The Aftermath: What to Do after SC allowed Marcos to be called “Hero”
We’ve all been at the edge of our seat. In my case I just arrived in the office from an errand when the tragic news appeared on my newsfeed. I heard rumors of the bad news from friends in HRVCB and other government agencies. The Supreme Court, the final arbiter and interpreter of the 1987 anti-Marcos Constitution, has allowed with finality (9-5 in favor) to allow the dictator to be buried in Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes Cemetery). Being buried there would accord the dictatorial corpse military honors, and words of honorifics, as if he has so much to prove. But we all know it’s hollow. History says so. Evidences are here to stay. Nothing can change that.
The pro-Marcos argument is nothing short of legalism. “Why should Marcos burial at the cemetery be prohibited when there is no law that says it’s prohibited” or “We’re not calling him a Hero. We’re just giving him what his due is, as president and as former military honorable.” Yeah right. They have effectively blinded themselves to the real elephant in the room–the atrocities acknowledged by the law itself, the specific Constitutional provisions averting such grave abuse of Executive power. They have decided to stick with the “Letter of the Law” instead of the spirit or intent of the Law. This is pretty much like how the Pharisees of old accused Jesus of being Satanic because he healed a blind man on a Sabbath, a non-working holiday. Never mind that he healed the man, which was good in itself. The quasi-legislative/judiciary Pharisaic body ruled that Jesus disobeyed the law therefore he was from Satan. The absurdity of it all. This is not so different from the 9 justices who voted in favor of the Dictator’s burial at a cemetery for heroes. They have effectively trivialized the recorded atrocities, victims, and the corruption that pervaded the military and the high echelons of government during the dictatorship. The Holy Writ is harsh to people like them:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” (Matthew 23:23-24)
Many of them will retire soon, and oh what a legacy they will leave us, these men and women who never even thought of how history will judge them.
But look at the 5 Justices who stood their ground. Theirs is of the highest caliber. I salute them for their bravery and their steadfast stand for the independence of the Judiciary and the survivors of Martial Law. They upheld fairness up to the last minute. They will be remembered by history in the highest esteem.
Perhaps the saddest fact in this tragedy was that the Martial Law victims won their cases in the U.S. and Singaporean courts. The world acknowledged them. But not in their homeland. Never in our dear homeland. Once again, as in 1973 when the Supreme Court washed hands and legitimized Martial Law, it has failed us all.
So what do we do now? The follow-up question, however, got me really scared. How do we repair historical revisionist thinking in our circle of friends, relatives etc., when the highest court of the land has just legitimized it?
For now it is alright to weep. We shall not pretend that we have not lost a big part of our honor as a country. We just did. The world is watching. Our kids, more confused than ever on the definition of “hero,” are watching. Act out your anger, yes. But always do so from the spirit of grief. Our kids will get it, when they see us weep for our country because we love it.
I am reminded of this book in the Bible called “Lamentations.” The book is a song of a prophet who warned a city of its destruction. When the stubborn city was destroyed, what was left to do but weep? Weeping is not a passive thing. It mirrors what we value, and forces us to look to yearn for higher things. The book itself is a beautiful song, heart-wrenching. It has brought comfort to millions who may have not been given justice in this life.
Read Lamentations 3 as a prayer, and weep for our country.
2. Weep with those who weep.
Hug a survivor of Martial Law.
If you know someone who went through those dark days and had terrible experience during the dictatorship, let them know you’re with them. The revisionists are now empowered, with all the rabid supporters they have attracted. I’m sure, after the SC decision, the victims feel betrayed by their country, by their institutions. They thought they had a voice, but now they feel their voice was once again taken away and trivialized. They are now framed politically, as tools of the “Yellow.” In effect, they are reliving again the horrors they thought was over. Now is the time to stand with them, to make them feel they are not alone. Because they aren’t. You and I are here with them. If they mustered the courage to voice out their painful experiences they would rather forget, why must we cower in fear and stay silent? Their courage empowers us. Channel that courage and stand with them.
Some of them meet regularly at Bantayog ng mga Bayani. Give your support to the foundation that maintains the museum and the monument.
3. Keep making the painful stories of Martial Law alive.
I won’t be even surprised if we will no longer celebrate EDSA People Power Revolution next year. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is the threat of ignorance peddled by the powers that be to our youth who keeps on absorbing without criticizing. The spread of ignorance empowers revisionists. Never let them. When there’s an occasion, make these names known: Liliosa Hilao, Edgar Jopson, Macliing Dulag, Evelio Javier, and a host of others from different ideological backgrounds. Make it known in your social media that it is not a matter of partisan politics or ideological background that you hail these men and women as heroes. It is a matter of justice and equality. It is a matter of the value of each and every human life. The call for justice remains, unanswered, unheeded. We should not stop but persist.
