Sotto sees no debate over Marcos Day bill

MANILA, Philippines — The recently passed House Bill No. 7137, declaring Sept. 11 each year as “President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Day” in Ilocos Norte, would likely not be debated in Senate because the measure is a bill of local application, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said on Thursday.

“A bill of local application, when it comes to the Senate, usually is not really debated upon … It is for Ilocos Norte. I doubt if there will be objections to that,” Sotto said in an interview over CNN Philippines.

“If it is nationwide, maybe that will face an objection. It may have a hard time. For us, it is not a matter of whether we are going to support it or not. Usually, bills of local application breeze through the Senate unless one or two object,” he said.

Sotto himself said he would not object to the measure because former President Marcos was a son of Ilocos Norte and he remains, to this day, a hero not only to the people of Ilocos Norte but also to most Ilocanos all over the world.

“As far as Ilocos Norte is concerned, President Marcos was the past president. He has done a lot for Ilocos Norte,” Sotto said.

But activist groups expressed dismay over the declaration of a holiday in Ilocos Norte to commemorate the late dictator.

Victims’ opposition

Bayan Muna Rep. Eufemia Cullamat and rights group Karapatan said that the approval of the bill merely sought to rewrite the dark history of the Marcos martial regime.

“The bill seeks to deodorize the image of a murderer, a plunderer, and a criminal. It is a grave disgrace to the memory of martial law victims and survivors, who have been violated many times over by the Marcos dictatorship,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay added in a statement.

Akbayan chair emeritus and martial law victim Loretta Rosales said it was “disgusting and insulting” that the bill breezed through the House of Representatives.

“Amid the widespread hunger, unemployment and death, and a public health system on the verge of collapse, the measure is inessential to the country’s present challenges and a total waste of taxpayers’ money. Only the Marcoses will benefit from this madness,” she said.

Echoing her sentiment, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said it was antithetical to pass a law celebrating the late dictator when there is another law recognizing Marcos’ crimes during the brutal era of martial law.

“The special holiday is an honor that is undeserved and will only contribute to the efforts to revise history and rehabilitate the Marcoses,” he said, referring to the 2013 Human Rights Reparations and Recognition Act.

Both Rosales and Reyes urged the Senate not to be used as a tool to “deodorize” the atrocities committed under Marcos’ reign.

“We do not celebrate dictators. We topple them. We bury them in the dustbin of history. We reserve our holidays for our brave heroes and martyrs, not to the tyrants who oppressed and killed many of our people,” Rosales said.