Removal of all Marcos vestiges sought

A leftist congressman wants the removal of all vestiges of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, including his name in public streets and buildings.

Satur Ocampo, one of the three representatives in the House of the left-leaning party-list group Bayan Muna, made the proposal yesterday, the 29th anniversary of the imposition of martial law.

Ocampo, who was imprisoned for nine years during the Marcos regime, said the name Marcos — whether belonging to the late dictator or to family members — should be removed from public infrastructure.

"The purpose is to expunge the mark of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos who forced the naming of streets, schools, hospitals, and other public facilities after himself and his family," he said.

He said they will introduce bills that would remove the vestiges of the late president.

Ocampo revealed that one of the first bills they will file will seek the renaming of the Don Mariano Marcos Avenue in Quezon City, otherwise known as Commonwealth Avenue, into Sen. Lorenzo Tañada Avenue.

"It is the supreme irony that the road leading to Congress is named after a man whose primary mark in history is his siring of a tyrant who upon the imposition of martial law closed down Congress, threw his rivals in jail and instituted himself president for life," Ocampo said.

He said if it were not for the people’s uprising in EDSA in February 1986, the Marcoses and their cronies would still be in power, "bleeding the national coffers dry."

He said in contrast to the late dictator, Tañada "exemplified how the politician could also be a statesman and the legislator also a nationalist for whom public trust does not mean private gain."

Tañada served in the Senate for an unprecedented four terms, from 1947 to 1971. During martial law, he was a human rights lawyer, street parliamentarian and an anti-bases activist. He died in 1992.

Ocampo said he and colleagues Crispin Beltran and Liza Maza could file one omnibus bill to remove the name Marcos from all public infrastructure, or introduce one measure for each street or building.

He said they will do it even if the effort entails the filing of thousands of proposed legislation for all the streets, buildings, schools, hospitals, and other structures with the name Marcos on them. — Jess Diaz