How senators voted on resolution against Marcos burial at Libingan

“Let history judge us after  today.”

This was how Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin  Drilon concluded on Monday the  discussion on Senate Resolution No. 86 expressing the sense of the Senate against  the burial of the  late strongman Ferdinand  Marcos at the  Libingan ng mga Bayani.

The resolution, filed by Senator  Risa Hontiveros,  did not get the  approval of the chamber after it failed to get the  majority of  20 senators present at the session hall.  Only eight senators voted  in favor of the resolution, six were against it while  another  six abstained from voting.

The  eight, who voted to adopt the resolution, included  Hontiveros, Senate President Aqulino “Koko” Pimentel III,  Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon,  Bam Aquino,   Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan,  Leila de Lima, Joel Villanueva and  Grace Poe.

Drilon, Aquino, Pangilinan, and de Lima  are all part of the Liberal Party (LP) while  Hontiveros of Akbayan Partylist  and   Villanueva, ran  under the LP-led senatorial ticket  last May 9 elections.  Pimentel, on the other hand, is president of PDP-Laban chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte  while  Poe is independent.

READ: Senate reso expressing sense vs Marcos burial fails approval

Hontiveros explained that while the  Supreme Court has  recognized  President Rodrigo  Duterte’s  authority to allow Marcos’ burial  at the heroes’  cemetery, the Senate , as co-equal  branch,  could still weigh  in on the issue.

“I voted in favor of  the motion, I voted in favor of truth, on the side of history, and on the side of our real heroes,” she said.

Drilon, who   called for a vote on the issue,  pointed out that the Senate, as a political body, has a prerogative  to express its  views  on a political issue such as the Marcos burial.

“We maintain  our respect on the  Supreme Court as officers of the law but we can do  so without  being disrespectful and by voting  on this resolution the sense of the Senate is no disrespect for the Supreme Court,” he said.

“Each of us exercises his or her judgment on this political issue and we place  ourselves on the  record where we stand. Therefore, let’s history judge us after today,”

Pangilinan said that the chamber in many occasions had made a stand on certain issues that had already been decided or pending  at the high tribunal.

“It has been said that the beginning of the end of war is in remembering. And I believe the same goes for tyranny, oppression, and the violence and brutality of dictatorial rule. We must remember. We must not forget. And this resolution, precisely, is our way of not forgetting despite the ruling of the Supreme Court,” he said.

While she respects the SC’s decision on the issue, Poe said the Senate  should also be allowed to express its own opinion.

“And what we’re doing in fact is stating our own personal beliefs in this matter,” she said.

Senator Panfilo Lacson  said he voted  against the resolution “out of respect to the Supreme Court’s ruling.”

The five others who were against the resolution were Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III  and Senators Richard Gordon, Manny Pacquiao, Gringo Honasan and Cynthia Villar.

The  decision of the SC   was also used as the basis of most of the six senators —Ralph Recto, Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay, Sherwin Gatchalian, and Juan Miguel Zubiri, who abstained  from  the voting.

While he believes that Marcos is not a hero, Recto said  the court has already ruled that there was no grave abuse of discretion in allowing  the former leader’s burial at the  heroes’ cemetery.

“Siguro kaya sya pwedeng ilibing dun dahil sya ay naging dating pangulo, dating naging sundalo pero para sa akin hindi bayani ang dating pangulo,”  he said.

“Now  having said that, ako’y naniniwala din na ang pagiging isang bayani will be judged individually   by every Filipino kung sya’y nasa puso  nila  bilang isang  bayani at hindi kung saan sya nilibing,” Recto added.

Escudero said he abstained from voting to finally put an end to a 30-year-old debate on the issue.

“Thirty years na tayong nagkakahati- hati bilang bansa sa pagitan ng dalawang apelyido— Aquino o Marcos. Tama naman na siguro, sapat na ang panahon na ginugol natin para sa away at bangayan na ito,” he said.

“Tama naman na siguro na bigyan ng konting pansin, mas mahabang pansin at  panahon yung nakakaraming kababayan na hindi po sikat ang apelyido na hindi po Marcos , hindi po Aquino  ang apelyido,” Escudero  said.

But Aquino, nephew of former President Benigno Aquino III,  said  the issue  was not only about the two families.

“Earlier we had the gentleman from Sorsogon talked about the Libingan issue as if it is  framed by just two families, and to be frank, Mr. President, nahihiya ako kapag sinasabi na ito’y issue lang ng Aquino at Marcos,” he said, reacting to Escudero’s  remark.

“Nahihiya ako sa libu-libong namatay, sa libu-libong nawala, sa libu-libong na-torture. Nahihiya po ako sa pamilya ng Senate President at sa tatay ng ating Senate President. Nahihiya po ako sa PDP Laban na binuo para labanan ang diktadura.”

The issue, he said, is a problem that has plagued thousands of Filipino families, who have been destroyed and  broken apart until today  by martial law.