Pimentel says no apology needed to move on from martial law

FILE PHOTO: Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III does not need an apology for him to move on from the horrors of martial law.

Pimentel, however, believes that the need for apology depends on the family of martial law victims.

“That’s the judgment of the president. Whether or not the family victimized by the Marcos martial law regime can recover through an apology or something else, depends on the family,” he said on ANC’s Headstart on Wednesday when asked if an apology is necessary to move on.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is the son and namesake of the late dictator who ruled the martial law regime which was hounded with alleged human rights violations.

“Basta ako, as far as I’m concerned, I need no apology. I know what happened because even if you apologize to me now, hindi mo naman mabalik ‘yung freedom ng father ko na in how many years he lost his liberty. He was deprived of his liberty, nakakulong, naka-house arrest. So, we don’t need any apology,” he added.

(For me, as far as I’m concerned, I need no apology. I know what happened because even if you apologize to me now, you cannot return my father’s freedom who lost his liberty for how many years. He was deprived of his liberty, detained, and under house arrest. So, we don’t need any apology.)

Pimentel’s father, the late former Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., was among those who criticized the late dictator’s declaration of martial law.

For the younger Pimentel, the most vital thing is to remember the lessons from the martial law regime and tell the story to the next generation.

“Basta importante (What’s important is), we will never forget the lessons. We will never forget what happened, the lessons that we derived from what happened, and we will try our best to pass on to our children and our descendants all of the compressed learnings of the family,” the senator said.

Pimentel’s colleagues, Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Robin Padilla, who are allies of the president, told the public to move on from the issues surrounding martial law.

This year, September 21 marks the 50th anniversary of martial law declaration. — with reports from Christian Paul Dela Cruz, INQUIRER.net trainee

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