Joma Sison: ‘Non-heroes’ were also buried at ‘Libingan’

COMMUNIST Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison on Tuesday reiterated his opposition to the planned heroes’ burial for the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, calling the heroes’ cemetery as “Libingan ng mga Traydor at Bayani.”

“My bottomline is Marocs should be buried in Batac (Ilocos Norte) because the real remains are already buried there beside the mother as he wished,” Sison said in an INQ&A interview on Tuesday night.

“What’s going to be brought at Libingan ng mga Traydor at mga Bayani—to be more precise, don’t just say it’s an exclusive cemetery for heroes, it includes a lot of non-heroes—most likely you’re going to have the wax there in a big mausoleum to be built to make a monument for the dictator,” he added.

Sison also called the Marcos regime as “the most brutal form of oppressive government.”

Based on Republic Act No. 289, or “An Act Providing for the Construction of a National Pantheon for Presidents of the Philippines, National Heroes and Patriots of the Country,” the Libingan ng mga Bayani intends to “perpetuate the memory of all Presidents of the Philippines, national heroes and patriots for the inspiration and emulation of this generation and of generations still unborn.”

The Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily stopped the government’s preparations for Marcos’ burial pending the completion of the consolidation of six petitions against the move, which is being opposed by rights victims and advocates.