“Di maka-move on”? Aren’t we being unforgiving? All I know is, repentance should precede forgiveness. Justice should precede “moving on.”
Let us not be naive. The Supreme Court, while ideally being non-partisan, has not always been so. There are some questionable judgments that it passed. There were also secret back-channelings involved that influence jurisprudence. A book by journalist Marites Vitug, entitled Shadow of Doubt: Probing the Supreme Court, is a revelation of what goes on inside the SC. That’s what makes me be awed by the 5 brave justices who stood by their decision, while the rest were swayed. Unfortunately, the recent developments in SC will only erode the faith of the people on its rulings. History has attested to that, especially when the SC became a mere shadow behind the monolithic dictatorship during the Marcos regime. There are always consequences.
*A highly recommended book written by Marites Vitug
Hence, at this very moment, to “oppose” is not really to become part of that erosion of faith in our democratic institutions. It is a vital part of democracy to self-correct itself when our government commits excesses. To “oppose” is to affirm our People whose powers of government should emanate from. To “oppose” is to support. The issue on Marcos Burial can basically be reduced to two groups: The Victims of Martial Law versus the Marcos Family. Who should the people side with? The underdog or the powerful? It was clear where our SC has sided.
5. Remember. To remember is itself an act of protest.
The act of remembering has now become a heroic act. It is in remembering that we affirm that these heroes of Martial Law have existed, and no military honor, no burial in a heroes’ cemetery, can ever trivialize their deaths, their scars, nor their wounds. The revisionists sought to rehabilitate the dictator’s reputation by making a large portion of our generation forget, but they shall fail. Theirs is a shallow fight: to simply insist on calling the dictator a “hero.” What’s that anyway compared to ours? Ours is the higher fight for Justice and Truth. Those things are universal. Those things do not expire.
Hence, I am all for an active and peaceful civil disobedience, whatever form that might take. It is an ultimate exercise of our democratic ideals, and people should be free to express that in creative ways, in social media or in the streets.
Some “good” things that will result from this unjust decision:
1. The myth that our democratic institutions are strong enough to balance an authoritarian-leaning incumbent Executive is shattered. No one is safe. Not even the Supreme Court. Hence, vigilance.
2. The burial of Marcos will end the necro-worship of his corpse that perpetuates the myth of his greatness ever since it was repatriated and displayed in glass case in Ilocos. All dictators of authoritarian regimes around the world have had their corpses displayed as symbols of those “glorious” days.
3. If the atrocities were not true, the burial will definitely end the “divisive” issue. The clamor will naturally die down. But they ARE true. That makes this an issue that transcends partisan politics. And it will only gather steam, as our government shoves this blatant lie on our throats by burying Marcos in a cemetery for our honored heroes.
4. The responsibility of guarding our history are no longer just relegated to historians and the academe, but to every citizen who knows his/her history and grounded in it. We have been rocked to the core. The rules have changed. If historians are too few to defend our history, those who know their history must rise to the occasion. We must be our own historian, studying the arguments, fighting for the truth, campaigning to voice the voiceless in our historical narrative. We must rise to the challenge.
5. Because of this move by the incumbent administration, concurred by the Judiciary, this “retraumatization” of victims will only make the issue of Martial Law atrocities more relevant. It will be the topic of discussion everywhere, no matter how divisive. That’s better than when it was just kept in dusty books, perpetuating a complacent ignorance–the same ignorance that has brought us to this point.
Shall I say these words as balm for all of us in grief and in a state of outrage?
Long after this country has faded into nothingness, long after the names of the Justices become a footnote in history, one thing shall remain–Truth. It need not be embellished. It draws power from itself–its simplicity, its consistency, its inability to be twisted. People will know what travesty happened within the hallowed halls of Justice. Yes, it may be drowned out for a while by a myriad of loud voices spewing triviality and half-truths. But Truth is here to stay, contained in our books, in our writings, it’s all recorded in our national history. It’s there, quiet but with sustained persistence. And one day, when a generation is ready to listen, it will sound a loud thunderclap, and it will rain as it has never rained before in this parched, toxic and unjust land, washing our tears and our national shame.
Finally, we look to God who sees all and knows all, who knows the secret goings on in the halls of power, and the motivations of our hearts. I rest in the comfort that he is still in control. And what some people may mean for evil, for injustice, God will use for the ultimate good.
Martin Luther King Jr., the slain leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S., and a Baptist pastor, loved quoting this passage from Scripture:
“…let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” - Amos 5:24
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