Marcos is no hero. He was a dictator, a killer and a
Since the fall of the Marcos dictatorship, the three
plunderer. Even the National Historical Commission said
that Marcos lied about his World War II medals. He is
definitely unworthy of the honor only genuine heroes
deserve. Marcos certainly did not die for his country. As
a matter of fact, the research done by the National
Historical Commission of the Philippines shows that
Marcos took advantage of whatever army connections
he had for fraudulent money-making and self-
aggrandizing purposes.
Below are the ten points that Sison raised against
Marcos’ burial at Libingan ng mga Bayani:
1. The Filipino people cannot allow Ferdinand Marcos,
the 14-year long fascist dictator, a traitor and a criminal
of colossal proportions to be honored in any manner as
a hero. They cannot forget and forgive his gross and
systematic violation of human rights. He was culpable
for the murder of at least 3,240 of his political
opponents. He caused the torture of at least 34,000 and
the illegal imprisonment of 70,000. He used his despotic
power to enrich himself and his family. He incurred
excessive foreign debt for overpriced infrastructure
projects. He plundered public resources amounting to at
least Php167 billion in pesos and at least $15 billion.
2. Marcos was definitively and categorically condemned
by the Filipino people as a fascist dictator and was
overthrown from the presidency through the sovereign
revolutionary act of the people who stormed the
presidential palace in 1986 and flooded Edsa to
persuade the reactionary armed forces to withdraw
support from him. Had he not been helicoptered out of
his palace by his US imperialist master, he would have
been immediately arrested and tried by the Filipino
people or he would been dealt with summarily like
Mussolini upon the defeat of the fascists in Italy.
3. But even then his thousands of victims of at least
9,500 sued him for human rights violations in the US
judicial system. He was found criminally culpable for
these human rights violations. The heirs of his estate are
under obligation to indemnify the victims. The final US
court decision is accepted by the Philippine government,
which has taken responsibility for processing and
distributing indemnification to victims from the erstwhile
Swiss bank deposits of the plunderer Marcos.
4. In view of its recent decision to allow the remains of
Marcos to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani
(LNMB), the current majority of the Supreme Court
should be reminded that the 1973 Constitution which
was used by Marcos to impose fascist dictatorship on
the Filipino people was scrapped upon the downfall of
Marcos and was replaced by the 1987 Constitution. This
current Constitution carries explicit provisions regarding
human rights and restraints on presidential powers by
way of condemning and repudiating the colossal
crimes of the Marcos fascist dictatorship. These were
committed through unlimited concentration of executive,
legislative and judicial powers in the hands of one
person.
5.
branches of the Philippine government have always
agreed that the Marcoses have engaged in the criminal
plunder of public resources and that the ill-gotten wealth
must be recovered. Investigations and court
proceedings have been successfully undertaken to
establish the criminal culpability of Marcos for plunder.
6. No less than the chief PDF-Laban party mates of
President Duterte, the founder Aquilino Pimentel Sr. and
Senate President Aquino Pimentel III demand that
Marcos should not be honored as a hero and the
victims of the Marcos dictatorship should not be made
to suffer further injustice.
7. Many of those who are personally close to Duterte
say that he should not betray the stand of his own late
mother who stood up articulately and courageously
against the Marcos dictatorship. The Marcos fascist
dictatorship is not a good example for Duterte to project
an image of strong leadership. He can make a
revolutionary stand on issues and he can thus stand as
a strong leader of the people.
8. Marcos himself wanted to be buried beside his
mother. Why submit to the political whim of his heirs to
use the burial of his remains or display of his wax figure
at LNMB as a means of revising history, covering up the
monstrous crimes of Marcos and boosting the Marcos
family’s political stocks.
9. To bury the remains of Marcos in LNMB is a violation
of the agreement of President Ramos and the Marcos
family that said remains must be buried in Batac, Ilocos
Norte.
10. Too much public resources will be wasted to secure
the remains of an arch traitor at LNMB from being blown
up like the oversized bust of Marcos on the way to
Baguio
In a press release, the AFP said that under its
regulations, the following persons are qualified to be
interred at the cemetery:
• Medal of Valor awardees
• Presidents or commander-in-chief, AFP
• Secretaries of national defense
• AFP chiefs of staff
• Generals/flag officers of the AFP
• Active and retired military personnel of the AFP
(including active draftees and trainees who died in line
of duty, and active reservists and CAFGU Active
Auxiliary who died in combat-related activities)
• Former members of the AFP who laterally entered or
joined the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine
National Police
• Veterans of Philippine Revolution of 1890, World War I,
World War II, and recognized guerrillas
• Government dignitaries, statesmen, national artist and
other deceased persons whose interment and re-
interment has been approved by the commander-in-
chief, Congress or the secretary of national defense
Former presidents, secretaries of defense, dignitaries,
statesmen, national artists, widows of former presidents,
secretaries of national defense and chief of staff