The Supreme Court petition comes a day after Malacañang’s announcement of its firm stand on the matter, as well as a protest rally in Luneta
GOING TO COURT. Martial Law victims at the Supreme Court on Monday, August 15. Photo by Patty Pasion/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Martial Law victims on Monday, August 15, asked the Supreme Court to intervene and stop the planned hero’s interment for the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Led by former Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares and activist Bonifacio Ilagan, the petitioners argued that the late president does not deserve a slot in the national shrine because burying him there violates Republic Act 289, which created the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
“The law states that only Presidents worthy of emulation and inspiration deserve to be buried there,” Colmenares told reporters in Filipino.
“Marcos is a dictator and should not be emulated or be a source of inspiration,” he added.
Colmenares also stressed that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) guidelines disqualify soldiers guilty of moral turpitude from being buried there. He recalled the massive human rights violations committed during the Marcos regime.
The petition also included the Marcos family’s deal with the government during the time of former president Fidel Ramos, which allowed for the return of the late dictator’s remains as long as he would be buried in Ilocos Norte. Marcos’ remains are in the Marcos family ancestral home in Batac, Ilocos Norte. (READ: Ramos-era deal prevents Marcos hero’s burial)
Ilagan said the petition also cited the law recognizing and providing reparations for Martial Law victims.
Duterte’s decision final
Asked to comment on the petition, Presidential Legal Adviser Salvador Panelo said Malacañang will respect “whatever decision” the Court will have on the matter. “We welcome the petition. We welcome any opposition. Let the courts decide as to the validity of the decision of the President.”
The petition was filed a day after President Rodrigo Duterte stood firm on his decision to bury the late strongman at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery).
“There is clarity in the regulations governing the late President Marcos burial. The President shall therefore remain undistracted,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement on Sunday, August 14.
Thousands of protesters also staged a rally on Sunday despite the bad weather to urge Duterte to stop the planned burial for Marcos at the Libingan.
Prior to the rally, allies of both former president Benigno Aquino III and Duterte declared their opposition to Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Defeated LP presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II and senators Leila de Lima, Francis Pangilinan, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, and Risa Hontiveros were among those who attended the protest at the Rizal Park.
Senators Aquilino Pimentel III and Alan Peter Cayetano – Duterte’s key allies – are also against his decision.
The military has started its preparations for the burial set in September – Marcos’ birth month.
The defense department said Marcos is qualified for burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, because he was a soldier, a former war veteran, an ex-defense secretary, and a former president. (READ: Marcos ‘qualified’ for hero’s burial based on AFP rules) – Rappler.com
Participants in the rally reminisce the time they were fighting against the Marcos regime, leading up to the 1986 EDSA People Power uprising
MANILA, Philippines – Of the hundreds that gathered to oppose the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, a sizeable number at the Luneta on Sunday, August 14, were old enough to have lived through martial law.
Members of religious groups, non-governmental organizations, as well as civilians stood in the crowd amid an on-and-off downpour, rallying against what they deemed a betrayal of history.
Away from the center of it all was Ping Martija, 76, holding up a placard that read, “Ilibing na lang sa La Loma ang diktador! Dating pangulo Ferdinand Marcos (Bury the dictator, former president Ferdinand Marcos, in La Loma instead).”
La Loma Cemetery, located in Caloocan City, is where some notable Filipino figures like Josefa Llanes Escoda and Victorino Mapa are buried.
Martija is a member of the non-violent organization Aksyon sa Kapayapaan at Katarungan (AKapKa). The group fought against the dictatorship through nonviolent means.
“Kaya nandito ako [ay dahil] buong puso kong sinusuportahan ang pagkakaisa laban sa paglibing [kay Marcos] sa Libingan ng mga Bayani. Hindi siya karapat-dapat…hindi naman siya tunay na bayani,” Martija said.
(I am here to wholeheartedly oppose the burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. He is not deserving…he is no hero.)
Martija hails from San Miguel, Leyte, the home province of former first lady and now Congresswoman Imelda Marcos. Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr won big in the province in the 2016 vice presidential race, claiming 49.5% of the votes.
“[K]ababayan ko si Imelda…subali’t hindi ako sumusuporta sa kanya dahil lumalaban ako [para sa] kalayaan ng mamamayan. Noong panahon na ‘yon, walang demokrasya,” Martija said.
(Imelda Marcos and I come from the same province, but I do not support her because I am fighting for the freedom of my countrymen. At the time, there was no democracy.)
He said he fears we might lose democracy again. It will start, he said, by burying the dictator and recognizing him as a hero. “Papaano naging bayani si Marcos? Noong panahon niya, walang puwedeng magsalita laban sa kanya; aakusahan ka na NPA [New People’s Army] at dudukutin ka.”
