Marcoses should apologize for martial law – Noy

MANILA, Philippines - The family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos should apologize for the atrocities and abuses committed against Filipinos during martial rule, President Aquino said yesterday.

Aquino answered in the affirmative when asked during the presidential forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines whether the Marcoses have something to apologize for.

“I have said that time and again for many decades, yes... The start of a solution is the admission of the problem, of the crime that begets the problem,” said Aquino, whose father, the late senator Benigno Aquino Jr., was among those imprisoned during martial law.

While he is of the belief “that you should not visit the sins of the parents on the children,” the President said the Marcoses should admit the wrongdoings during their stay in power.

Aquino said the Marcos family, some of whom have political careers, could have told the Filipino people: “We had this opportunity to turn this country great as our father promised – it didn’t happen. We apologize, we want to make amends.”

“That I think would have been acceptable. We are a forgiving people as a general rule. But they have statements that there’s nothing to apologize for.”

Noy: Pinoys will reject another Marcos

Aquino said he had faith the Filipino people would reject the son of the late dictator as a leader.

Marcos’ son, Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, is running for vice president in the May 2016 elections, which analysts say is a step toward the bigger goal of the presidency in 2022.

His mother, Imelda, is seeking a third term as a member of Congress while his sister, Imee, wants to be reelected as governor of Ilocos Norte.

“I have faith in my bosses, the Filipino people (in not voting Marcos Jr. into power),” Aquino told reporters. “There’s nothing that has caused me to change the faith that they are able to discern.”

The government has documented more than 75,000 cases of torture, illegal detention and disappearances during nine years of martial law that ended in 1981.

“If there is a denial of what happened, is that also a statement that there is no recognition that things have to be corrected down the line? And therefore, is there a promise that there will be a repetition of the sin? Those are the questions,” Aquino said.

Senator Marcos has previously said there is nothing to apologize for.

Aquino evaded a question on the identity of the mastermind of the 1983 assassination of his father, which sparked massive protests that eventually toppled the Marcos regime in 1986.        

“The bottom line is there was a mode of governance existing in our country then that allowed such a thing to happen,” he said. “And who was the principal author of that mode of governance in turning us into a dictatorship?”

The Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 was passed to recognize the victims of martial law and indemnify them for the sufferings they experienced.