by MLC | Nov 27, 2016 | News
Source: GMA News
President Rodrigo Duterte, during a speech Saturday at the San Beda Law Grand Alumni Homecoming in Taguig City, again defended his decision to allow the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani, arguing that it was made objectively and without “compassion and sentiment.”
“You just have to understand my position. We [lawyers] are trained with cold neutrality,” Duterte explained to his fellow law school alumni, some of whom he conceded did share his views. “You should not allow compassion, and sentiment, whatever, to taint your judgment.”
The president added that he knew from the beginning that he would have to deal with Marcos’ burial if he became the chief executive. He thus took the time to study the matter and made his decision clear during the presidential debates – that he would allow the interment at the LNMB
According to Duterte, the regulations were unequivocal. “Eh, nakalagay doon, eh: president, soldier. Whether true or not, that’s not my business to dig into the history. Whether or not he became good or bad, or worse, along the years, that is not for me to decide.”
Gerrymandering
Despite the president having referred to Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as the possible new vice president and Marcos Jr. calling himself lucky to have Duterte as a friend, the president on Saturday denied having a special relationship with the former dictator’s family. “It’s not because of the Marcoses. ‘Bati-system’ lang, there’s nothing close. We never had any dinner together, except one or two. Wala akong ano,” he explained.
Duterte also pointed out that his mother had led protests and had marched against the dictatorship. The only reason that she did not end up being arrested was because his father had been Davao province’s governor.
However, the president recounted that Davao, during his father’s governorship, was one huge province, that was later broken up into several smaller provinces by the Marcos government.
“When my father died – gerrymandering. So everybody was given his territory… Rabat, asawa niya malapit kay Imelda [Marcos], got Oriental. Danding Cojuangco and the Almendrases got Davao Sur. Davao del Norte was given to the Florendos,” Duterte recalled.
“So it’s all politics. Philippines is all politics,” concluded the president. “Well because we are a political country. We elect leaders.”
Duterte’s speech at the alumni homecoming came a day after thousands gathered at the Luneta for a “Black Friday” rally, which protested the LNMB burial given that it honored a dictator, plunderer, and human rights violator as recognized by the legislative and judicial branches of government.
by MLC | Nov 25, 2016 | News
By Jessica Bartolome
Source: GMA News
A couple of debates sparked when anti-Marcos protesters faced off against supporters of the late dictator at Rizal Park on Friday.
As groups protested the burial of late President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani near the Quirino Grandstand on Friday, a handful of people claiming to support President Rodrigo Duterte showed up at Luneta.
While the two protests were deliberately separated by the police, some anti-Marcos protesters were compelled to cross the street to engage Marcos supporters in discourse.
Two young men got into a debate over whether the declaration of Martial Law was justified.
Ochi Tarzo, who came from the anti-Marcos rally, said that he didn’t intend to start a debate. He said he simply wanted to impart words that Marcos supporters can mull over.
Mace, a supporter of both Marcos and Duterte, said that he never claimed that Marcos was a hero. He said that he was simply upholding the rule of law.
https://twitter.com/jacbartolome/status/802090092487553024/photo/1
The debate was relatively pleasant, both men shaking hands after the debate.
Meanwhile, a law student who opposed the Marcos burial engaged three elderly men in a similar debate.
However, the student, Kelby, cut the debate short because he felt they weren’t addressing the issue.
One of the elder men said that he did not care for the historical revisionism that came as a consequence of the burial.
https://twitter.com/jacbartolome/status/802096135938580481/photo/1
Dozens of anti-Marcos rallyists also marched to Rizal Park, passing by the Duterte supporters.
Their chants of “Marcos, Hitler, diktador, tuta” interrupted the chants of “Duterte!”
Later, the Duterte supporters started chanting “Unggoy kayo!”
by MLC | Nov 25, 2016 | News
By Jessica Bartolome
Source: GMA News
A group supporting President Rodrigo Duterte arrived at the Luneta Park on Friday afternoon to show support for the burial of the late President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Seven members of the Duterte Youth Group positioned themselves across the street from anti-Marcos groups who were also holding a rally at the Rizal Park.
The pro-Marcos group’s leader, Ronald Cardema, said he expects their numbers to swell from 100 to 200.
https://twitter.com/jacbartolome/status/802053208705114112/photo/1
The group initially held their rally close to the anti-Marcos groups, but police requested them to move across the street so as not to block the walkway.
Manila Police District officer-in-charge Senior Supt. Bartolome Bustamante said they asked the pro-Marcos group to transfer to ensure a peaceful protest.
by MLC | Nov 23, 2016 | News
By Joseph Tristan Roxas
Source: GMA News
The “Black Friday” protest opposing the hero’s burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos will proceed on November 25 at Rizal Park, with or without a permit, and 13 other different locations, anti-Marcos groups announced on Wednesday.
In a news conference, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes said that aside from Rizal Park (Luneta) in Manila, mass protests are also scheduled in Isabela, Tarlac, Tuguegarao City, Iloilo City, Bicol, Cebu, Davao, University of the Philippines Los Baños campus, Calamba, Lucena City, Batangas City, and Antipolo City.
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Reyes said the mass action is a peaceful rally and a fitting welcome for President Rodrigo Durerte, who will return Wednesday night from Peru and New Zealand, in protest against the Marcos burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB).