(How could Marcos be a hero? In his time, no one could speak against him; you would be accused of being an NPA and would be abducted if you were.)
He also shared his dismay at how the martial law years is taught in schools. He said it is erroneous to downplay the Marcos dictatorship. The Department of Education promised in early 2016 to address this matter in the K-12 program. (READ: DepEd: K to 12 curriculum allows in-depth discussion on martial law)
“Nakakalungkot. Kailan natin makakamtan ang tunay na kalayaan (It’s very sad. When will we attain true freedom)?” Martija asked.
Politicians alongside martial law victims gather in front of the Lapu-Lapu Monument in Luneta to protest against the motion to bury former President Ferdinand Marcon in the Libingan ng mga Bayani on August 14, 2016.
‘False ending’
“I was somewhere in Metro Manila, being sad because I knew that it was a false ending,” Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation trustee Carolina “Bobbie” Malay, 76, said of her whereabouts during the EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986.
Malay was part of the communist resistance during martial law, and remained underground for almost two decades until her arrest, along with husband Satur Ocampo, whom she wed in revolutionary rites.
Satur co-founded the National Democratic Front (NDF), which represented the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA), while underground.
Both he and Malay were part of the NDF’s negotiating panel during peace talks with the government of Corazon Aquino. They would again be arrested in 1992 after the collapse of negotiations between the government and the Left.
While underground, Malay wrote for Taliba ng Bayan, an alternative newspaper published by the NDF from 1972 until the early 1980s, during the dictatorship. Before that, she wrote for The Manila Times and Evening News.
“What I joined the movement for was to have change in society. Marcos was a big part of what we were fighting, but it was not the entire thing. I was aware of the injustice and the poverty, the unequal distribution of privilege and power…and I wanted to be part of changing that,” Malay said.
While she thought the fall of the dictatorship at EDSA was a “job [that] was not yet done,” she said she still felt nostalgic for people power, witnessing the assembly at Luneta on Sunday.
“I think many of the people who are here (in Luneta) today were part of that (EDSA) – a very significant part of it has remained in our hearts, in our minds. [It is] very encouraging to see that the fight continues, [that the] people are ready to rise to the occasion,” Malay said.
NO TO LIBINGAN. Protesters gather on August 14, 2016 at the Luneta. Photo by Alecs Ongcal/Rappler
In the dark
Rose Hidalgo remembers caring for her newborn child in the dark. “Nanganak ako noong September 19, 1972…noong 21 nag-blackout (I gave birth on September 19, 1972…on the 21st there was a blackout),” she recalled.
“Talagang dark era [noon] (It was truly a dark era),” Hidalgo said. Her child would spend the first few days of life in a dark hospital ward, at the dawn of martial law; it was a portent of things to come.
“Masama ang loob ko na maraming kabataan ang nagsasabing kalimutan na lang [ang nangyari noon] (It pains me that many young people today say that we should just forget what happened before),” she added.
She made it a point to always tell her children about the wrongs of the Marcos regime as they were growing up.
Hidalgo came to Luneta with her husband Fred to relive the two EDSAs they took part in. “[Kapag nailibing si Marcos sa Libingan ng mga Bayani], parang mababale-wala ang pagsali namin sa EDSA,” she said. (If Marcos ends up being buried a hero, EDSA will have been for naught.)
For Martija, Malay, and Hidalgo, the fight does not end at the Luneta. They are only 3 among the thousands of Filipinos who lived to tell their tales about the martial law regime. More stories remain undocumented and untold to this day. – Rappler.com
Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat Jr says these Cabinet members should urge President Rodrigo Duterte not to push through with Ferdinand Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani
MARTIAL LAW. Several members of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet were activists during the martial law era.
MANILA, Philippines – Allies of President Rodrigo Duterte who themselves were human rights victims during the martial law era are now being challenged to speak up and convince the President to change his mind about the hero’s burial for the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
“If the President listens to public opinion, he has in his Cabinet victims of martial law… it would be beneficial to hear their voices to encourage the President [to change his decision],” Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat Jr said in Filipino on Tuesday, August 9.
The Liberal Party (LP) lawmaker is among the politicians involved in a multi-sectoral coalition against Marcos’ planned burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery).
Baguilat was referring to Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano, and Cabinet Secretary Leoncio “Jun” Evasco Jr. He also named singer-composer Freddie Aguilar, who was earlier rumored to be up for the leadership of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
Taguiwalo, Mariano, and Evasco were members of Left-leaning movements while Aguilar’s song “Bayan Ko” had been the anthem of the opposition against the Marcos regime.
