people.”
Negros Occidental Vice Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said, “I echo what Vice President Leni Robredo said, ‘It was done like a thief in the night,’ just like when he (Marcos) declared Martial Law and arrested all his political opponents.”
He added that the burial will open the wounds of the Martial Law victims.
INDIGNATION RALLY. Photo by Keith Fabro
Palawan youth leaders light candles
In Puerto Princesa City, dozens of student leaders gathered in front of the Palawan provincial capitol at around 6 pm to express their indignation against Marcos’ unannounced burial.
“Malinaw na itong rehimen natin sa kasalukuyan ay hindi nagsisilbi sa ating mamamayan kung saan ipinamumukha sa atin itong pagbulaga na paglilibing kay Marcos na hindi pinaalam sa atin, na pambabastos sa ating kasaysayan,” said youth leader Ronces Paragoso.
(It’s clear that the current administration is not serving the Filipino people. This brazen, sudden burial of Marcos was not disclosed to us. It smacks of utter disrespect for our history.)
“Marami ang naging biktima ng human rights violations, torture – mga desaparecidos na ilang taon na ang nakararaan ngunit hanggang sa ngayon ay hindi pa rin nabibigyan ng hustisya,” she added.
(Many became victims of human rights violations, torture – the desaparecidos who have yet to be given justice until now, many years later.)
Ingold Faye Arribe, editor-in-chief of the student publication of the Palawan State University, said they were protesting on behalf of the campus writers who were silenced after taking a stand against the Marcos dictatorship.
As the youth protesters lit candles, PSU Student Council president Myka Magbanua said: “We will never forget.” – with reports from Marchel Espina in Bacolod and Keith Anthony S. Fabro in Puerto Princesa/Rappler.com
‘This is nothing new to the Marcoses…complete disrespect for the rule of law,’ says Vice President Leni Robredo
Vice President Leni Robredo during press conference at the former Boracay Mansion on Tuesday. Robredo said she is not in favor of the former President Ferdinand Marco burial at the Libing ng mga Bayani. Photo by: JOEL LIPORADA
MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo strongly condemned the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on Friday, November 18, maintaining that “he is no hero.”
The burial caught the country by surprise, as it was only announced by Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa roughly an hour before it took place.
The burial was also not expected to happen so soon, as anti-Marcos petitioners still have room to file motions for reconsideration before the Supreme Court (SC). The SC previously voted 9-5 to allow a hero’s burial for Marcos, which had been ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Like a thief in the night, the Marcos family deliberately hid the information of burying former president Marcos today from the Filipino people. They obviously flouted the law where the decision does not become final and executory until 15 days or the resolution of the MR,” said Robredo in a statement on Friday.
“As stated in several decisions from the Supreme Court, Ferdinand Marcos was a thief, a murderer, and a dictator. He is no hero. If he were, obviously his family would not have to hide his burial like a shameful criminal deed,” the Vice President also said.
Robredo added that she was “disturbed” that the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the PNP were involved in the preparations for Marcos’ burial.
“We are disturbed that this happened in coordination with AFP and PNP, demonstrating further that the judicial process has been thoroughly disregarded,” said the Vice President.
Robredo also slammed the Marcos family, pointing out that the Martial Law era under the regime of the late dictator was marred by human rights abuses and corruption.
“This is nothing new to the Marcoses – they who had hidden wealth, hidden human rights abuses, and now, a hidden burial – with complete disrespect for the rule of law,” said Robredo. (READ: Marcos family arranged for a private burial)
According to Amnesty International, about 70,000 people were imprisoned, 34,000 were tortured, and 3,240 were killed during Martial Law from 1972 to 1981.
Various estimates also put the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth at between $5 billion and $10 billion. – Rappler.com
PROTEST RALLY. Negrenses stage a rally at the Fountain of Justice in Bacolod City following the hero’s burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos on November 18, 2016. Photo by Marchel P. Espina/Rappler
INDIGNATION RALLY. Photo by Keith Fabro