Palace marks holiday in Ilocos Norte on dictator Marcos’s birth centennial
MALACAÑANG ON Thursday, Sept. 7, issued a proclamation dated last Wednesday declaring Sept. 11 a “special (non-working) day in the province of Ilocos Norte.”
Sept. 11 this year marks the birth centennial of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, who died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, three years after his ouster by the People Power Revolution of 1986.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte has been open in his admiration for the late dictator, despite running on the banner of the nowruling PDP- Laban, the party whose raison d’etre in the 1970s was its opposition to the Marcos dictatorship. Mr. Duterte’s mother, Soledad Roa, was also a prominent oppositionist at the time.
Proclamation No. 310, signed by Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea on Mr. Duterte’s behalf, noted Mr. Marcos’s birth anniversary as being commemorated in his home province of Ilocos Norte.
The dictator’s eldest daughter, Imee, is currently provincial governor, while his widow, Imelda Romualdez- Marcos of Leyte, is a congressional representative of Ilocos Norte’s 2nd district.
“( T) he Ilocano community has been annually celebrating the birthdate of the late Ferdinand E. Marcos, and commemorating his life and contributions to national development as a World War II veteran, distinguished legislator, and former president,” the proclamation also read in part, adding that:
“(I)t is but fitting and proper that the people of the Province of Ilocos Norte be given full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies.”
The Palace and its communications office have come under fire before for its past tributes to the late dictator and his legacy, the most recent being a video ( since taken down) on martial law, amid the still- continuing hostilities in Marawi City in Mindanao.
Sought for comment, University of Santo Tomas political science professor Edmund S. Tayao said in a phone interview: “The declared holiday is in observance of the birthday of a former president, and a president is a national official, national leader, so it’s ironic that it can only be a holiday in a local government and not in the whole country... [ I] t’s something that’s impossible to consider in the national level.”
Mr. Duterte’s proclamation is “consistent with his decision to bury Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani,” Ramon C. Casiple, Executive Director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, said in a text message.
He added: “Marcos dictatorship was the single cause for our 20- year economic, social and political downside. Ilocanos may celebrate based on their own but not the whole nation, and not through a presidential proclamation.”
On Sept. 11, a protest caravan from Elliptical Road in Quezon City to the Libingan ng mga Bayani will be held by CARMMA ( Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang), SELDA ( Samahan ng mga ExDetainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto) and other groups. —