Bongbong hit over refusal to admit martial law atrocities

MANILA, Philippines - Members of the academic community have criticized vice presidential candidate and Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for refusing to recognize the atrocities committed during the dictatorship of his father. 

More than 400 faculty members and personnel of the Ateneo de Manila University signed a statement condemning what they described as the “ongoing willful distortion of history.” 

The head of the University of the Philippines’ history department also debunked claims by Marcos supporters that the administration of the late dictator was the golden days of Philippine history. 

The Ateneo academic community deplored Marcos for refusing to acknowledge the crimes of the martial law regime. 

“We reject the revision of history, disturbing vision of the future and shallow call for unity being presented by Marcos Jr. and like-minded candidates in the 2016 elections,” it said in a statement.

“The Marcos regime’s economics of debt-driven growth was disastrous for the Philippines. The regime was not interested in inclusive development, long-term state-building nor genuine social transformation of the country, despite its ‘New Society’ rhetoric,” it added. 

The Ateneo community demanded that the perpetrators of the crimes be brought to justice as it urged the government to pursue and reclaim all the Marcos ill-gotten wealth.

“Victims and their families should be given justice and compensation in full. Any call for unity, most especially from the heirs of the Marcos regime, will be empty and meaningless unless truth and justice are upheld,” it said. 

UP-Diliman history department chair Maria Bernadette Abrera said the perspective that the martial law era was the golden days of Philippine history came from the ruling family during those years. 

“That is only one perspective and that has to be in synchrony with whatever will be said by all the victims of martial law,” Abrera said. 

The UP history department, in partnership with the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation, this week opened an exhibit featuring the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses and their cronies.

Abrera denied the exhibit was part of a shame campaign to undermine the vice presidential bid of the younger Marcos.

“We are not shaming anyone here. Truth will always serve the common good. We are only speaking about what is true. All the things here that the students will see are evidence based,” she said.

The professor decried the supposed attempts to rewrite history and advised Filipinos – especially the youth – to go beyond current problems and understand that these are rooted in the past.

She debunked claims that life was better during the Marcos era.

“Crony capitalism started during martial law, the behest loans. These are the things that continue to haunt us from that period of martial law. Salvaging, the disappearances, all the torture,” she said.

Abrera said the country should not let go and move on from the horrors of martial law, especially since the quest for justice is still not finished.

Of around $10 billion worth of ill-gotten wealth, the PCGG said it has only recovered around $3 billion.

“We need to keep it alive and going because it is the young people who are going to benefit from it,” Abrera said.

“It is not just the quest of one commission, but a quest of the entire Filipino nation because we are seeking justice and we are seeking the truth,” she added.

Osmeña fears Marcos return

Sen. Sergio Osmeña III is worried that the gains achieved by the country since the EDSA Revolution would be reversed if Bongbong is elected to higher office.

Osmeña, who was jailed during the martial law years, said the return of a Marcos to power would send a strong message to the world that the moral standards of Filipinos are low.

“Ferdinand Marcos was the number two plunderer in the history of the world. The world will be surprised if the Philippines will elect the son and namesake of the dictator,” he said.

The senator said President Aquino could not be blamed for campaigning against Marcos as it is his moral obligation to let the world know that we have our values right.

Osmeña said he sees many of the assets recovered by PCGG from the Marcos cronies being returned to them. – With Marvin Sy