“Ito ay isang mapayapamg pagkilos para tutulan ang paglibing kay Marcos at panagutin ang Pangulo ng Pilipinas,” he said.
“Sana makita at maunawaan niya kung saan nagmumula ang galit ng mamayan… Pakinggan niya ang totoong boses ng mamamayang Pilipino,” Reyes added.
Reyes invited the public to wear black on Friday to oppose the interment of the former dictator at LNMB even if they are unable to join the rallies.
Meanwhile, former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said the rally would still push through even if the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang fails to secure a permit to stage the protest action.
“Ang freedom of expression, hindi mo puwedeng ma-curtail by just a permit,” Colmenares said.
He hoped authorities would still allow the rally to be held and for its participants to air their grievances.
“Dapat hayaan ng mga otoridad na maglabas ang taong bayan ng kanilang damdamin sa Luneta. I’m sure hindi nila haharangan ang magpahayag lalo pa at mapayapang protesta ito ng mamamayan,” Colmenares said.
Reyes said the program for the rally is still being finalized, but the permit they applied for is for a protest action initially scheduled from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
According to Reyes, the speakers for the program include former senators Rene Saguisag and Serge Osmeña, film director Joel Lamangan, and victims of Martial Law.
‘Maximum tolerance’
Meanwhile, the National Capital Region Police Office is also preparing for the rallies and has been coordinating with their organizers for a more orderly protest.
In a report from Jun Veneracion on 24 Oras, NCRPO Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde said the police will exercise “maximum tolerance” as long as the rallies are peaceful.
“With or without a permit, papayagan natin yung rally as long as it would be peaceful. We will exercise maximum tolerance,” he said.
by MLC | Nov 22, 2016 | News
By Joseph Tristan Roxas
Source: GMA News
Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday urged Filipinos not to allow dictatorship to happen again, as she expressed alarm over recent “disturbing events” that she said seem to undermine the rule of law.
“The welfare of the ordinary Filipino is often shelved in the most terrible name of greed and power in our history,” she told businessmen at a forum. “This manifested brutally in a dictatorship where rights were disposed of as bodies piled.”
“We must not let this happen again,” added Robredo, as reported by GMA News’ Maki Pulido on “24 Oras.”
Robredo gave the statement less than a week after the controversial burial of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, which sparked indignation rallies across Metro Manila last Friday.
Robredo defeated Marcos’ son, former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, by a slim margin in the May 2016 elections, prompting the younger Marcos to file an electoral protest against her.
The protest is still pending with the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.
Robredo had earlier described the elder Marcos as a “thief, a murderer, and a dictator.”
Meanwhile, at the same forum, Robredo expressed alarm over recent “disturbing events” that she said seem to undermine “honesty, justice and the rule of law.”
“In light of recent disturbing events ladies and gentlemen, I long to speak to our business community, as well as the rest of our beautiful nation, about homegrown values that I fear may be becoming scant in our society, things like honesty, justice, and the rule of law. Values that turn us to considerate, fair and kind human beings,” she said.
She also criticized “tasteless” statements made against women.
“We bear witness to the many ways women are undermined, cat-calling, sexual abuse, even glass ceilings in the workplace. Often we are reduced to our bodies and this is unacceptable,” Robredo said.
“Tasteless remarks, inappropriate advances against women should have no place in our society,” she added.
by MLC | Nov 20, 2016 | News
By Mara Cepeda
Source: Rappler.com
‘But I bet on my life that it’s really the actual body [that was buried],’ says a source involved in the burial preparations for ex-President Ferdinand Marcos
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
A source privy to the burial preparations for the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos said 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.
This comes after Marcos loyalists said they “felt cheated” when they saw a body of the former president still displayed at the Ferdinand E. Marcos Presidential Center in Batac, Ilocos Norte on the day of the burial.
“Friday early morning, the body was switched. So ‘yung katawan na nandun na nakita ng media was actually a decoy. It was a replica. So the reason why they opened the mausoleum at 11 am is to show na it’s normal, andun ba ‘yung katawan ang everything. Alam ko there’s 2 or 3 replicas nung katawan,” said the source who requested anonymity.
(The body was switched early Friday morning. So the body seen by the media was a decoy. It was a replica. So the reason why they opened the mausoleum at 11 am on Friday was to show that things were normal and to answer questions whether or not the body is there. I know there are 2 or 3 replicas of the body.)
On November 18, Marcos’ remains were finally transferred to the national shrine for heroes in Taguig City in a peaceful and private ceremony requested by his heirs. (READ: Behind the scenes: 12 hours to prepare for Marcos burial)
The stealthy way the burial was planned and carried out was condemned by Marcos’ critics, with personalities like Vice President Leni Robredo calling out the Marcoses for their “hidden wealth, hidden human rights abuses, and now, a hidden burial.”
The source maintained that the Marcoses buried the former president’s actual preserved body at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Some netizens had pointed out that the coffin pictured during the interment was too small for a body.
According to the source, a top view of Marcos’ wooden coffin would show that the dimensions fit the former president’s body shape.
“I’m actually tempted to say that if the coffin is filled with chocolates and candies, people would believe me. But I bet on my life that it’s really the actual body [that was buried],” added the source.
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.”
