Posted on Sunday, 06.05.11
MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine vice president has recommended that former dictator Ferdinand Marcos should not be buried at Manila's heroes' cemetery but that full military honors could be accorded if he is laid to rest in his northern political stronghold instead, officials said Sunday.
Marcos was ousted in a 1986 "people power" revolt led by current President Benigno Aquino III's late mother, Corazon Aquino. Marcos died three years later in exile in Hawaii and his body was returned in 1993 to his northern Philippine hometown of Batac in Ilocos Norte province, where it has been displayed in a glass coffin and has become a tourist attraction.
His flamboyant widow, Imelda, has long pushed for the burial of her husband in the National Heroes' cemetery in the Philippine capital, but has been opposed by pro-democracy and left-wing groups, which have accused the late dictator of plundering the nation's coffers and of massive human rights violations during his two-decade rule.
President Aquino asked Vice President Jejomar Binay four months ago to study Marcos' burial and recommend how the long-divisive issue could finally be settled. Aquino has refused to decide alone on the issue, saying he would naturally be biased.
In a report to Aquino, Binay recommended that Marcos be given full military honors if his family decides to have him laid to rest in Ilocos Norte instead of in the heroes' cemetery, three officials told The Associated Press.
The officials, who have seen the report, spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the issue before Aquino announces his decision on Binay's recommendation.
Marcos' family has not commented on whether Binay's view is acceptable.
The recent burial of a former military chief accused of corruption at the heroes' cemetery, which is reserved for soldiers, presidents, statesmen and national artists, revived questions on whether Marcos should be similarly honored.
Gen. Angelo Reyes committed suicide at his mother's grave on Feb. 8 after being accused of receiving huge military payoffs. He had denied the allegation.
Although still enjoying a degree of popularity - particularly in Ilocos Norte - and political power, the Marcoses are reviled by many, including thousands of former political prisoners. Others denounce their alleged plundering of the economy, the subject of protracted litigation.
In 1995, nearly 10,000 Filipinos won a U.S. class-action lawsuit against the Marcos estate for torture, execution and disappearances of dissidents.
Marcos' widow won a congressional seat representing Ilocos Norte last year. A daughter was elected provincial governor and a son won a Senate seat - the post his father held before being elected president in 1965.
This short presentation is about Ferdinand Marcos and Martial Law. To those who say Marcos was great and let us have someone again like him, were not there or probably they are the sons and daughters of some corrupt government official, Marcos Loyalist during Marcos's time. It is not surprising that Marcos still have supporters today, Adolf Hitler have Neo-Nazis of today. It is also not surprising that these Marcos supporters could not even deliver a comment comprehensible enough to be understood and I believe they are living in a surreal time thinking that Martial Law was a happy time to be in. They are but a pathetic, foul mouthed and dim witted creatures.
History repeats itself to those who do not learn from it. The pictures on the presentation are real and facts are taken from different references readily available to all. En Wikipedia and Microsoft Encarta as neutral basis of the research - not on conjectures, only facts.
The Martial Law Story is a simple story the triumph of good of the Filipino and the evil of Marcos's Martial Law. I was 8 y.o. when Martial Law was declared, 19 y.o. when Ninoy was gunned down at the Manila International Airport and 21 y.o. when EDSA 1986 came. The people in my generation will agree with me because they were there too. We ourselves saw it happen and unfolded.
And we won our freedom. Our freedom which the generation of today enjoy and might be lost if the generation of tomorrow will be reckless and unthinking.