“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.