On the surface, it may seem like the pathetic sneaky funeral of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani last week was nothing more than a sorry effort to make a hero out of a disgraced dictator. For surely a funeral done in secret behind locked gates in fear of public outrage, limited only to family members and the closest loyalists, was not a hero’s funeral but one for a despised tyrant and thief.
What were the Marcoses thinking? Why inflict themselves with their arrogant aura of impunity again on the Filipino people, when there seemed to be general tolerance of their quiet coexistence? Was it a miscalculation that triggered more outrage than they anticipated? Or might this be another piece in the family’s grand strategy of restoring themselves in power?
Encouraged perhaps by Bongbong’s strong performance in the May 2016 elections and the election of a very friendly and collaborative president, the family might have decided that now is the time to make some bold moves. Might they be thinking that burying Marcos in the Libingan allows them to claim a reversal of the verdict of the 1986 People Power Revolution? Might they be thinking that burying Marcos among soldiers and heroes empowers them to rewrite history and recast him, not as a corrupt dictator and enemy of the Filipino people, but as the best president the Philippines ever had?
Viewed in this light, the funeral could well be a clarion call to their followers, a signal that they have begun their determined march back to Malacañang. And the next logical step in this grand strategy? Bongbong must be installed as vice president through whatever means it will take. Just as his father tried to steal the 1986 presidential election from Cory Aquino, Bongbong will leave no stone unturned to steal the vice presidency from Leni Robredo. And the family is encouraged no end by a presidential pronouncement that the nation may have a new vice president in 2017. With succession firmly in place, thus will be set the Marcoses’ path back to power, framed in a partnership with neither regard for human rights nor patience for the constraints of democratic government.
As we watch this unfolding scenario, do we sit silently in impotent rage (to borrow the apt phrase of a dear cousin), or do we muster the courage and conviction to actually do something to frustrate this sinister plot?
There is, fortunately a very bright aspect to these unfolding events, and that is the outrage that the surreptitious funeral has triggered, especially among students and the millennials who had, until now, seemed oblivious to political developments. It may well be on this rekindled rage that we can base our hopes that this anticipated Marcos onslaught on our democracy can be effectively challenged and defeated.
I recall my own introduction to political activism exactly 33 years ago. On Nov. 24, 1983, three months after Ninoy Aquino’s assassination, I spoke for the first time at a political rally, at the so-called “Businessman’s Rally” at Ugarte Field in Makati. Since then, I have consistently held that concerned citizens, especially those who are blessed with positions of some influence, have a responsibility to speak out on matters that affect our nation’s future. I have not stopped speaking out as I do now, but I realize that our weapons are those of generations past: newspaper columns, rallies and speeches, discussion forums. Today’s battleground is social media, the reach of which is more extensive than we can ever imagine; it is here where today’s students and millennials have to pick up the challenge and lead the fight, using their considerable brain power and their networks as their weapons.
On this note, I echo Inquirer columnist John Nery’s call for vigilance and involvement, through individual initiatives and the building of communities of participation through institutions like schools, parishes and unions, and hope that today’s generation will carry the flame. Meanwhile, we Edsa veterans who have perhaps earned the comfort of the back seat assure all that as we stand ready to provide guidance and support, we will not let our passions and outrage subside.
Ramon R. del Rosario Jr. (rrdelrosario@gmail.com) is an advocate of active and responsible citizenship.