Bongbong dismisses late dad's critics; insists no need to say sorry for Martial Law atrocities

 

Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Wednesday dismissed calls for him to  apologize over the human rights violations committed during the martial rule of his father, the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

“Like any other candidate there are people who are opposing. So hindi naman talaga nakakagulat. Lahat naman ng kandidato ay may bumabatikos so kasama na rin yan sa proseso ng pagkampanya kaya’t it’s not unexpected,” Marcos told  reporters in Tuguegarao City on the eve of the 30th anniversay of the People Power Revolution.

The 1986 uprising led to Marcos' ouster from power. The Marcos family was forced to leave Malacañang and live in exile in the US during the first Aquino administration.

A group of Martial Law victims recently launched a group called “Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang” or CARMMA.

The group said “CARMMA aims to torpedo the VP aspiration of Bongbong Marcos through public information and mass actions”.

The group said their mass actions “will hound Marcos wherever he goes” as they will try to maximize their “exposure” on the tri-media (print, radio and television) as well as on the new media or the internet.

The group demanded that Marcos Jr. acknowledge the abuses committed during martial law and “issue a public apology to the Filipino people”.

The group further demanded that the Marcos family let go of their alleged ill-gotten wealth.

Marcos, however, said that while he respects the views of the group, it is better to let the people decide on the May 9 elections.

“Karapatan ng tao (ang magpahayag pero) hayaan natin ang tao ang maghusga. Kaya tayo naghahalalan para maghusga ang mga tao,” Marcos said.

Marcos Jr. had earlier said that a public apology for martial law that his critics are demanding from him will not put closure to that dark part of the country’s history.

“Ako, tanggap ko. Lahat naman ng administrasyon may nasaktan, may naiwanan. Ganun din siguro sa administrasyon ng tatay ko. Pero siyempre nangyari 'yan sa administrasyon ng tatay ko,” Marcos Jr. said on dzBB's “Ikaw Na Ba?...The Vice Presidential Interview”.

The elder Marcos declared martial law in 1972 during which many activists were allegedly abducted, tortured and killed.

Marcos Jr. said that while he respects the views of some groups that martial law should be held against him, he will not give in to demands that he make an apology.

“Kung meron akong sinaktan, mag-a-apologize ako… Pero 'yung lahat ng pagkakamali sa past administration hindi ko naman yata obligasyon na mag-apologize para sa mga nakaraang administrasyon,”Marcos Jr. said.

He maintained that apologizing for martial law will not put closure to the alleged human rights abuses committed during that era.

“'Yung closure na sinasabi nila, wala sa kamay ko 'yun. It’s not in my hands,” Marcos Jr. said. “Nasa kamay 'yan ng korte, nasa proseso.”

Divisiveness

In a separate statement, Marcos Jr.’s campaign manager Rep. Jonathan Dela Cruz scored the anti-Marcos groups for allegedly sowing “divisiveness” instead of helping the country move forward.

“Thirty years after EDSA, ever-rising poverty is the fate of majority of our people, criminality and illegal drugs stalk the land, sustainable employment remains a dream for many of us, basic services are wanting in many areas and our main infrastructure works from power to railways to ports and airports are creaking,” Dela Cruz said.

“It is quite unfortunate that in the face of all these challenges, some groups chose to focus on the candidacy of Senator Ferdinand " Bongbong " Marcos, Jr….These groups have chosen to do the battles of the past which, by the way, the Marcoses have left to the processes under the 1987 Constitution and the judgment of history,” Dela Cruz said. — APG, GMA News