BAYANI
On
November 18, 2016, former President Ferdinand E. Marcos was buried at Libingan ng mga Bayani.
The
poem “Bayani” was written in protest and
was published in the Fall 2018 issue of J
Journal:
Copies
of the issue in which the poem was published were delivered to various members
of the political opposition.
On
July 12, 2019, for example, the following letter of transmittal was sent to
Senator Risa Hontiveros:
begin
begin
The
Honorable
Senator
Risa Hontiveros
Rm.
527 & 9 (New Wing 5/F), GSIS Bldg., Financial Center
Diokno
Blvd., Pasay City
Philippines
Subject:
Letter of Transmittal – J Journal,
Vol. XI, No. 2 (Fall 2018)
Dear
Senator Hontiveros:
Please
accept a copy of J Journal, Vol. XI,
No. 2 (Fall 2018), which features on page 3 my poem, “Bayani,” written in protest against the burial of former President
Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani
on November 18, 2016.
The
enclosed journal copy is conveyed as an expression of thanks for your
opposition to the Marcos burial.
On
November 14, 2016, you authored the Senate resolution stating that the crimes
of Marcos and the human rights violations committed under Martial Law rendered
him unfit to be given a hero’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Eloquently, you said, “It is our duty as
senators, as Filipinos, as students of history, to stand against this travesty
and say—as has been said before—never again. Only then can we look back to the
past with pride, and to the future with hope. Let us not fail the test of
history.”
Our
country needs heroes—genuine heroes—to set forth exemplary conduct and to
inspire our people in honorable service to our nation. Your public opposition
to the Marcos burial at Libingan
contributes significantly to this worthy purpose in the task of
nation-building. Marcos hindi bayani!
Thank
you.
Sincerely,
Joseph
I. B. Gonzales
Pen
Name: Gonzalinho da Costa
Encl:
1
end
end
In response to my letter of transmittal, Vice President of the Philippines Leni Robredo wrote the following, April 7, 2019:
begin
My
sincerest gratitude and appreciation to you for furnishing me a copy of J
Journal, which contains your thought-provoking satire “Bayani,” protesting the
burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the heroes’ cemetery.
“Bayani”
is a testament to the power of the written word; it reminds us, your readers,
of our collective responsibility to speak out against the many injustices that
persist in our society today—the Marcos burial included.
At
a time when the Marcos family seeks to rehabilitate their image at the expense
of our history, we are grateful to have allies in people like you, who use
their skills and creative perspective in fighting for what is right and just.
It is my hope that through your work, many others will find the courage to keep
fighting the good fight.
Again,
thank you and congratulations on your feat.
Sincerely,
Leni
Robredo
end
Soon after receiving the letter of transmittal and journal, Justice Mario Victor F. Leonen wrote:
Soon after receiving the letter of transmittal and journal, Justice Mario Victor F. Leonen wrote:
begin
I
finally saw the journal on New Writing for Justice and read your work ‘Bayani.’
Indeed, the burial of the dictator was a dark even which, in many ways,
represents so many wrongs we have done on our democracy.
It
was an honor for me to have been able to dissent as I am sure you found it
inevitable to write your poem.
I
have faith in our people. Someday, perhaps in the succeeding generation, they
will go back upon our literature today and be inspired to be better than us.
All
the best.
With
you, for freedoms,
[Signature]
end
His
personal communication uplifts my sagging heart.
Chito Gascon, Chairperson of the constitutional Commission on Human Rights, wrote, August 29, 2019:
Chito Gascon, Chairperson of the constitutional Commission on Human Rights, wrote, August 29, 2019:
begin
I
wish to express my gratitude and to acknowledge receipt of the copy of J
Journal, Vol. XI, No. 2 (Fall 2018) which features your poem “Bayani”—a
wonderful literary work that you have written in protest against the burial of
former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. This journal
will be an invaluable addition to the modest collection that we have at the Library
of the Commission on Human Rights for the use of everyone—especially the
students and the youth.
Your
positive feedback is appreciated as much as it gives me hope and strength to
sustain me in our work in fighting for democracy and human rights. May your
work be a source of inspiration for our people and the generations to come to
fight for what is right and to value our cherished freedoms.
Sincerely,
Jose
Luis Martin C. Gascon
Chairperson
Commission
on Human Rights
end
“Study
the past in order to break with the past.”
“He
who builds the future without regard for the past is like one who looks into
the mirror and promptly forgets what he sees.”
“Remembrance
is the vision of the future.”
