Tuesday, November 15, 2016
INSTEAD of the Libingan ng mga Bayani, cause-oriented groups will bury an effigy of former president Ferdinand E. Marcos at the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill, which they have dubbed the “Libingan ng mga Basura,” in a mock funeral march and burial at 2:30 p.m. today.
This was announced in a press conference by Justin Balane of Akbayan youth.
The activity will be spearheaded by the Cebu Citizens’ Assembly Against the Burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani composed of Floro Enricoso of All Power-Urban Poor, Rosie Hong of Partido ng Manggagawa, Cristina Tenchavez of Akbayan, Bon Robert Astillo Luzon of Akbayan Youth and the University of San Carlos College of Law, Victor Sumampong of Sanlakas Youth-Cebu and Eduardo Abella of Dina-HOA.
They urged all democracy-loving people to join them in opposing Marcos’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Mayor’s support
“Instead, we shall bury Marcos deep under the heap of filth at the Inayawan dumpsite in Cebu City. That dumpsite, the biggest perhaps in Cebu and comparable to Manila’s Smokey Mountain, is the most fitting place for the biggest filth in the Philippines–the dictaror Ferdinand Marcos,” Tenchavez said.
The activity, which will start in Barangay Mambaling before heading to the Inayawan landfill, hopes to attract 1,000 participants.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, for his part, said he supports the protest.
“Nindot gyud na (That would be nice). I’m not going to play the lead, but I’ll be there when it happens,” he said.
While he can’t argue with the Supreme Court’s (SC) decision to allow Marcos’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, the mayor said this would appear that the county is celebrating dictatorship.
With Marcos being a war veteran, he is technically entitled to be buried in the heroes’ cemetery, Osmeña said. But that would mean man is serving the law, instead of the other way around, he said.
Never forgetting
“To me, it hurts. Something is wrong. The law is there so that men can aspire and move ahead. By using the law to justify and glorify a dictator, this is not serving its purpose,” Osmeña said.
Tenchavez said several parents whose children disappeared during the Marcos regime are hoping they are still alive or if they are dead, their bodies will be found so they can be buried.
“Filthy” is how they described the SC decision.
“The decision is filthy because it smacks of subservience to the whims of the incumbent President (Rodrigo Duterte), who publicly acknowledged the monetary contributions of the Marcoses in the former’s electoral campaign,” the groups’ press statement said.
“We shall not forget the Marcos atrocities. These, according to the estimate of the Amnesty International, include the murder of 3,240 Filipinos, the torture of 34,000 men, women and children and the incarceration of 70,000 more,” it added.
Former Cebu City councilor Alvin Dizon said they will protest the SC decision and put the dictator in his rightful place at the Inayawan landfill.
“We find it unacceptable to honor the former dictator who committed plunder and gross violation of the civil and political rights of the people,” Dizon said.