Staunch Duterte allies Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano earlier expressed their disapproval of the President’s decision to allow the burial, saying they do not consider Marcos a hero.
Baguilat said statements like these are much needed from Duterte’s allies so the President won’t dismiss the calls as just “noise” coming from the opposition.
Another point Baguilat raised: What would communists have to say about the hero’s burial for Marcos?
When Marcos declared martial law in 1972, he had cited a communist threat to national security.
“I hope they make it one of the preconditions to pursue the peace talks. At least to say something about the Marcos burial,” Baguilat said in Filipino.
Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison earlier said that Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani is a non-issue for him.
The government is set to resume peace talks with the CPP this month. – Rappler.com
‘How can we allow a hero’s burial for a man who has plundered our country and was responsible for the death and disappearance of many Filipinos?’ says Vice President Leni Robredo
Photo of Robredo by Noel Celis/AFP
MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo “strongly opposes” President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to transfer the remains of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos from Ilocos Norte to the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery).
“It is our responsibility to teach our children the heroism and sacrifice of our forefathers. And Mr. Marcos is no hero,” said Robredo in a statement on Monday, August 8.
“How can we allow a hero’s burial for a man who has plundered our country and was responsible for the death and disappearance of many Filipinos? Those who have greatly committed crimes and moral turpitude to the Filipino people cannot be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.”
“This decision will not bring unity to our country; it will only deepen the unhealed wounds of the survivors and family members of victims of the terrible years under the Marcos presidency,” Robredo said.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is now preparing for the transfer of the late strongman’s remains to the cemetery in Taguig City.
A longtime friend of the President, former senator Marcos earlier bared that Duterte gave the go signal for his father’s burial at the Libingan.
During the campaign period, Duterte promised to approve the burial, citing the late dictator’s military records during World War II.
Last June, martial law victims laid stones at the gravesite supposedly reserved for Marcos at the Libingan. The stones were inscribed with names of those who were killed during the dictatorship.
Amnesty International has estimated that over 70,000 people were imprisoned, 34,000 were tortured, and 3,240 were killed under the Marcos regime.
Robredo said the Marcos family has yet to admit that these atrocities happened.
Senators Leila De Lima and Francis Pangilinan cite Republic Act 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act as a tool to stop the hero’s burial of the late dictator
CLASS SUIT. Senators Leila De Lima and Francis Pangilinan suggest the filing of a case before a court to stop the hero’s burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
MANILA, Philippines – Two senators from the Liberal Party (LP) have proposed filing charges before a court to stop the planned burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. (READ: Gov’t now preparing for Marcos burial at Libingan)
Senators Leila De Lima and Francis Pangilinan both cited Republic Act 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013, which allocates some P10 billion, sourced mainly from the Marcoses’ deposits in Swiss banks, to about 10,000 human rights victims.
If the state passed such a law, then it only goes to show that the government acknowledged the atrocities of the past, said the two senators.
With this, De Lima suggested that victims file an “injunctive class suit.”
“Baka kako puwede ‘yung injunctive class suit. Because if they have the right to demand for monetary compensation sa mga ginawa sa kanila, then hindi ba puwede na puwede nilang pigilan ‘yung paglalapastangan ng mga nangyari sa kanila?” De Lima told reporters on Monday, August 8.
(I said maybe, an injunctive class suit is appropriate. Because if they have the right to demand for monetary compensation for the things done to them, then are they not allowed to stop this travesty, the setting aside of what had happened to them?)
Pangilinan, for his part, expressed hope that President Rodrigo Duterte would still change his mind. But if not, he said the last option would be the court as the state granted compensation to martial law victims.
“I think mayroong pagkakataon na dalhin ito sa hukuman para magpasiya ang hukuman dahil mayroong batas na maliwanag po na nagsasabi na nagkaroon ng gross violation of human rights noong panahon po ni Marcos. Kaya nga po sila ay bibigyan ng compensation,” Pangilinan said.
(I think there is a chance to bring this to court so the court can decide because there is a law that clearly says there was gross violation of human rights during the time of Marcos. That’s why they are being given compensation.)
The burial – if it pushes through – might just violate the existing law, Pangilinan said.
Citing RA 10368, the senator said “the state hereby acknowledges its moral and legal obligation to recognize and or provide reparation to victims and their families” who suffered under the Marcos regime.
“Taliwas po ‘yung pasiya na iyan dito sa batas na ito so we can make a legal argument against the burial of the former president dito sa Libingan ng mga Bayani,” Pangilinan said.
(The decision to bury Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani is against the law so we can make a legal argument against the burial of the former president there.)
