Libingan burial for Marcos an insult to his victims–Leila

The decision of presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to allow the burial of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani is an affront to the victims of martial law, Senator-elect Leila de Lima said on Wednesday.

“Evidently, [Duterte is] showing a lack of sensitivity to the feelings of the thousands of victims of martial law atrocities,” De Lima told reporters after a news briefing on the canvassing of votes in the vice presidential election.

“Those issues have no closure yet [but here you are, ready to endow an aggressor with the status of a hero]. I think that’s not proper,” she said.

De Lima, a former chair of the Commission on Human Rights and secretary of justice, said granting a hero’s burial to Marcos was akin to forgetting all the human rights violations committed by the Marcos regime.

“That’s the consequence because we have no closure to those cases of [human rights abuses] then you will be adding insult to injury, to put it very mildly,” she said.

De Lima said the public should be “wary and be really vigilant” about the policies that the Davao City mayor may implement during his six-year term as President.

“In as much as we would want to entertain some hope, the way things are going… those early pronouncements [of Duterte]… doesn’t give me any comfort that we’re looking at glory days. [It’s] quite [to the] contrary,” she said.

On Monday, Duterte expressed his preference to allow the burial of Marcos at

Libingan ng mga Bayani “not because he is a hero, but because he was a Filipino soldier.”

He said Marcos’ burial at the heroes’ cemetery would put an end to years of “hatred” and “division” among Filipinos.

Duterte’s friend, Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison, said in an online interview that if the Marcoses wanted to protect the late strongman’s remains, they should bury them in a mausoleum in Batac City in Ilocos Norte province instead of at Libingan ng mga Bayani.

“By building a huge mausoleum for Marcos [at Libingan ng mga Bayani], the Marcoses run the risk of exposing the [structure] to being blown up by so many victims of the fascist dictatorship, just like the huge bust of Marcos on [Marcos Highway at the border of La Union and Benguet provinces],” Sison said.

“It might be wiser … for the Marcoses to keep the remains of Marcos where they can guard these better,” he said.

De Lima also expressed misgivings about the designation of lawyer Salvador Panelo as press secretary and presidential spokesperson.

Panelo has served as lawyer for controversial politicians, including Ampatuan clan, most of whose members are under trial for the Maguindanao massacre, where 58 people, including 32 journalists, were killed in November 2009.

“The incoming President has the right to choose [his Cabinet officials] because first and foremost, it’s a matter of trust and confidence. But then again, there should be acceptability, credibility [and scrutiny of] the status of the appointees,” De Lima said. With a report from Delfin T. Mallari, Inquirer Southern Luzon