Philippines

Oppose the hero’s burial for fascist dictator Marcos

The CPP condemns the plan of the Duterte regime to give the former fascist dictator Ferdinand Marcos a hero’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

By claiming Marcos deserves to be buried with other former soldiers, Duterte is helping perpetuate the historical lies surrounding Marcos’ bogus medals and phoney Maharlika guerrilla unit. By further ordering that Marcos be accorded military honours befitting a former head of state, Duterte is virtually deleting Marcos’ bloody record as a military despot and the fascist violence, human rights violation, corruption and economic hardships he made the Filipino people suffer through 14 years of dictatorship.

The Filipino people hold all post-Marcos regimes equally culpable for the political restoration of the Marcos family—Imelda and their children, who all took part in the machinations of the Marcos dictatorship. According a hero’s burial to the dead dictator will complete the Marcoses’ political restoration and will complete the whitewash of all the crimes they perpetrated against the people.

Duterte is bull-headed with his decision to give Marcos a hero’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. He is determined to squander the historical lessons treasured by the Filipino people. They are being politically disarmed from preventing the rise to power of future dictators. Many fear this will be self-serving as Duterte bandies threats to declare martial law if he doesn’t get his way in the frenzied “war against drugs.”

By flaunting his ties and alliance with the Marcos family, Duterte is helping the Marcosian scheme to revise history and make the younger generations overlook the colossal plunder and sale of the country’s patrimony, his debt-borrowing debt spree, his legacy of gross cronyism, his family’s ostentatious lifestyle built upon the poverty of the people, and his martial law’s massacre of freedom and democracy.

Duterte’s decision on the Marcos burial displays extreme insensitivity to the sensibilities of thousands of victims, families and survivors of martial law barbarities. He insults the memory of thousands of patriotic Filipinos from all walks of life who gave up their lives at the prime of their youth to fight for the dictatorship’s overthrow.

Riding on surveys claims of high approval ratings, Duterte taunts the people to protest as much as they want in the streets. He reveals his indifference to people’s demands.

The CPP supports the people’s protests against the Duterte regime’s plan to give a hero’s burial to Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. The revolutionary forces continue to stand against the political restoration of the Marcoses and demand that they be made to pay for all the crimes against the Filipino people.

http://www.cpp.ph/oppose-heros-burial-fascist-dictator-marcos/

C. Kistler

Also editor of Nouvelle Turquie.