VP Sara Duterte told: Your dad allowed hero鈥檚 burial for Marcos Sr.
Former President Marcos laid to rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on November 18, 2016. PHOTO FROM MARCOS PRESIDENTIAL CENTER
MANILA, Philippines — An activist has reminded Vice President Sara Duterte that her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, allowed a hero’s burial for the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. after she compared her dad to Marcos critic and democracy icon Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.
In a message to reporters on Monday, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan President Renato Reyes Jr. said it seems the Dutertes are trying to use people involved in the Edsa People Power Revolution, like Aquino, to invoke an “anti-Marcos narrative” and criticize Marcos Sr.’s son, incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
However, Reyes said this is “outrageously ironic” because former President Duterte was the one who allowed Marcos Sr. to be laid to rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
“The Duterte camp has no own narrative, so they are trying to grab the narrative of democratic forces,” he added.
According to Reyes, it is also clear that former President Duterte is not the victim, unlike Aquino who suffered political attacks and incarceration before his self-exile to the United States.
“Let us be clear. Mr. Duterte is no victim, he is no martyr; rather, he is the main villain in the unfinished saga of drug war extrajudicial killings (EJKs),” he added.
Ex-president Duterte, who is currently under the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in The Netherlands, was discouraged by Vice President Duterte from returning to the Philippines as he may suffer the same fate as Aquino.
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On August 21, 1983, Aquino was killed on the tarmac of then-Manila International Airport after attempting to return to the Philippines.
Earlier, the Aquino family issued a statement saying that Aquino’s return to the Philippines and Duterte’s situation have no similarity.
According to the family, a study of the country’s history would show that Aquino was treated far differently compared to what Duterte is experiencing now.
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Staunch Duterte critic and former Senator Leila de Lima also does not see any similarity in Aquino and Duterte’s situation, saying that Duterte only wants to escape accountability for his cases before the ICC.
Malacañang also defended Aquino’s legacy, saying that the late senator did not have any record of alleged crimes against humanity.
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Duterte is facing crimes against humanity charges at the ICC for alleged EJKs under his administration’s war against illegal drugs.
This is not the first time that Vice President Duterte referenced Aquino in hitting back against the Marcoses.
On November 25, 2024, after being criticized for her threats to President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Vice President Duterte said she agrees with the Chief Executive’s views that ordinary citizens can be targets of assassinations since the Marcoses were behind Aquino’s assassination.
“Oo, ‘di ba pumalag nga ang buong bayan nang pinatay ng pamilya nila si Benigno Aquino? (Didn’t the people fight back when they plotted the assassination of Benigno Aquino?),” Duterte told reporters on the sidelines of the House committee on good government and public accountability hearing.
The Aquino family said the Marcoses have to be held accountable for what happened during their late patriarch’s two-decade rule, but they noted that Ninoy’s advocacy has been through peaceful struggle, with the rejection of “any threat of violence or assassination.”
On the Facebook page for the late former President Benigno Aquino III, son of the democracy icon, the Aquino family reiterated that Ninoy was a known believer in peaceful methods to criticize the government – a belief that he carried until his death in 1983.
The statement came after Vice President Duterte referred to the assassination of Ninoy at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport – which is now known as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport – to up her criticism of the current Marcos administration.
In the 2022 elections, President Marcos and Vice President Duterte ran under a single ticket dubbed as the Uniteam, achieving a landslide victory against the Aquino-endorsed tandem of former Vice President Leni Robredo and former Senator Francis Pangilinan.
In less than three years since its inception, the Uniteam suffered a complete collapse with the Marcos and Duterte camps engaging in a word war.
The House, composed of Marcos allies, launched a probe into Vice President Duterte’s alleged anomalous confidential fund expenses while former President Duterte accused Marcos of being a drug user.
