NEVER FORGET. Using umbrellas, members of Konsyensya Dabaw movement call on the public not to forget the Martial Law as they renew their call to President Rodrigo Duterte to have the burial of the late strongman, President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., in Batac, Ilocos Norte. The group held their protest action in front of the Ateneo de Davao University on Sunday, August 21, 2016. (Medel V. Hernani/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — A group opposing the burial of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. at the Libingan ng mga Bayani has called on the government to pursue a genuine and lasting peace based on justice.
The Konsyensya Dabaw movement said the “people should not let the Marcoses of the past, and any Marcos-like forces in the future ruin our chances at genuine and lasting peace.”
The group marked on Wednesday, September 21, the global celebration of International Day of Peace and in the Philippines, the 44th anniversary of Martial Law.
The Duterte administration has resumed peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Konsyensya Dabaw said it perceived it as the government’s way “to seek political solutions that would end armed conflicts that have been raging since the late ‘60s and ‘70s, and to address root causes.”
“Indeed, there are reasons to be hopeful given the commitment of the actors of the country’s different conflict lines to pursue their respective peace processes,” Mags Maglana, Konsensya Dabaw spokesperson, said in a statement.
But Maglana pointed out that the struggles of NDFP, MNLF, and the MILF hatched during the dictatorship of former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
“While the three wars have roots that go back to the country’s colonial past, it cannot be denied that the Marcos years, not only failed to address the causes, but also created and deepened conditions of social injustice that triggered open crises and armed confrontations,” Maglana said, calling it as a “historical fact.”
Maglana said the people “suffered massively because of Marcos’ authoritarian rule and corrupt-laden governance that connived with elite and foreign interests to amass wealth for personal gain while millions endured poverty, and used manipulation and force to divide, marginalize and suppress opposition.”
The Davao-based group maintained that the government’s planned burial for Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani is “inconsistent with society’s efforts to heal the wounds caused by historical injustices, repression and social inequities.”
“A hero’s burial for Marcos would actually put at risk the peace efforts of government, the NDFP, MNLF, and MILF because it signals the continuing whitewash, and unchecked return of interests and forces that do not desire social transformation, justice and peace,” Maglana warned. (davaotoday.com)
