Libingan ng mga Bayani means cemetery of the heroes

We don’t believe the press reports that President Macapagal Arroyo was open to the idea of having the remains of Pres. Ferdinand Marcos transferred to the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani. We believe what PGMA said when she informed the press that she had reconciliatory conversations with Marcos’ widow, Imelda, but the question of Marcos’ burial place was never even discussed. The truth is that the administration has not been very strict with as to who are the national heroes who deserve burial at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani. The last "hero" to be buried there was former Senator Blas Ople last December 2003. We stoutly maintain that before any person is permitted the great honor to be buried as a hero, he should first be proclaimed a national hero. As it is, being buried at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani is an automatic recognition that one is a national hero. So it is not how the person lived or what he did for the nation that makes one a hero. It is being buried at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani.

We don’t believe that even the family of former President Ferdinand Marcos is interested in transferring his remains that now are in his ancestral home in Batac, Ilocos Norte. First, because the people in Ilocos really look up to him as a hero. Second, his remains there have not even been interred. He lies in a refrigerated crypt. We believe that with this controversial precedent as to who should be, and who should not be entitled to be buried in the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani, a law should be passed asserting that only officially proclaimed heroes are entitled to a hero’s burial at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani.

Our problem is that we forget easily. We are supposed to be a democratic country. You cannot convert this country into a dictatorship and then be proclaimed a hero. Worst, the people cannot throw you out of power only so you can later be buried as a hero at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani. Up to now, everyone knows that the Marcos heirs have a lot of unexplained wealth. But so far nothing has been done to recover this money. And now the false report appears that he may even be recognized as a national hero by merely transferring his refrigerated remains to our heroes’ cemetery. His remains will definitely be out of place there.

We say let Ferdinand Marcos remain in peace at his hometown in Batac. Better be in a place where everyone thinks you belong than a place where many will question your just being there. Marcos is considered a hero in Ilocos. The same cannot be said for the rest of the country. So let him remain where he is.