The stories of the martial rule have started to decay—unlike the preserved body of its perpetuator—in many of the minds of the Filipino people.
Many are left to dream of an antiquated time of prosperity that has risen completely from myth, and have chosen to disregard the struggles of thousands to restore the freedom and justice that they enjoy—and take for granted—today.
But there are those who refuse to forget. There are those who will refuse to “move on” and let the Marcoses void a historical revolution that Filipinos once—and should still—celebrate as a great victory.
Many will refuse to join the silencing of the injustices committed by the Marcoses, and they will be among those who will never let history and its truth be buried with the dictator himself.
The Marcoses simply have no remorse, no guilt and no conscience for their atrocities. What has remained in their memory is the splendor of the time when they lived like monarchs, while the rest of the country remained hungry and bloodied in their hands.
With the blessing of the President and the Supreme Court, they have already began creating a ditch where the burial of truth and history of injustices will take place, right in the heart of where our heroes lay.
But the ditch won’t be enough to contain their sins. While the accounts of martial rule are painful enough for many to choose to forget, it is for that exact same reason it must be remembered.
The Marcoses continue their onslaught—the killing of public opinion based on fact, as well as the torture of poverty that worsened when they left the country in huge debt after they plundered millions.
At Libingan ng mga Bayani, Ferdinand Marcos will lay as the antithesis of freedom and democracy, and we cannot let his presence there give new meaning to the word “hero.”
Ten feet under, the horrors of the Marcos dictatorship will rot with him—forged and forgotten—but only if we let it.