Andanar: Not my intention to trivialize struggle of martial law survivors

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar on Monday apologized for calling Filipinos protesting against the looming hero’s burial for the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos as “temperamental brats.”

In a statement, Andanar said he used the term in his Inquirer column “to express my frustration against those who seek to further divide the country for reasons that have nothing to do with genuine patriotism and civic duty.”

“I apologize for the offense this may have caused. It was never my intention to trivialize, diminish, or in any way denigrate the struggles of the survivors of Martial Law and of those who oppose former president Marcos. Neither did I intend it as an affront against the constitutionally guaranteed rights of our people,” Andanar said.

“It is my hope that while our people have expressed various differing positions on the issue of the burial of former president Marcos, may we remain united in our desire for a safer, more peaceful country, providing opportunities for a better quality of life for our people. I also wish for the healing of this long-festering wound that has beset our country,” he added.

In his opinion piece titled “An appropriate burial,” Andanar likened Filipinos protesting Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani to Americans protesting the presidential victory of celebrity mogul Donald Trump.

“Both the Americans protesting the outcome of a fair election and the Filipinos objecting to the well-considered ruling of our own Supreme Court are undermining institutions. They are temperamental brats refusing to concede to the outcome of regular processes,” Andanar wrote.

Voting 9-5 with one abstention, the high tribunal last week junked all petitions against President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to bury Marcos’ remains at the heroes’ cemetery, despite strong opposition from martial law victims, rights advocates, and the general public./rga