Akbayan to Binay: consultations on Marcos hero’s burial issue, “moot and academic”

This is a press statement from Akbayan.

Akbayan Party today called on Vice President Jejomar Binay to come to a decision against the proposed plan to bury the remains of former president Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, even as the group said the consultations being conducted by Binay’s camp on the issue is “moot and economic.”

In an open letter addressed to Binay, Akbayan said any consultation on the proposal to give Marcos a hero’s burial is “already too late.”

“Any consultation is premised on the uncertainty of the matter. However, it is already certain that Marcos looted the nation’s coffers, gave the military wide latitude to commit excesses, and imprisoned and killed thousands of Filipinos who fought against his tyrannical regime. Those are not under contention. Those are facts,” said Akbayan Acting President Marie Chris Cabreros, who signed the letter.

Cabreros said the issue was already settled during the first people power uprising which deposed the Marcos dictatorship.

“The Filipinos, in overthrowing the Marcos regime already decided it. The groundswell of dissent at the first people power uprising should have nailed shut any chances of Marcos ever being written in history as a hero. Unfortunately, because some congressmen clamor to give the late dictator undeserved honors the issue has become more than that of a simple burial, it has turned into an attempt to revise and rewrite history,” Cabreros said.

Cabreros also refuted claims by the Binay camp that all the 130 COMELEC-registered political parties that it tried to solicit opinion on the issue failed to register their respective position.

“We have not received any letter from the Office of the Vice President asking us about our position. Nevertheless, we would like to register that we vehemently oppose any posthumous recognition of Marcos’s alleged heroism because there is no heroism to speak of. A burial in the Libingan ng mga Bayani is an affront to those who suffered and died under his regime,” Cabreros asserted.

Akbayan appealed to Binay to use his “personal history” as a human rights defender and a staunch opponent of the Marcos dictatorship to help him decide against the proposed hero’s burial.

“We can only imagine the burden you (Binay) carry concerning this issue. You were a human rights lawyer and an opponent of the Marcos regime, your personal history may be deemed by some as an issue to be surmounted in order to make an objective decision on the matter. However, such a background should instead serve as moral compass for you to decide firmly against the issue,” Cabreros concluded