Militants hold Duterte responsible for Marcos’ return to power

MANILA, Philippines — Militants said they are holding President Duterte complicit in historical revisionism by allowing the return of the Marcoses to power.

“On this day, Nov. 8, five years ago, the Supreme Court (SC) voted 9-5 to allow the burial of the dictator Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani,” the group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) recalled.

Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes said, “Martial law victims petitioned the SC to stop Duterte’s plan to allow Marcos a hero’s burial. The burial was a Duterte campaign promise.”

He added, “Ten days later, Marcos would then be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.”

The group said Marcos’ burial was the first official act of Duterte that paved the way for a Marcos restoration.

Former president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos was buried at the heroes’ cemetery in Taguig with full military honors on Nov. 18, 2016, which anti-Marcos groups denounced as “unexpected.”

Marcos’ son and presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr. revealed yesterday how he wanted Duterte to be his running mate in the 2022 national elections.

“Our original plan was (getting) President Duterte, and that’s why I don’t have a vice presidential candidate,” he said in Filipino at a press conference in Tacloban City yesterday, eighth anniversary of Super Typhoon Yolanda that hit hard his mother’s hometown.

“The President surprised us because he did not file as vice president,” Marcos told reporters, noting that his partymates will now have to talk about it since the Nov. 15 deadline for the substitution of candidates is fast approaching.

For now, he said he does not have a vice presidential candidate yet because of his original intention of adopting Duterte. – Michael Punongbayan