CBCP condemns hero’s burial for Marcos

Photo: Presidential Museum and Library

MANILA, Philippines—A hero’s burial for dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. won’t bring peace to the country but build a culture of impunity, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said Wednesday.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop and CBCP President Socrates Villegas expressed puzzlement, hurt, and grief on the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery).

“We are very sad. The burial is an insult to the EDSA spirit. It mocks our fight to restore democracy. We are puzzled and hurt and in great grief. It calls on us for greater courage to make the full truth of the dictatorship known,” Villegas said in a statement.

According to Villegas, a hero’s burial for Marcos would also make him unaccountable for the wrongs he had committed during his 21-year regime and create a “culture of impunity”.

“Those who do wrong should be made accountable. First they should admit the wrong they have done,” he said.

Burying Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani won’t bring peace and unity to the country either, the Archbishop said.

“Peace can only come if there is justice. Justice demands recognition of the harm done to the people and restitution to the victims,” the statement read.

Villegas also cited Marcos’ deprivation of the basic needs of the people, including human rights, on why he shouldn’t be treated as a hero.

“Marcos is no hero! He should not be presented as one. During Martial Law he had made many people suffer by arbitrary torture and death,” he said.

“We do not forget this! We will not allow that this be forgotten by the future generations in order that the same strong-hand oppression may not happen again,” he added.

The SC ruled Tuesday to allow the burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Nine out of 15 judges voted to dismiss seven petitions against President Rodrigo Duterte’s approval of hero’s burial for Marcos. Five of the fifteen judges voted against the dismissal of the petitions while one abstained from voting.