House urged to declare Marcos ‘enemy of democracy’

To commemorate the 39th anniversary of the declaration of martial law, two party-list lawmakers on Wednesday urged the House of Representatives to declare the late President Ferdinand Marcos an “enemy of democracy." Akbayan party-list Reps. Walden Bello and Arlene Bag-ao filed House Resolution 1756 asking Congress to “tenaciously" oppose all moves to portray the late dictator as a hero. “Truth is, Marcos was a dictator, an enemy of democracy," Bello said in a statement. “It is a fact. Those who choose to ignore this piece of reality are themselves contributing to the weakening of democracy and truth." GMA News Online tried to reach Marcos’ widow, incumbent Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos, for her comment on the resolution, but she has yet to reply as of posting time. Bello, who strongly opposed the dictatorship during the martial law era, said the filing of the resolution was also a way of seeking justice for victims of human rights violations during the Marcos years. Bag-ao, for her part, said that attempts toward a “gross historical distortion" by Marcos’ “spin doctors" must be opposed to give the Filipino youth an accurate account of what happened during the dictatorship. “We may be a forgiving people but definitely not a forgetful one," she said. “Compassion and justice can never be confused with attempts to exonerate a brutal legacy. There is a clear line between truth and lies." The two lawmakers also reiterated their opposition to plans to bury the late dictator at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City. Marcos’ burial Last March, more than 190 congressmen signed a resolution favoring the hero’s burial for Marcos. Marcos, president from 1965 until he was ousted in 1986, died while in exile in Hawaii in 1989. His remains were brought home in 1993 and preserved in his hometown of Batac, Ilocos Norte where he still lies in state in an air-conditioned mausoleum. President Benigno Aquino III, whose mother replaced Marcos as president, has asked Vice President Jejomar Binay to decide on the burial issue of the former strongman, citing "personal bias" on the issue. Ninoy Aquino, the president's father, was assassinated in 1983 as he arrived in Manila, a crime widely blamed on the Marcos regime. Binay announced last August that the Marcos family has agreed to his proposal for the remains to be given military honors and buried in Ilocos Norte. Mrs. Marcos and the children of the late dictator, however, denied reaching a final decision on the matter. — KBK, GMA News