Should dictator Marcos be buried as a hero?

It is difficult to believe that to this date, the remains of dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos is still refrigerated in a crypt in his hometown Batac, Ilocos Norte where it lies unburied. It is undoubtedly the longest wake in the history of the Philippines. Now comes the news that some of his diehard followers are planning to get a million signatures to ask for the transfer of his remains to the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani.

It was Marcos who turned this democratic country into a despotic dictatorship. Only last year, Global Corruption Report released in Berlin stated that the two top corrupt Presidents in Asia were Indonesian President Suharto and Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos. According to their estimate, Suharto stole from 15 to 35 billion dollars. Marcos embezzled from 15 to 19 billion dollars. During his regime, 22,287 individuals were arrested, out of which 2,491 were salvaged, 706 mysteriously disappeared and 154 tortured. Our foreign debt was less than US$5 billion. By the time he was ousted, it had risen to US$28 billion.

We ask the people who are advocating for recognizing dictator Marcos as an official Filipino national hero to leave well enough alone. If anything, it will open up anew the issue of the unexplained Marcos wealth. His followers claim that Marcos was a World War II hero because he fought in many battles and won 27 medals. But the San Jose Mercury News of California came out with a study proving that most of the medals Marcos claimed he had received were fake. To be recognized as a hero, the first requirement is credibility. We sincerely believe that for Marcos’ own sake, his followers should abandon their move of having his remains transferred to the Libingan ng mga Bayani. It is one thing to be buried in the Heroes Cemetery. It is another to desecrate the place by being buried there.

Everyone is entitled to rest in peace once he has crossed to the next world. Many people suffered during the Marcos regime. In our case, we were tried in court for not having voted in the election between dictator Marcos and Alejo Santos for the presidency of the Philippines. It was compulsory then to vote. Half of the nation did not vote because they knew it was a mock election. I was the only one prosecuted for not voting. And now they want Marcos to be officially recognized as a hero and be buried at the Libingan ng nga Bayani? How crazy can things get!

A hero is an individual who stands out ethically, morally and humanly. He or she can be a politician, businessman, priest, housewife, farmer or laborer, all depending on where they were born and raised. The first step to become a hero is believing in heroism. What they really leave behind is a magnificent example of patriotism.