A misguided bid for ‘star power’ in Pandacan fest

We, sons and daughters of Pandacan, some of whose families have lived here for more than a century, were appalled that a local cultural group invited Imelda Marcos to be the hermana mayor of this year’s Buling-Buling street dance! The Buling-Buling organizers’ attempt to gain “star power” for their event was completely misguided. Imelda is indeed well-known, but for contemptible reasons.

Some of our fellow Pandaqueños too willingly chose to forget that Imelda is the surviving partner of the conjugal dictatorship that terrorized the nation, enriched itself on the backs of the Filipino people and sullied the Philippines’ image.

Independent sources—including courts in the Philippines, Europe and the United States—have documented more than 10,000 victims of torture, disappearances, extrajudicial killings and arbitrary arrests under the Marcos dictatorship. The Marcoses shamelessly lived high on the billions of pesos they and their favored cronies pilfered from the national wealth, and their depredations set back the country’s  socio-economic progress. The Filipino people kicked them out of power for good reason.

Making Imelda hermana mayor poisoned the celebratory atmosphere of our Feast of the Holy Child. It was also an affront to Pandacan’s proud history as a cradle of heroes who resisted colonial rule by Spain, the United States and Japan. And many of its residents were among those who participated in the fight against the Marcos regime. Their memories of the Marcoses include prison cells; the disappearance, maiming or death of loved ones; the suppression of democratic rights; and lonely exile.

If the Buling-Buling’s organizers invited Imelda as a “daughter” of Pandacan, they were again mistaken. While the Romualdez clan has an old mansion in Pandacan where Imelda lived with relatives for a spell, it is not her “ancestral home,” contrary to her claim. She grew up poor in Leyte, and her attempt when she came to power to promote the mansion as her ancestral abode was part of a ridiculous campaign to fabricate aristocratic roots more fitting of her “elevated” status as the dictator’s wife.

Imelda’s current position as a member of Congress cannot disguise the fact that the Marcoses still have to fully account for their crimes against the people. The families of their countless victims still await retribution. Yet the Marcoses have not shown remorse. Instead, they are taking advantage of the Filipino’s generosity and forgiving disposition by desperately attempting to rewrite the past, whitewash their misdeeds and reposition themselves for a return to power. It is a shame that some members of our community are willing or have allowed themselves to be used as instruments of the Marcoses’ concerted effort to promote national amnesia.

—ANTONIO O. SANTOS, [email protected],

RENE CIRIA-CRUZ, [email protected],

SIXTO CARLOS JR., [email protected],

DIANA CARLOS SY-QUIA,

DAN CIRIA CRUZ