‘Marcos is no hero’: Filipinos protest LNMB burial for dictator

Thirty years after courageously ousting the brutal strongman from power, Filipinos on Sunday gathered at Rizal Park in Manila on the morning of August 14 to protest the planned burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani.

Thousands braved the monsoon rains to show up to protest President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to have the late dictator buried in the heroes' cemetery.

“Pangulong Duterte, 'yan pong inyong kapasyahang yan ay hindi tama, yan ay mali. Hindi sang-ayon, alinsunod sa batas kaugnay sa usaping ito. Hindi ba ninyo nakikita 'yan?” said former Senator Wigberto Tañada, addressing the crowd at the event.

“Para sa atin maliwanag, 'yan ay para sa mga bayani lamang. Hindi naman siya bayani kaya wala siyang karapatan na mailibang diyan. Hind naman siya masasabing bayaning sundalo. So ano ang pinagtatalunan natin?” he added.

Duterte had earlier reasoned that Marcos deserves to be buried in the heroes' cemetery in Taguig City as a former president and soldier.

Marcos and his family and cronies are accused of plundering billions of dollars from the country during his 20 years in power—a regime that was marked by rampant human rights violations in which thousands of Filipinos were killed, arrested, or disappeared. — photos by Danny Pata/BM, GMA News