Our country needs genuine heroes. Marcos is not one of them. What we seek is men and women of exemplary conduct who inspire our people in honorable service to our nation.
 |
| Marcos denies he has lupus erythematosus |
Public domain photo
ReplyDeletePhoto link:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ferdinand_Marcos_at_a_1980s_press_conference,_where_he_denied_rumours_that_he_was_sick;_he_turned_out_to_be_suffering_from_complications_due_to_lupus.jpg
Gonzalinho
ALL CAPS MINE
ReplyDeleteLIONIZING THE DEAD
By: Gideon Lasco - @inquirerdotnet
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:30 AM October 31, 2019
…the Latin saying goes, “De mortuis nihil nisi bonum” — Of the dead, speak nothing but good.
This ethic was likely beneficial in small, tightly knit communities, where continuity and harmony were paramount virtues and individual legacies can do little harm. Informing the practice, moreover, is the belief — widely shared across cultures — that departed ancestors continue to exert influence in the world of the living, and must thus be the object of reverence, or at least respect.
…on the personal level, it also made good psychological sense: Why remember the negative side of your relative or friend, when you can choose to highlight the positive one instead? You and everyone else will feel better that way.
This “POSTMORTEM LIONIZATION,” however, can have DIRE CONSEQUENCES FOR OUR HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS when applied to politicians and other public figures.
…part of the reason why the Marcoses remain in power is that enough people make an exception to their principles out of gratitude to the dictator’s family.
There are many other examples, both here and abroad — from American presidents to Southeast Asian strongmen, from European royals to Filipino personalities — in which we see a formerly divisive figure elevated into a unifying force; a hawk recast as a dove, a partisan turned into an elder statesman, upon their passing.
…I do not suggest that we erase the good people have done in a world where nobody’s perfect. But neither should their DEATH EXTINGUISH THEIR MORAL LIABILITIES, MEDIOCRITIES, MISTAKES — or, for that matter, THE TRUTH ITSELF. Surely, we need to respect the grief of loss and the sorrow of mourning. But when it comes to people who have had the privilege to shape our nation’s fate, we should never let go of our criticality.
In other words, WE SHOULD NOT BE AFRAID TO SPEAK ILL OF THE DEAD — IF ONLY FOR THE SAKE OF THE LIVING. And for the MANY OTHERS WHO HAVE DIED WITH NEITHER LIONIZATION NOR JUSTICE.
glasco@inquirer.com.ph
Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/124934/lionizing-the-dead#ixzz68yYjQJIa
Gonzalinho
Distortions of the truth will only result in flimsy and temporary advantages. It will only convince uncritical minds. However, it will almost permanently undermine the character and integrity of those who peddle them.
ReplyDelete@marvicleonen
Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 31, 2019
Gonzalinho
THE WAY OF THE WICKED VANISHES
ReplyDeleteThe famous funeral oration in “Julius Caesar” begins with a practical distinction: “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” Shakespeare’s eloquent version of the Roman general Mark Antony uses the distinction as a convenience, to allow him, a potentially dangerous ally of the murdered dictator-in-the-making, to mourn his friend in public.
In the case of the controversial plan to inter the remains of an actual dictator, the late Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, at the Libingan ng mga Bayani or Heroes’ Cemetery, this distinction does not hold. To bury Marcos is to praise him.
It is really quite as simple as that.
...The President-in-waiting suggests that the critics of Marcos, the enemies of martial law, must learn to “jettison their hate”—as though demanding accountability, asking for the Marcoses to show even a hint of remorse, working to recover the billions of dollars the family illegally acquired, were acts of hate. Duterte, a lawyer and former prosecutor, must know the difference between justice and hate.
If he wants the healing of a nation still scarred by the terrors of martial rule, he must direct his attention not to the victims but to the victimizers. He must ask them to jettison their greed, make them understand that burying Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani is yet another act of thievery—this time, of the common soldier’s dignity, and the country’s honor.
Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/94932/no#ixzz4A7J7aABm
What we desire, to remember: "The evil that men do lives after them" (Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 2)
What we desire, to prevent: "The way of the wicked vanishes" (Psalm 1:6)
Memory is identity. Let us never forget.
Gonzalinho
All caps mine
ReplyDeleteLET ORDINARY BUT BRAVE FILIPINOS HONOR RIZAL
Let us not be bothered by President Duterte’s absence at the Rizal Day rites last Dec. 30. Really, he doesn’t deserve to lead the rites, much less stand on sacred ground where Rizal calmly faced his executioners. Maybe it is about time that our national hero be honored by Filipinos who have lived a life of service for our people.
