AT THE ENTRANCE of the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Cemetery of the Heroes), you will see written on a black stone a statement that says, I do not know the dignity of his birth, but I do know the glory of his death, to honor the memory of those who were buried there. The quote came from Gen. Douglas McArthur who came in 1960 to pay his respects to fallen comrades in World War II. It excuses the circumstances of their birth, but it honors the glory of their death.
When first established in May 1947 the Libingan was known as the Philippine Memorial Cemetery. Most of those buried in the cemetery are the defenders of Bataan, Corregidor and other battlefields of World War II in the country. On 27 October 1954, President Ramon Magsaysay renamed it to Libingan ng mga Bayani in order to emphasize the great honors that those who will be buried there deserve to get. A website of Corregidor Island described the intention of the Libingan: "a fitting tribute to gallant Filipino men and women who brought honor to the country and fought for the sake of freedom and democracy."
Glorious death, bringing honor to the country, fighting for the sake of freedom and democracy... These are the people who can claim to deserve burial in the Libingan. Not just any soldier, not just any president...
Lately, Rep. Salvador Escudero III (1st District, Sorsogon-UNO) filed House Resolution 1135 seeking to urge the administration of PNoy to allow the burial of the remains of late president and strongman Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan. He justifies in the second paragraph that Marcos was a well-decorated veteran of World War II and a survivor of the Bataan Death March, two historical claims that remained controversial for its questionable veracity. Succeeding paragraphs rattled off his membership in Congress, his presidency and his accomplishments as the longest-reigning president in the country and commander-in-chief of the Philippine armed forces.
In paragraph 7, Escudero capped the list with a claim that Marcos "remained a Filipino patriot to the end of his life and in death deserves to be honored as such."
But this resolution purposefully mistated the fact that the Filipino who may have been a patriot ceased to be so at the end of his life. Among those ignominous deeds of his dictatorial rule, the latest one deserved the order of the Sandiganbayan to the heirs of the Marcos estate to return the P10 million that the former president had transferred from the National Food Authority (NFA) to a private account in Security Bank on 27 July 1983.
If after all these ignominous things in the history of Marcos regime qualify for deeds that give "glory of his death" and "fights for freedom and democracy" we may as well rename Libingan with something else. And perhaps relocate the remains of those patriots, presidents and heroes of glorious repute somewhere else.
Burying Marcos in Libingan will dishonor the memory of those whose lives were offered to the country with no thought of monetary compensation, the soldiers in Corrigedor and Bataan who had to survive with no food in order to fight off the Japanese forces. Compare that to the US$ 7.5 million of sequestered assets that the US Court awarded to almost 8,000 human rights victims during his martial rule, P10 million diverted money from NFA, and still more that the Philippine government has not uncovered.
Burying Marcos in Libingan will insult the memory of former president Carlos Garcia, who espoused the "Filipino First" policy, not "myself first" policy, in his administration.
Burying Marcos in Libingan will insult the memory of General Artemio Ricarte, the father of the Philippine Army, who never took an oath of allegiance to the occupying American forces since the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-American War. Amidst the persecution he suffered from fellow Filipinos and the American forces, he chose to stay in the country to continue his fight, saying, "I can not take refuge in Japan at this critical moment when my people are in actual distress. I will stay in my Motherland to the last." And he lost his life standing for his Motherland.
Burying Marcos in Libingan will insult our memory as Filipino people, especially the desaparecidos, who judged him as a scoundrel who put himself and his family before his country, and putting an end to his military-protected dictatorial rule, through the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986.
Burying Marcos in Libingan will insult ourselves as a people. And Filipinos must demand an explanation from their district representatives who supported HR 1135 (click here for the list). It is time for the Filipinos take their stand for the indignity they suffered in the hands of the late dictator.
At the end of the day, the only way the Marcoses can redeem the honor of the deposed dictator is to have him indirectly declared a "hero" when his remains get buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Who can later on dispute that the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos was not a hero when he is buried at the Cemetery of Heroes? Thereafter, it is much easier to embellish history to honor the "heroism" of someone buried in the heroes' cemetery.
[This article also appears in Kuro-Kuro on 13 April 2011.]
UPDATE
President Benigno S. Aquino III announced that he upholds the settlement that the Philippine government of former President Fidel Ramos made with the Marcoses on the burial of the late strongman. A wise decision, Mr. President!
Vice President Jejomar Binay announced on 9 August 2011 that the Marcos family agrees to bury the former president in Ilocos Norte, and not in Libingan ng mga Bayani.
[This article also appears in Kuro-Kuro on 13 April 2011.]
UPDATE
President Benigno S. Aquino III announced that he upholds the settlement that the Philippine government of former President Fidel Ramos made with the Marcoses on the burial of the late strongman. A wise decision, Mr. President!
Vice President Jejomar Binay announced on 9 August 2011 that the Marcos family agrees to bury the former president in Ilocos Norte, and not in Libingan ng mga Bayani.
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