Dressed as superheroes, militants insist Marcos not a hero

Members of militant groups don superhero costumes to protest President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to grand former president Ferdinand Marcos hero’s burial. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net

Militant groups on Saturday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider his plan on allowing former president Ferdinand Marcos to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

The groups, led by Akbayan, donned Filipino hero costumes as they gather at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila to show their strong opposition to Duterte’s plan.

“We appeal to president Duterte to scrap plans for a hero’s burial for the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, and instead focus the energy of his administration towards the recovery of all ill-gotten wealth as well as the pursuit of justice from the Marcoses instead, Rafaella David, Akbayan Youth National chairperson, said in statement.

Duterte has earlier said that it’s ‘time to move on and unite the country,” in defending his plan to bury the former president at the heroes’ cemetery in Taguig City.

READ: Time to move on, unite the country – Duterte

But the anti-martial law advocates told Duterte not to disregard the abuses of the Marcoses during the martial law years.

“For genuine change to come, there must be justice—every Filipino was conned and victimized by the Marcos dictatorship,” said Paeng David, Akbayan spokesman.

Duterte said he wanted Marcos to be buried at the military cemetery not because he was a hero but because he was a soldier.

READ: Marcos was a soldier too–Duterte

But human rights group said Marcos had “fabricated” military records.

“Marcos was neither a decorated veteran nor a distinguished military officer,” David said.

“His war medals have been proven to be fake by US Army, further adding insult to the idea of being buried alongside soldiers who actually sacrificed their lives for the country,” she added.

David cited how the Marcoses lived lavish lifestyle while many Filipinos lived in poverty.

“For more than thirty years, Filipinos have languished in poverty while the Marcoses kept moving their stolen wealth around and away from the hands of the Philippine government and its people,” she said.

“A hero’s burial effectively legitimizes all the dictator’s excesses, and serves the interest of nobody but the family which benefited from this plunder,” she added.