We, at Parent’s Alternative on Early Childhood Care and Development Inc. (PAECCDI), vehemently condemn the planned burial of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. It is comparable to burying Marcos’ sins against the Filipino people.
The dictator’s record is violent and bloody—from illegal arrests, enforced disappearances, torture and killings which rendered thousands of children orphans. Justice for them remains elusive, and this we will never forget.
For children’s rights advocates, the martial law era was a dark time in Philippine history but, despite that, it was also a time of birth. Parent’s Alternative Inc. was founded during those times of great crisis. It was formed by parents and relatives of victims to teach their children lifelong lessons of commitment to serving the poor and marginalized and teaching them to claim and defend their rights and promote their welfare.
Parent’s Alternative was one of the institutions who cared for orphaned children and sought justice with them, for their incarcerated, abducted and/or killed parents. The institution witnessed the empowerment of these children-victims—those orphaned by the fascist and heartless Marcos regime.
Who among the victims will then regard the dictator Ferdinand Marcos as a hero? For PAECCDI, the successor of Parent’s Alternative Inc., to regard Marcos as a hero is a crime. It would be the height of disregard and disrespect for the memories of the victims of human rights violations and the pain that their loved ones went through, especially their children.
Let us not bury their fondest memories of their parents’ martyrdom. Many of these parents are, up to now, still missing. Let us not bury their children’s cries for justice!
The ouster of the Marcos dictatorship was a symbol of the Filipino people’s rage against plunder, worsening poverty and gross violation of individual human rights and people’s collective rights. The Filipino people’s struggle shall live as it shall not be buried together with the dictator who have caused much agony in the lives of thousands.
In memory of victims and their orphans, PAECCDI will continue to uphold and promote Filipino children’s rights by advancing a pro-people, mass-oriented and nationalist early childhood care and development that will teach children golden lessons of our history. We will continue to develop and hone children who will actively claim their rights.
—REINA REQUIOMA, program coordinator, on behalf of Parent’s Alternative on Early Childhood Care and Development Inc.,