Moral of the Marcos story: Never entrust nation’s future to elite

With over 13 million votes garnered in the 2010 senatorial election, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has every reason to believe that the Filipinos have already forgotten the horrors of martial law. And why not? The latest Pulse Asia survey shows he is now the leading vice presidential contender, surpassing Chiz Escudero, for the upcoming elections. Confident and unapologetic, the dictator’s son is now calling for unity and urges the electorate to reject candidates who are against it.

There’s nothing more disturbing than Marcos calling for political unity in his quest for the vice presidency. It’s like the son of Adolf Hitler promoting racial equality but sees nothing wrong with the atrocities of the Nazis in the Holocaust. Marcos’ refusal to acknowledge the crimes of his father proves his lack of sincerity to uphold civil and human rights, while his deliberate distortion of history is an attempt to cover up the plunder of the Marcos family.

I think it was the late senator Lorenzo Tañada who said, “Unity is the last word of a bankrupt politician.” Marcos’ call for unity, on the other hand, is a manifestation of his intellectual bankruptcy.

How Marcos could advocate unity without making amends with martial law victims and their families is just enraging. Indeed, he may have a rock-solid support—enough to win him a seat in the Senate from the Marcos loyalists, religious fanatics, rightist groups, and traditional politicians. But Marcos should think twice (or thrice) if he thinks that he could easily win in this year’s electoral race. Thanks to freedom-loving Filipinos and the national democrats, who recently initiated the Carmma (Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang), winning the second highest elected position in the land will not be a walk in the park for Marcos.

It has been 30 years since the Filipino people united against the Marcos regime and brought the Aquino-Cojuangco family to power. The names and the faces of the presidents have changed since then, yet poverty, corruption and human rights abuses remain. The Marcoses and their cronies? They still live off the fat of the land. In short, the same unjust social system prevails today. Moral of the story: Never entrust the future of our nation to the ruling elite.

—DANIEL ALOC, [email protected]