Before Jose Rizal was executed by firing squad in 1896, he
was already regarded as a hero by his fellow countrymen. And all the more when
he was martyred on that fateful day, 30 December. But he did not want this for
himself. His request to his family was for a simple grave with an epitaph
marking his name, date of birth, and date of death. No anniversaries.
Years after his death, his bones were interred from the Paco
Cemetery to the monument erected in his honor at the Luneta. And we commemorate
every December 30 his martyrdom.
Question: Did his family seek the State's recognition to
bestow a hero's burial for Jose Rizal?
Recently, the Marcos family won a Supreme Court (SC)
decision favoring their dead patriarch to be buried - finally - at the Libingan
Ng Mga Bayani (LNMB). Due to the information that he was a World War 2 veteran,
Former President Ferdinand E. Marcos has basis to be buried there. After 20
years in Malacañang, he was ousted by a popular uprising dubbed Edsa 1 in 1986.
Before he died in Hawaii as an exile, it was reported that he wanted to be
buried next to his mother in Batac, Ilocos Norte. Then President Fidel Ramos
allowed the return of the late president's remains provided that Marcos be
buried there. The Marcos family returned to the country but sought the State
that their patriarch be buried at the LMNB. And they requested for it since
then.
Countless court cases and motions were filed prohibiting the
move because of the horrors brought about by Marcos's proclamation of Martial
Law in 1972 and even after its official lifting in 1981. The SC justices then
affirmed history's judgment that Marcos was ousted and served as dictator
thereby denying State burial.
Upon the assumption of Rodrigo Duterte as president, a State
burial for Marcos began to ring again since the term of former President Joseph
Estrada. Another round of cases and motions were submitted to the SC again. But
with the present SC, a 90 degree turn occurred. The dictator Marcos will now be
buried with State honors. And his family, of course, rejoiced. They are now
saying that the country can move on.
The Marcos family sought the State's recognition to regard
their patriarch as a hero. But did they seek the Filipino people's affirmation?
Now, let Rizal's bones be removed from his monument in
Luneta. He was regarded as "a traitor to Mother Spain," right?
Therefore, it is not correct to call him a hero.
But a tyrant Marcos can now be called as such. Thanks to the
State.
Thanks, but no thanks.
