Senate President Aquilino âKokoâ Pimentel III insisted on Tuesday that former President Ferdinand Marcos is not a hero and should not be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
And Pimentel said he would talk to President Rodrigo Duterte to express his opinion and probably convince him against burying him at the heroesâ cemetery.
The Senate leader is president of Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), which is now chaired by Duterte.
âSabihin ko lang siguro sa kanya yung personal opinion ko na (I would tell him my personal opinion that) heâs (Marcos) not a hero, former President Marcos is not a hero, hence, letâs rethink the propriety of burying somebody in a place called Libingan ng mga Bayani,â Pimentel said in an interview with Senate reporters.
He said the legal battle at the Supreme Court might be over but âno court case will make somebody a hero in the hearts and mind of the people.â
READ: SC OKs Marcos burial at Libingan
âHindi po nadadaan sa legal arguments yan (This could not be settled through legal arguments),â he said.
The Senate leader said he would bring up the issue with Duterte when they meet.
âI can bring this up and say that the legal battle is over. Itâs back to political, in the political arena, hence, heâs the number one political figure in the country and the power actually belongs to him to decide to pursue or to abandon the plan,â Pimentel said.
âPwede pang i- discuss ulit (It could be discussed again), just like the Climate Change Agreement,â he said, referring to the Paris Agreement.
Duterte earlier said that he would not honor the agreement but later changed his mind, saying he would uphold it.
Pimentelâs father, former Senator Aquilino âNeneâ Pimentel Jr., shared the same sentiments.
âOff the cuff, the decision, at the very least, defies decency and spits on the graves of the heroesâsung and unsungâwho are buried there,â the former senator said.
âBut, let it be. For the moment anyway,â he said.
The former senator echoed his sonâs statement that Marcosâs burial at the heroesâ cemetery does not make the late strongman a hero.
âIt does (not) erase the brutality of his regime or its rapacity,â he said.
âI guess the hypocrisy that lurks behind the facade of the ânational interestâ argument justifying the burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani will sooner than later rear its ugly head for all the people to see its fakery,â the former senator added. RAM/rga
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