Senator Francis Pangillinan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES
“This is a horrible day for democracy.”
This was how Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan described the Supreme Court’s ruling allowing former President Ferdinand Marcos to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
“Thanks to the Supreme Court, the Philippines will be a laughing stock of the world. We kicked out a reviled dictator and now we are honoring him by burying him in our national heroes’ cemetery. No less than our Supreme Court wants our citizens, our children to honor a plunderer and tyrant. This is shameful and deplorable,” Pangilinan said.
READ: SC OKs Marcos burial at Libingan
The senator lamented that after calling Marcos a “dictator,” the SC now wants to bury him alongside other heroes.
Rather than effect closure as the final arbiter of all disputes, Pangilinan said the high tribunal has reopened old wounds.
“If the Supreme Court thinks it has the final say on the matter, then they are terribly mistaken. Burying Marcos in the Libingan has created a huge divide that will haunt the nation for days and years to come,” he said.
The senator pointed out that Republic Act 289, creating the Libingan ng mga Bayani, reserved its sacred grounds for heroes to be emulated by “this generation and of generations still unborn”.
“Marcos is not a hero. His burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani desecrates our democracy and the memory of those who fought for freedom and justice in our country,” Pangilinan added. JE/rga
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