FVR also to blame for martial law abuses

Former President Fidel V. Ramos says the Duterte administration was “losing support, they are losing friends” because it allowed the burial of dictator Ferdinand Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani.

With due respect to Elder Statesman FVR, Marcos’ burial at Libingan is the start of the country’s healing.

The country will no longer be divided between Marcos loyalists and Aquino supporters, or the “yellows” of the Aquino camp and the “red, blue and white” of the Marcos side.

Marcos is long gone, yet the country remains divided.

Let the issue of whether he was hero or heel be laid to rest, and let Marcos be judged by the future generations of Filipinos.

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Imee Marcos, the late dictator’s daughter, had a point when she said FVR should also apologize for martial law atrocities because he was the chief of the Philippine Constabulary (PC) at the time.

The PC, now defunct, was the primary enforcer of martial law.

If PC troopers committed abuses during the martial law period, FVR should be blamed more than Marcos since he had immediate supervision of the PC.

Marcos’ sin was that of omission since he was the commander in chief. Because of the principle of command responsibility, the buck stopped at Malacañang’s doorsteps.

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The country is on a roll in terms of economic opportunities four months into the Duterte administration.

President Digong’s visits to China and Japan have opened so many doors of economic opportunities for the Philippines.

China wants to invest in manufacturing, tourism, highways and railroads, agriculture, and mass housing for the poor.

Japan is expanding trade with the country.

The President’s talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Apec meeting in Lima, Peru, resulted in a commitment from Russia to buy $2.5 billion worth of Philippine fruits, grains and vegetables.

This columnist was told that tourists from China will soon come in droves to play in our casinos and enjoy the sights of the countryside.

The Duterte administration’s anticrime and corruption drive, and the expected economic boom as a result, has prompted a Chinese billionaire, Huang Rulun, to invest heavily in the country.

Huang, who is addressed as “Chairman” by a coterie of aides who follow him around, is not new to the Philippines.

He was a merchant in Manila in the 1980s but transferred his business to China because he was always fleeced by corrupt government officials.

Chairman Huang cashed in on President Deng Xiao Peng’s opening of China’s doors to foreign investors in the 1990s, and became a billionaire.

Huang told me he plans to put P500 billion into the economy—that’s half a trillion pesos!

But why would he gamble a huge amount on the Philippines, which he left years ago because of corruption, I asked Huang at the poolside of Edsa Shangri-la Hotel in Mandaluyong on Monday evening.

Huang, one of China’s real estate magnates, said he believed the strong leadership of President Digong would propel the country into First World status in the long run.

The tycoon said his gut feel about Philippine economic prospects would not fail him, as it did not fail him when he cashed in on China’s economic progress decades ago.

Huang financed the construction of a P1-billion drug rehabilitation facility on a 75hectare portion of Fort Magsaysay.

He plans to build more drug rehab centers in other parts of the country.

Huang, through a Filipino interpreter, cited the projects he would spend on the country but asked that I temporarily withhold their publication.

The projects are in tourism and real estate.

With due respect to FVR, Marcos’ burial at Libingan is the start of the country’s healing