On why Sen. Bongbong Marcos continues to deny past human rights violations during the dictatorship, claiming the present socioeconomic issues are the primary concern of people now:
This smacks of a classic multiple-choice question with the following answers:
- a) selective amnesia,
- b) denial of full reality through blinders,
- c) rewriting or airbrushing history, or
- d) all of the above.
The present issues and concerns he conveniently highlights are related to social and economic rights that are inextricably linked to civil and political rights.
At all events, the dictator violated all these rights with impunity as well. The son should be asking these questions vis-à-vis his father’s record despite or because of his authoritarianism.
To bifurcate these rights is not only hypocrisy; it also displays arrogant remorselessness and a sense of self-righteousness not unlike his father’s. These are issues of today, dating back to his father’s reign, which he obstinately refuses to acknowledge responsibility for.
We are against any candidate who denies or sidesteps a historical fact of human rights violations and tyrannical rule, in effect condoning or sanctioning them.
—EDRE U.OLALIA,secretary general, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, and bureau member, International Association of Democratic Lawyers, nupl2007@gmail.com