‘People have forgotten Marcos dictatorship’

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales expressed disappointment yesterday that, while President Arroyo is now under attack for alleged corruption and electoral fraud, the Filipino people seem to have forgotten about the corruption and human rights abuses committed under the regime of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

"Is (Mrs. Arroyo) the only one who is corrupt? I am not in favor of anyone," Rosales said.

"What I am worried about is the truth that GMA is not the only president linked to corruption. I am interested in the whole truth," he told reporters in an interview at the Arzobispado or the Archbishop’s Palace in Intramuros, Manila the other night.

Rosales said that while allegations of corruption are being hurled at Mrs. Arroyo, the Filipino people appear to have forgotten about Marcos.

"Two generations ago, there was a man who ruled us and declared martial law. (Marcos) ran away with so much money that runs into the trillions of pesos," Rosales said. "Have we forgotten this? Why has no one spoken up if (the case) is solved? It hurts me. This is the bigger crime. How come nobody is saying anything about it?"

Rosales also expressed disappointment over Filipinos’ "ningas-cogon" (flash in the pan) mentality as he asked what has happened to investigations into the abuses and corruption of the Marcos dictatorship.

"Filipinos start things but we don’t follow it through," he said. "That is just 19 years ago, just nearly a generation."

Meanwhile, Rosales said the Philippines is now suffering from a "crisis of the led," saying that a change in leadership is not as important as a change in the people’s values and attitudes.

"There is something wrong. We should go back to (our) roots," he said. "Give the money back to the Filipino people. Begin with yourself. This is the crisis of the led. Our own crisis."

Rosales also said the Philippines now is struggling with the issue of values.

"During the time of Mr. Marcos, the Church intervened because it was already near helplessness," Rosales said. "You could be sure of it that, when it happens again, the Church will bounce back. But this time, (the crisis) is in the (people’s) values. We are just repeating (the cycle) from crisis to crisis and from corruption to corruption. We must go back to the roots."