Bicol media told: Hero burial for Marcos ‘a shame’

NAGA CITY—Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz urged journalists in Bicol to be at the forefront of opposition to the proposal to give a hero’s burial to the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos.

Cadiz, who is from this city, said local media should mount their own protest against the proposal to transfer the corpse of the dead dictator to the Libingan ng mga Bayani from its glass coffin in his hometown Batac, Ilocos Norte, for the sake of the victims of the Marcoses’ more than 20-year rule.

“It is such a shame if the sacrifices and contributions of the Bicolano mediamen of that era would be put aside so that Marcos could take a place among our national heroes,” Cadiz said in a visit here Saturday for the charter anniversary of this city.

“Only 25 years have passed and here they are, asking for a hero’s burial for a dictator, no less,” he said.

He said all Bicolanos should remember their martyrs and oppose proposals to honor Marcos as a hero.

The Libingan, according to Cadiz, is sacred ground for heroes who have contributed to improving the lives of Filipinos, not for a dictator.

He said as public servants, he and President Aquino recognize the influence and importance of media in spreading information useful to nation-building.

Emman Llagas, Kapisanan ng mga Broadkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) chair in Camarines Sur, said, however, that media should stay neutral on whether or not Marcos deserved a hero’s burial and leave it to government.

The Associated Press (AP) had quoted Mr. Aquino as saying he opposed the burial of Marcos at the Libingan. “Not during my watch,” AP quoted the President as saying when asked how he stood on proposals to give Marcos a hero’s burial.