WITH the election season upon us, we underscore that every Filipino should assess and consider carefully what is true: Marcos is no hero.
Let us not be misled by any attempt to distort and reframe history. The evidences of the dark days of Martial Law are before us: the tortures, imprisonments, and killings of thousands; the widespread poverty and massive corruption; and an era of massive foreign borrowings plundered by Marcos and his cronies, debts future Filipino taxpayers had to pay.
Marcos is no hero.
The Marcoses have funds at their disposal to engage in all manner of disinformation or spread of untruths, true to their unrepentant form. Their wealth was stolen, their stories are false, and they continue to peddle lies and unscrupulous methods of self-aggrandizement and public influence.
Instead, the heroic efforts of the Filipino people to depose a dictator should loom large in our collective memory. It draws us further back to the stories of martyrs and heroes who stood against colonizers. Their sacrifices and industriousness have brought us this far. These nourish our hope to stand firm against dictators.
Those who continue to stand and struggle for freedom, democracy, justice, and peace are the ones who deserve our trust. Many have passed this later criterion. Let us not go back to those who failed our trust and failed this nation.
Many Church people have chosen to deepen their involvement in the democratic processes in meaningful ways. This means new partnerships with Filipino families and communities longing for meaningful and life-giving changes. This means rising up from the failed pandemic response, scandalous deals on COVID-19 health materials like the Pharmally deal, the slowest economic recovery in Southeast Asia and by casting out people already notorious for their corruption and self-serving political ends. This means taking pride in a people who assert democratic rights and genuine development for all.
We encourage everyone to discern the truth of our history and to apply such wisdom to present realities. We applaud those who have seen and led the way ahead for unity and harmony in the earnest intent to achieve common desires for peace, justice, and truth to flourish in the Philippines.
Embrace the truth: Marcos is no hero! Those whose hands are bloodied by killings and tainted by death and destruction are not worthy of emulation.
One Voice denounces the evil of martial law and raises the dangers of allowing its resurgence through candidates of the same fabric of lies, tyranny and human degradation. Stand for truth and a future full of hope. – Most Rev. Broderick S. Pabillo, D.D, Vicar Apostolic of Taytay, Palawan; Most Rev. Gerardo Alminaza, D.D. Diocese of San Carlos; Bishop Reuel Norman Marigza, General Secretary, National Council of Churches in the Philippines; Most Revd. Rhee M. Timbang, Obispo Maximo, Iglesia Filipina Independiente; The Rt. Rev. Rex Resurreccion B. Reyes, Jr.,The Episcopal Diocese of Central Philippines; Bp. Emergencio Padillo, United Church of Christ in the Philippines; Br. Armin A. Luistro FSC, Brother Visitor, Lasallian East Asia District; Sr. Rowena Pineda, MMS, Chairperson Sisters Association of Mindanao; Sr. Ma. Lisa Ruedas, DC, Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation
