Hazing victim Marc Andre Marcos buried in Tarlac; ‘brods’ send wreath

This huge wreath was delivered unnoticed and stood by the entrance of the Shrine of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, Ramos town’s parish church where hazing victim Marc Andre Marcos spent his last night. PHOTO BY JO MARTINEZ-CLEMENTE / INQUIRER CENTRAL LUZON

RAMOS, Tarlac, Philippines—The wreath was big and imposing, and could not easily be missed. But nobody seemed to have noticed it as it stood by the door of the Diocesan Shrine of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, the town’s parish church, where the last night of the wake for hazing victim Marc Andre Marcos was held.

It carried a card that read: “Condolence from: Brods of Andrei Marcos.”

Who these “brods” were and what organization they belonged to, nobody seemed to know.

Most of Marcos’ friends and relatives declined to comment about it. His father, Mac Ferdie, said he would not want to speculate but accepted the gesture of sympathy.

“I want to believe that whoever sent these flowers were sincere in their intent to condole with us,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Marcos, 20, died from serious injuries on Monday, a day after attending a fraternity initiation in Dasmariñas City in Cavite. Members of the Lex Leonum Fraternitas were suspected to be behind his death.

The elder Marcos said the wreath, which was bought from a local florist, probably came early Saturday night while Marcos’ body was being transferred from their Tarlac ancestral home to the parish church.

“That was why we did not notice it,” the father said.

An employee at the Gloria’s Flower Shop in Tarlac City said a man who declined to identify himself called the shop on Friday to order the wreath. The man told the store staff workers that he would deposit the payment for the wreath in the shop’s bank account.

The wreath was delivered to the Marcoses’ ancestral house here on Saturday afternoon.

A sea of white shirts filled the church as friends, classmates, town mates and relatives came to attend the funeral Mass Sunday morning. The shirts were printed with the picture of Marcos.

Many wore pins and arm and wrist bands printed with the sign, “Justice for Andre.” Streamers with the same message fluttered from vehicles and were also displayed in several houses.

Rev. Fr. Aloysius Ma. Maranan, OSB, San Beda College rector and president, led the Mass, which was concelebrated by Tarlac priests.

Marcos’ classmates from San Beda law school attended the burial at Ramos Memorial Park. His classmates from a local high school, as well as his classmates at the University of Sto. Tomas, arrived on Saturday night for the final vigil and funeral.

Maranan, in his homily, talked about death and justice and how one wants to be remembered. “No one asks how you want to die but how you want to live,” he said.

He asked how Marcos would want to be remembered.

“Andre left us a legacy and he wanted us, those whose lives he had touched, to be united in pursuing justice,” he said.

Maranan said the sorrow and pain that the family, friends and community have been experiencing would be compensated if the justice they all sought was given.

He said justice could be achieved through the unity and persistence of Marcos’ friends and family in pursuing the prosecution and incarceration of the people behind his death.

Simple justice, he said, was exemplified by the death of Jesus Christ.

“Jesus’ death is the beginning of justice; it is coming back to life. Resurrection is justice and freedom,” he said.

Maranan likened Marcos’ life to that of Joan of Arc, the 15th-century woman who led the French army against the English in the Hundred Years’ War. She was burned at the stake in 1431 after she was tried and condemned by an ecclesiastical court for sorcery and heresy.

“She wanted justice but she gained justice not in her time but in Jesus’ time,” Maranan said, referring to the annulment of Joan of Arc’s condemnation and her eventual canonization in 1920.

Death is a crossing one has to take to gain new life, according to Maranan.

Maranan left the Marcos family with a poem by Ellen Brenneman titled, “His Journey’s Just Begun.” In part, it says: “And think of him as living/ in the hearts of those he touched…/ for nothing loved is ever lost –/ and he was loved so much.”

Maranan promised that the San Beda administration would cooperate in whatever way it could to bring justice to Marcos.

“Let Andre be the last. We cannot afford to lose another son to senseless killing,” he said.

After the Mass, Marcos’ father thanked all those who condoled with and helped the family.

He thanked God for giving him his son for 20 years. “Salamat kay Andre (Thanks for Andre). It was pure happiness,” he said.