Militant lawmakers file reso vs hero’s burial for Marcos

Seven progressive lawmakers had filed a resolution “strongly opposing" plans to bury the late President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. In House Resolution 1297 that was filed Monday, the lawmakers said Marcos “does not deserve a hero’s burial" after he committed “gross crimes against humanity, plunged the nation deeper into debt and foreign control and plundered the nation’s resources" during his 20-year term. “Filing this resolution is a matter of principle and to prevent a mockery and distortion of history. All efforts to erase the dark legacy of the Marcos dictatorship should be blocked in Congress and other fora," Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño, one of the lawmakers who filed the resolution, said in a text message Tuesday. The other House members who filed the bill were Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares, Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino, Anakpawis party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio and Gabriela Women’s party-list Reps. Luzviminda Ilagan and Emmi de Jesus. Marcos’ widower, Imelda Marcos, is currently a member of the House of Representatives as Ilocos Norte representative. His son, Ferdinand Jr., is a senator. HR 1297 is a response to a resolution earlier filed by Sorsogon Rep. Salvador Escudero III and signed by about 200 lawmakers allowing Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Escudero, father of Sen. Francis Escudero, served as agriculture minister during the Marcos regime. The militant lawmakers said Congress will become a “laughing stock" if it adopts the resolution giving a hero’s burial to Marcos. “A congressional resolution urging President [Benigno] Aquino [III] to give Marcos a hero’s burial would send the absurd message that the Filipino people overthrew a hero during People Power I, and that the international community’s sympathy for that uprising is wrong," they said in the resolution. Marcos was ousted from the presidency by a mass uprising known as the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986. He was replaced by Corazon Aquino, President Aquino’s mother The lawmakers urged President Aquino to “put an end to the issue" and to immediately provide compensation for alleged human rights violations under Marcos. President Aquino has already asked Vice President Jejomar Binay to decide on the burial issue of the former strongman, citing "personal bias" on the issue. Former Senator Benigno “Ninoy" Aquino Jr., the president's father, was assassinated in 1983 as he arrived in Manila, a crime widely blamed on the Marcos regime. — KBK, GMA News