Palace thanks ex-NHCP chair Diokno for services to the nation

Former National Historical Commission of the Philippines Chair Serena Diokno —INQUIRER PHOTO

Malacañang Palace has said it respects the resignation of former National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) chair Maria Serena Diokno.

“The Office of the Executive Secretary has received the resignation letter of Ms Maria Serena Diokno as chairperson of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We respect Chair Diokno’s decision and we thank her for the services she rendered to the nation as she headed the commission responsible for the conservation and preservation of the country’s historical legacies,” Abella added.

On Tuesday, Diokno resigned after serving for more than five years as head of the NHCP, an agency under the Office of the President and “is responsible for the conservation and preservation of the country’s historical legacies.”

Diokno said she resigned because she believed the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani was wrong.

READ: NHCP chair Diokno resigns over Marcos burial

“The burial of Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani is wrong; it denies our history, erases the memory of lives lost and destroyed, mocks the collective action we took to oust the dictator, and denigrates the value of our struggle for freedom,” she said.

“At this moment in our history, every voice counts, and I wish to place mine on the side of history: not the history that the Duterte government ignores, but the history that beckons our people to demand justice that even the highest court of the land will not bestow,” she added.

The decision of President Rodrigo Duterte to allow Marcos to be buried at the heroes’ cemetery, which was upheld by the Supreme Court, has received public outrage and condemnation.

But Malacañang said Duterte stood by the decision of the Supreme Court.

“On the burial of the late President Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, the President has said that the Supreme Court has ruled and that he respects and abides by the decision of the high court,” Abella said./rga