Pinoys urged to join ‘Black Friday’ protest vs Marcos burial

PROTEST SCENES Concerned citizens (left photo) who are outraged by Friday’s burial of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani continue their protest on Sunday at the Edsa
People Power Monument. In Legazpi City,millennials (right photo) take to the streets to condemn the surprise interment. —GRIG C.MONTEGRANDE, GEORGE GIO BRONDIAL

Militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) on Tuesday called on Filipinos from all walks of life to “go all out” for Nov. 25 and join nationwide protests against the stealthy burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Saying that the “fight against Marcos is not over,” Bayan chairperson Carol Araullo urged Filipinos to gather at Rizal Park in Manila for the #BlackFriday protest “in a demonstration of defiance and collective indignation directed at the Marcos family, the Supreme Court and President Rodrigo Duterte who enabled the hero’s burial.”

“To have the dictator Marcos given military honors and buried in the LNMB gives this generation a portent of the return of the Marcoses to Malacañang. Indeed it is the next step in the continuing efforts [to] rehabilitate the dictator and restore the Marcoses to the highest seat of power,” Araullo said in a statement.

“There is no moving on. We demand justice for all victims of fascism and the rotten social system of political accommodation and bureaucrat capitalism. This is the Filipino people’s fight now. Let us raise our voice and make our stand—Marcos is a thief, a fascist and dictator. Marcos is no hero,” Araullo added.

The Luneta protest is set at 4 p.m. on Nov. 25. The protest will coincide with Duterte’s arrival from Peru.

READ: Bigger protests vs Marcos burial set

Marcos’ secrecy-shrouded burial at the heroes’ cemetery last Friday took the nation by surprise and sparked protests in different parts of the country. The burial, marked by full military honors including a 21-gun salute, came almost 30 years after Marcos was ousted in the historic and military-backed Edsa People Power Revolution.

READ: Marcos laid to rest in ‘sneaky’ rites at Libingan ng mga Bayani

In Manila, protesters led by millennials and students took their protests to the Edsa shrine, site of the peaceful 1986 revolt.

Bayan urged the public to continue airing their opposition to Marcos’ interment at the LNMB and to continue “the fight against the revision of history and the return of the Marcoses.”

“Let us hold public discussion, mass meetings, teach-ins, and other assemblies. Let us come out with statements, social media posts and other forms of expression. We shall not let this gross insult and historical distortion pass unchallenged. Let us continue the fight to uphold the judgement of history and fight for true justice and democracy,” the group added. RAM/rga