Catholic schools urged to make united stand vs Marcos burial

A Catholic bishop on Tuesday called on Catholic schools to remain firm in opposing the looming burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Nueva Ecija Bishop Roberto Mallari, chairman of the conference of bishops’ Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education, expressed alarm that the Supreme Court ruling allowing the hero’s burial for Marcos might give the youth a wrong connotation of the word “hero.”

“Mahalaga ‘yung mga Catholic schools natin i-maintain ‘yung stand that he (Marcos) should not be there (LNMB). Hindi siya dapat ilibing dun dahil hindi siya itinuturing na bayani ng bayan. It will confuse our young people as to who a ‘hero’ is,” Mallari said over church-run Radyo Veritas, which was instrumental in the 1986 People Power Revolution.

“’Yung panawagan rin sa mga Catholic Schools natin, I hope we make a united stand regarding this,” he added.

Mallari said educators and students alike should be one in making sure that only historical facts and the true essence of the martial law struggle will be passed on to future generations, without any attempt to misinform or whitewash.

“Lumalabas hindi nanindigan ang mga Justices ng Korte Suprema sa tunay na pamantayan ng isang bayani. Supposed to be sila na mga taong nakakaalam, may pinag-aralan, may paninindigan, hindi natin alam kung bakit ganito ang desisyon,” he added.

Voting 9-5 with one abstention, the Supreme Court 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.

READ: SC OKs Marcos burial at Libingan

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, chairman of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on the Laity, said the high tribunal’s ruling was a blatant disregard for human rights abuses perpetrated by Marcos in his regime, noting that it would not heal the wounds of the past.

“Hindi naman matatapos itong problema natin, yung issue na yan sa kanilang desisyon. Ang tingin namin, ang tingin ko hindi makatotohanan kasi hindi naman inaamin ng mga Marcoses na nagkamali sila at hindi naman talaga siya bayani,” Pabillo said.

“Pagkatapos natin siyang pinatalsik dahil sa kanyang pang-aabuso sa bansa, ngayon kikilalanin na siyang hero? At maraming mga naabuso, mga nabiktima na hindi pa nabibigyan ng katarungan eh hindi man lang nila inaamin ang kanilang kasamaan so yun yung nakakalungkot, patuloy ang panawagan na dapat mabigyan sila ng katarungan na dapat aminin ng mga Marcoses ang pagkakamali nila,” he added.

Various schools throughout the country have stage protests following the SC ruling, including the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University. Ateneo President Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin SJ condemned the decision as an “injustice,” “act of equivocation,” and a “denial” of martial law sufferings. JE