SHOULD Filipinos allow the burial of former strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani?
Don’t look now, but a big majority of the House of Representatives –193 of the over 2804 lawmakers — so far, say “yes” to the above question.
The lawmakers’ approval is expressed in their signing of a resolution recently passed around by Rep. Salvador “Sonny” Escudero of Sorsogon who obviously believes that Marcos, despite everything he had done when ruling this country for two decades, is a hero deserving to be buried in the Libingan. Escudero, father of Senator Chiz Escudero, served as minister of agriculture under the former president who remained unburied after being dead for more than two decades now.
Among those who signed the Escudero resolution were former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her two congressman sons, Mickey and Dato, former First Lady and now Ilocos congresswoman Imelda Marcos and her nephew, a congressman Romualdez of Leyte, Rep. Lani Mercado Revilla, wife of Senator actor Bong and Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez, wife of actor Richard.
Rep. Lorenzo “Erin” Tanada III strongly opposes the idea, saying Marcos does not meet his standards of a hero. He said allowing the former strongman to be given a hero’s burial is an insult to those who suffered under his rule and those who participated in Edsa I.
And what does President Noynoy Aquino think about the matter? The President, whose martyred father, former senator Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino Jr., was assassinated by Marcos’s soldiers, is not inclined to make a decision, saying he is biased. Instead of rejecting the idea outright, he directed Vice President Jejomar Binay to study the proposal.
Would Binay, who was one of those who suffered during the martial law regime imposed by Marcos, allow Escudero’s proposal to prosper?
Aside from genuinely believing that Marcos deserves a hero’s burial, has Rep. Escudero a hidden agenda in his controversial resolution? Is he not trying to ingratiate himself with the Marcoses who control the votes in the so-called Solid North for the future candidacy of his son, Chiz, who is believed planning to push through with aspiration to become president of this country? Will Binay, who is believed also preparing himself for the presidential tussle in 2016, allow Chiz to gain pogi points among voters in the North where his mother comes from?
What do Filipinos, who rejected hero’s burial for Marcos earlier, think about the idea now? Those who are scandalized by Escudero’s proposal and who are not afraid to know the truth should commission any or both Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations to conduct an opinion survey now.
