‘Never again’ to Marcoses – and Aquinos
FERDINAND Marcos ruled the Philippines for 20 years, and mostly through a most brutal and most corrupt dictatorship.
It is thus truly a matter of national dignity that we must say “never again” to any Marcos restoration.
More needs to be done, aside from saying “never again”: Much of the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth have yet to be recovered, the Marcoses themselves still must be brought to court, the Marcoses’ legacy of plunder and brutality needs to be laid down in history books and taught in schools, and the 9,539 victims of Marcos terrorism who filed and won their historic class action suit have yet to be indemnified.
The Marcoses should not harbor any doubts that we will stop their mad drive at total restoration. We intend to repay the heroism and sacrifices of those who fought the dictatorship by preventing their return to power.
That, we have seen, in the unique vice presidential race of 2016, where voters crossed party lines to thwart the dictator’s son and his cynical attempt to ride on popular discontent en route to the vice presidency.
30 years after they were ousted and chased out of the palace by an angry public, the Marcoses almost made it back. Credit for this goes to the Marcoses’ gall and opportunism, on one hand. They survived the post-EDSA onslaught, thrived on institutional forgetfulness, and took advantage of the betrayals and weaknesses of all the post-EDSA regimes.
We must stress the 30 years. Yes, the number of years that have passed since EDSA is now longer than the Marcoses’ reign of terror and greed.
It includes a combined 12 years of two President Aquinos, who portray themselves as the arch-enemies of the Marcoses, but whose records are also marked by their own brand of corruption and cruelty.
The broad alliance that made EDSA possible in 1986 is no more. The Aquinos that became the leaders and chief beneficiaries of the immediate and latest post-Marcos regimes have lost all the moral and political ascendancy to lead the antiMarcos fight.
30 years after EDSA, Filipinos rejected Aquino’s chosen successor despite or due to Marcosian fearmongering. It will be to the detriment of the second President Aquino’s record that his regime provided fertile ground for the son of the dictator to nearly win the vice presidency.
Some have argued and I tend to agree with them that Congresswoman Leni Robredo would have coasted to victory and crushed Marcos had she run under the opposition. She owes her victory not so much for the decrepit and corrupt Liberal Party, but to a broad range of voters who crossed party lines to support her. She would have won handily had she not identified herself as an Aquino minion.
The lessons of 2016 should lead us to immediately and finally move away from the outdated 1986 and post-EDSA analyses. “Never again to the Marcoses” can no longer suffice. We must sharpen it and take into account the 30 years that have passed. Because of their many acts of betrayals, incompetence, corruption and cruelty that wittingly or unwittingly enabled the Marcoses, we must say: “Never again to the Marcoses and Aquinos.”
We must chart our own course moving forward, without the baggage of the Aquinos. They have long cornered all the accolades as leaders of the anti-Marcos struggle, but have created a culture of impunity that empowered the Marcoses. Upon capturing power when the Marcoses were whisked away by the U.S., they instantly called on Filipinos to give up the struggle for democracy and just worship the yellow altar of the icons.
Make no mistake, the Aquinos were with Filipinos up until 1986 and at certain points of the post-EDSA period. No one wishes to airbrush their role in fighting the Marcoses, especially the supreme sacrifice of former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr.
But the Aquinos have been given the honor and privilege of holding the presidency twice. That’s like 12 years of missed opportunities to hold the Marcoses accountable, set the record straight through education and history-making, award indemnification for victims of Marcosian terror, and the like. Not only did they fail to deliver that or even frustrated attempts towards attaining those; the Aquinos’ also have their own huge accountabilities.
It is time for the Philippines to move away from the Marcos-Aquino dichotomy. 30 years after EDSA, we would be better off if we lump them together. Only through this prism will we be able to see the need to hold them both accountable, foil attempts towards a Marcos restoration and find new ways to achieve substantive democracy.
The good news is that we are on our way forward already. The political line “Never again to the Marcoses and the Aquinos” actually won in the elections, come to think of it.
Sadly, its triumph was muted by pathetic Aquino noise, the groans of the Marcoses, and their media enablers who would always rather blame voters and promote the worship of their false idols.
It is now up to us to break through the imagined and forced dichotomy, and to make sure the political funeral of both the Marcoses and Aquinos. We would be better off as a country if that happens soon.