Exiled Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison and a group of victims of martial law do not see eye to eye when it comes to the issue of burying the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
For Joma, it’s no big deal, but for the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang (Carmma) burying Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, which is reserved for war veterans, soldiers, statesmen and former presidents, among others, would “whitewash” the crimes he committed to the Filipino people during his two decades of dictatorial rule.
Carmma convener Bonifacio Ilagan has called on presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider his position to allow the burial of the dictator at the heroes’ cemetery.
“FM cannot be considered a hero. Burying him at the Libingan will whitewash all crimes he committed against the people and will send the wrong message to the world that in the Philippines crime pays,” Ilagan told the Inquirer in a text message on Tuesday.
On Monday night, Duterte said he would allow the burial of the dictator at the Libingan ng mga Bayani “not because he is a hero but because he was a Filipino soldier.”
“The issue of President Ferdinand Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani has created division among our people…I am sure that I will erase among our people one hatred [persisting in our country],” Duterte said.
Sison, one the country’s many personalities who were hunted by the Marcos regime during martial law, said: “Personally, I think that it is not a big deal for Marcos to be buried in a cemetery for soldiers of the reactionary government.”