Divisive issue
Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon, another LP senator, also opposes Duterte’s decision.
“I urge the President to reconsider his decision. At this point in the history of our country where Filipinos are starting to hope again, what our nation needs is unity in order for our country to succeed socially, economically and politically,” he said.
Drilon added that the issue would only divide the nation at a time when it has only started to heal.
“Hence, such a sensitive issue would not help but only divide our people and reopen the wounds of the past that up to now, were not completely healed,” he said.
Even two of Duterte’s closest allies in the Senate – Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano – have strongly opposed a hero’s burial for the late strongman.
While the two said they do not consider Marcos a “hero,” both said they respect the President’s decision.
“If I were president, I would not allow it. I don’t consider him a hero. Ayun lang, ‘di ako president (But I am not president.) We will respect the decision of the President,” Pimentel told reporters.
“Well, you know, I see the point of the President that kung (if it’s) completely legal issue, he’s entitled to it. Pero ‘yung pangalan kasi ng libingan ay Libingan ng mga Bayani (But the name of the cemetery is Heroes’ Cemetery) and we do not consider him [a hero]. He had heroic moments during his life. But we do not consider in totality heroic because of the things that happened in martial law,” Cayetano said.
As early as the 2016 campaign, Duterte has said he wants to put an end to the issue. On Sunday, he reiterated that Marcos deserves to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
“As a former soldier and former president of the Philippines, I see nothing wrong in having Marcos buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani,” Duterte said. – Rappler.com
‘We seem to equate moving on with forgetting the evils of martial law and extolling those who perpetuated it,’ says Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat Jr
NEVER AGAIN. Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate, Akbayan Representative Tom Villarin, and Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat Jr all oppose former president Ferdinand Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Photos of Zarate and Baguilat from their Facebook pages, Villarin from his official website, the Libingan ng mga Bayani from Wikimedia Commons, and Marcos from the Presidential Museum and Library
MANILA, Philippines – Some congressmen oppose the move to bury the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, saying this would be injustice to the victims of martial law.
“Burying Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani is tantamount to burying the numerous atrocities he committed under his authoritarian regime,” said Akbayan Representative Tom Villarin on Monday, August 8.
A day before, the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte announced that preparations to transfer the remains of Marcos from Ilocos Norte to the Libingan ng Bayani or the Heroes’ Cemetery are underway.
This proposal was opposed by various groups and also relatives of those buried at the Libingan, citing the many instances of killings, disappearances, torture, and other abuses during Marcos’ 21-year rule. (READ: #NeverAgain: Martial law stories young people need to hear)
For Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate, Marcos’ remains should stay in Batac, Ilocos Norte.
“We should not allow the unrepentant Marcoses to use the burial issue in advancing their revisionist lies on the blood-drenched legacy of the dictator,” he told Rappler in a text message.
“No amount of amount of embellishment can whitewash the plunder, terror, and grave human rights violations perpetrated during the reign of Marcos, a dictator and certainly not a bayani (hero)!” added Zarate.
Ifugao Representative Teddy Brawner Baguilat Jr also opposes the move for Marcos to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
He shared that he has 3 relatives who were part of the military and are currently buried at the Libingan – his late brother Captain Winston Brawner Baguilat, his cousin 1st Lieutenant Felix Brawner III, and his uncle Colonel Franklin Brawner.
Baguilat’s brother was killed in action in Basilan while his cousin died in an operation in Bicol. The lawmaker’s uncle, meanwhile, died because of cancer.
“[My brother] fought corruption and died so his country can be free from war. Now we’re burying a dictator who plundered our economy, who made corruption a lifestyle. We’re giving full military honors to a president who suppressed freedoms, jailed, and tortured those who fought our freedoms, allowed killing of human rights defender and activists,” said Baguilat.
Albay 1st District Representative Edcel Lagman is set to deliver a privilege speech against the transfer of Marcos’ remains on Tuesday, August 9.
Sending the wrong message?
According to Villarin, the Duterte administration should review its decision to bury Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani because it may send the “wrong message” that they are not as serious in their pursuit of social justice.
“The burial issue is a governance issue as this concerns how we judge the Marcos government. It has been proven that Marcos led a corrupt, brutal, and dictatorial rule that impoverished our people and nation,” said Villarin.
The Libingan ng mga Bayani, a property of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), is the designated resting place for Filipino soldiers, war veterans, and citizens who are considered heroes and martyrs. (READ: Who can be buried at Heroes’ Cemetery? AFP explains rules)
The AFP said late Philippine presidents, national artists, scientists, dignitaries, and AFP chiefs of staff may be buried at the cemetery as well.
