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BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
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Marcos is not a hero
LAST Tuesday, Nov. 8, the Supreme Court ruled that President Ferdinand Marcos can be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB).
Voting 9-5, the Supreme Court dismissed all the petitions challenging the proposed burial of former President Marcos at the Heroes’ Cemetery.
The Supreme Court dismissed the petitions based on five main reasons:
1. There was no grave abuse of discretion on the part of President Rodrigo Duterte in ordering the burial of Marcos at LNMB because it was done in the exercise of his mandate. There is also no law that prohibits the burial of Marcos’ remains at the LNMB
2. President Duterte has the power to reserve for public use and for specific public purposes, any of the lands under public domain.
3. Marcos’ remains, under regulations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, can be interred at LNMB because he was a former president, commander-in-chief, soldier, medal of valour awardee, and legislator.
4. The Supreme Court disagreed Marcos was “dishonorably discharged,” saying the disqualification only pertains to the military
5. Marcos cannot be disqualified from burial at LNMB because he was not convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude.
Now nowhere in these five reasons of the high court was any mention of Marcos being declared a hero let alone given a hero’s burial. On top of that President Rodrigo Duterte never said anything official or unofficial that Marcos is a hero. So what’s all the fuss about Marcos being buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani? What is the Libingan ng mga Bayani anyway?
According to Wikipedia, Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) is a Philippine national cemetery within Fort Bonifacio (formerly Fort William McKinley) in Western Bicutan, Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines.
First established in May 1947 as a fitting resting place for Filipino military personnel from privates to generals who served during World War II, it eventually became designated as the official place of burial for deceased Philippine presidents, national heroes, patriots, national artists and national scientists.
So on the first two counts, Marcos being a former soldier and president have all the right according to law to be buried in that cemetery. Definitely he is not a national hero nor an artist and scientist.
If you check the five reasons of the Supreme Court in dismissing all the petitions against the burial of Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, it was based mostly on him being a former soldier and president. Absolutely nothing about him being a hero, now if the only qualification for anyone to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani is that one must be a hero then he is definitely disqualified.
The qualifications for one to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani is not all of the above but you just need to qualify in one and whether they like it or not you’re allowed by law to be buried there.
Having said that, burying Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani does not automatically make him a hero; it just means that he’s buried in a cemetery called by that name.
In the true sense of the word, it’s not strictly a cemetery for heroes as wives of generals are also buried there and none of them even came close to being called a hero.
Never mind the trendy social climbers or the has-beens that are using the “Marcos burial” as a vehicle to resurrect their lost careers that probably never were or to be part of the “social circle” of the oligarchs. Of course there are also the so-called “leftists” who have become irrelevant and are also using this issue to make themselves relevant.
Let’s look at the two most prominent personalities that are against the burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani: Archbishop Socrates Villegas President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines or CBCP and newbie senator Risa Hontiveros.
Archbishop Villegas said, “We are very sad. The burial is an insult to the EDSA spirit. It mocks our fight to restore democracy. We are puzzled and hurt and in great grief. It calls on us for greater courage to make the full truth of the dictatorship known. Yes, we do not forget and we will not forget.”
What makes this statement stand out is that it came from a Catholic priest, a religion anchored on “forgiveness” and “loving your neighbor as yourself” yet this statement smacks of hatred and vengeance. I guess those principles do not apply if you’re a Marcos and not an Aquino. Oh and he probably has erotic dreams of being the next “Cardinal Sin” standing on EDSA like Moses with his staff calling the faithful to bring down another duly elected president in the name of God.
Meanwhile, Senator Hontiveros said “Supreme Court broke our hearts” in allowing Marcos a hero’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, this coming from someone who went around schools proclaiming that she fought Marcos and martial law when she was only six years old. Of course, we know that the Supreme Court allowed Marcos to be buried and never declared him a hero nor said anything about a hero’s burial.
Risa Hontiveros probably had an epiphany that she is the next Teresa Magbanua; dreaming of being the next “Angel Locsin” would suit her more as a teenager she spent her time in German Moreno’s “That’s Entertainment” not fighting martial law.
It seems to me that the only people saying that Marcos is a hero are the ones shouting he is not a hero./PN
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