In the future, I hope to see our MODERN-DAY HEROES instead of politicians raise that flag every Rizal Day.
I am thinking of an INDIGENOUS PERSON WHO HAS LED HIS PEOPLE TO PROTECT THEIR ANCESTRAL LANDS; or an ENVIRONMENTALIST WHO, WITH MEAGER SALARY, RISKS LIFE AND LIMB TO PRESERVE OUR PATRIMONY; or a HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER WHO TENACIOUSLY WARDS OFF SINISTER EFFORTS TO SHRINK OUR DEMOCRATIC SPACE; or a MEDIA PERSON WHO, like Rizal, USES HIS PEN AND WORDS TO SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER despite the fact that at least 13 journalists have been killed under the Duterte regime.
I am sure we will never run out of honorable and patriotic Filipinos who have lived up to the ideals of Jose Rizal, because EACH GENERATION HAS ITS OWN HEROES.
EVELYN SILAY
evelyndsilay@gmail.com
Philippine Daily Inquirer (January 15, 2020)
Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/126605/let-ordinary-but-brave-filipinos-honor-rizal#ixzz6BQdR6WZC
Gonzalinho
Marcos did not eradicate corruption, contrary to what Duterte implied. Marcos centralized it: he decided who can steal with impunity among his officials and cronies, but he made sure he got the lion’s share. He stole enough to make it to the Guinness Book of World Records.
ReplyDeleteLuis V. Teodoro, @luisteodoro
Philippine Daily Inquirer (June 19, 2019)
Gonzalinho
House Bill 7137 declaring Sept 11 as Marcos holiday is a gross disrespect to all victims of the dictator’s atrocities, including the rape survivors under his regime. This legislature (save for the 9 who voted against) will go down in history as traitors to the Filipino people.
ReplyDelete@jeanenriquez
Philippine Daily Inquirer (September 4, 2020)
AN INSULT TO ILOCANOS
By: Solita Callas-Monsod - @inquirerdotnet
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:06 AM September 05, 2020
Our Congress is passing a bill declaring Sept. 11 as President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Day in Ilocos Norte. And with no debate whatsoever. Words fail me. Do the Germans/Austrians celebrate an Adolf Hitler Day anywhere in Germany, or in Braunau am Inn in Austria? Do the Italians celebrate a Benito Mussolini in Predappio, Italy?
We not only will be the LAUGHINGSTOCK OF THE WORLD, [all capitals mine] which held us in the highest respect when we overthrew the dictator peacefully and became a role model for all other similar movements to follow, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, but we will also have pissed on the face of Ninoy Aquino and all the victims of martial law, as well as on our faces—the victims of Marcos’ plunder—for which we had to suffer for almost 16 years before we could regain our former per capita income.
…Now, about this “he is a hero to Ilocos Norte and to most Ilocanos all over the world”: What is the basis of that statement of Senator Sotto? It actually is an insult to Ilocanos. Are they not Filipinos first? Did they not see the devastation that Marcos brought on the Philippines? Did they not witness how he tried to keep himself in power even after 20 years?
So, the dictator Marcos did a lot for Ilocos while he was president. Does that more than compensate for what evil he wreaked on the Filipino people? The Ilocanos are not dumb. And I am sure they are Filipinos first.
My father was an Ilocano (born in Abra, raised in Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur) who thought the world of Ferdinand Marcos. He was a journalist with the Philippines Free Press and wrote articles defending the young Marcos who was accused of killing his father’s opponent (Julio Nalundasan). He was struck by Marcos’ brilliance and his potential, and was his personal friend. He chose then Senate President Marcos to be a principal sponsor at my wedding (he came, and charmed me, too).
But when President Marcos declared martial law, my father brought me every day to the Supreme Court to hear the martial law case against Marcos. And I remember him sighing, and saying, “if I knew then that he would do this to the Filipino people, I would never have defended him.”
That’s the kind of Ilocano I know. A Filipino first. And someone who would evaluate Marcos not just on the basis of a few, or even many, scraps thrown his way. And I am half-Ilocano. And proud of it. But I am a Filipino first. As I said, Senator Sotto insults the Ilocanos.
Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/133322/an-insult-to-ilocanos#ixzz6teyuHYuR
When I was 18, I was tortured and imprisoned by Marcos for 4 years because I criticized him for banning student councils. Many Ilocanos were also imprisoned then. We cannot celebrate the birth of a man who imprisoned and tortured Filipinos. This is adding injustice to our pain.
Neri Colmenares,
@ColmenaresPH
Philippine Daily Inquirer (September 7, 2020)
Gonzalinho