“Burying the dictator in the Libingan ng mga Bayani will not heal our wounded country.”

MANILA – Even as President Duterte said the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) is meant “to heal” the nation, his decision only opened an old wound, one that has to do with bringing the tyrant and his family to face punishment for their crimes against the people. The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has weighed in on the issue of whether former President Ferdinand Marcos is a hero by submitting to the Supreme Court (SC) 54 pages of attachments to its Consolidated Comment including 11 documents supposedly showing that Marcos was recognized by the government as a soldier, war hero and Medal of Valor recipient. Roque had filed a bill proposing to change the name of the Libingan ng mga Bayani to “Libingan ng mga Bayani at mga Dating Pangulo” (Cemetery for Heroes and Former Presidents) as a means to prevent public unrest in wake of opposition from some sectors to the planned burial of Marcos’ remains at the Hero’s Cemetery. The sovereign Filipino people cannot and must not allow this unprincipled and opportunistic Congress to propose a revision to the Constitution at the behest of a constitutionally excluded authority. Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, whose brother Hermon disappeared during Martial Law and was never found, said “far from being a hero, former President Ferdinand Marcos was a despot, an oppressor of the Filipino people, during the dark era of Martial Law.”

“A Marcos hero’s burial would glorify a dictator, distort history, aggravate the injustice to human rights violation victims and their families and mock the heroism of desaparecidos (disappeared) and other victims of Marcos’ atrocities,” Lagman added. Bound by statutes

 Barry Guttierez, who represented Martial Law victims like former Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairwoman Loretta Ann Rosales, said Duterte was constitutionally bound by statutes that recognize the Marcos regime’s atrocities, such as Republic Act 10368 that gave reparations to human rights victims. Photo by LeAnne Jazul/Rappler

MANILA, Philippines – Victims of horrifying acts of torture during Martial Law recounted their painful experiences before Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Wednesday, August 31.
Female victims of the martial law dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos speak at the Philippine Supreme Court about how they endured torture during Marcos' regime.