Presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte faces the media in a late evening press conference which lasted until the wee hours on Thursday. ARIES JOSEPH HEGINA/INQUIRER.net
Presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte justified anew his decision to grant late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos a hero’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
In a press conference early morning Thursday, Duterte asked the victims of human rights violations during Martial Law to go to the courts and ask for the speedy release of compensation.
READ: Duterte plan for Marcos hero’s burial sparks outrage
While some Filipinos may disagree with the view that Marcos is a hero, Duterte said that the late President deserved to be at the Libingan ng mga Bayani because he was a soldier.
“Look, there is the courts. Pumunta kayo ng korte kasi ‘yung taong hinahabol niyo, cadaver na. (Go to the courts because the person you’re after is already a cadaver.) What do you want more from the guy? Patay na nga (He’s already dead)… Sabi niyo si Marcos, hindi dapat diyan [ilibing]. (You said that Marcos should not be buried there) That is [on] the question of his abuses. It is something that is attached to his persona forever. Marcos might not really be a hero, I accept that proposition, maybe. But certainly he was a soldier,” Duterte said.
The incoming President said that he was at a loss as to what he needed to do to appease his critics.
“In addition to being a president, he was a soldier. So ‘yung sinabi mo noong dinakip ng martial law, nandiyan ang korte. (So those who were arrested during the martial law, the courts are there for you). It’s just a matter of distributing the award. So anong problema? Patay na ‘yung tao. Anong gusto niyo? (So what is the problem? The guy is already dead. What do you want?) You want the cadaver to be burned? Will that satisfy your hate?” he added.
Duterte believes that the sins of the late dictator should not be blamed on his family.
“The sins of the father, if there are any, should never beset their children,” he said.
READ: Bongbong thanks Duterte for favoring father’s burial at Libingan
Duterte said that nothing will make him change his decision to grant Marcos a hero’s burial.
“Alam mo kapag nagbitaw ako ng salita, ‘yun na ‘yun. Magpakamatay na ako diyan (If I have already uttered the words, that’s it already. I am willing to stake my life on it). I will do things that I promised to do. I will not die if I do not become President. I will stake my honor, my life, and the presidency itself. Bantayan niyo ang salita ko (Pay attention my words),” Duterte said.
In an earlier press conference, he said that he believed that giving Marcos a hero’s burial would erase one hatred in the country.
READ: Duterte on Marcos’ burial at heroes’ cemetery: It will erase one hatred in PH
“The issue of the burial of President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani has created a division among our people…I am sure that it will erase among our people one hatred,” Duterte said. IDL/rga