Sanggunian A STAND AGAINST THE BURIAL OF FERDINAND MARCOS. AT THE LIBINGAN NG MGA BAYANI Ido not know the dignity of his birth, but | know the glory of his death ~ ‘These words, adapted from a 1962 speech by General Douglas MacArthur, are written on the entrance of the Libingan ng Mga Bayani. If this is the standard set by those buried in its quarters, the essential question of the interment of former President Ferdinand Marcos in the cemetery is this: Is there any glory in dying in exile after being deposed by the aggrieved and betrayed Filipino people? National contemplation and debate must be centered on this question. On its part, the Sanggunianng mga Mag-aaral ng mga Paaralang Loyola adamantly condemns and decries the proposal that adictator be buried among heroes. Whether Marcos is a hero or not is not an open debate. His World War II medals are, at best, of dubious authenticity. Court verdicts have convicted him and his accomplices of corruption. His regime's human rights violations have been condemned. He was no hero. That is not an openquestion. ‘A Marcos burial will not be the first time that the nation has granted official honors to thieves and plunderers. Still, should it succeed, it will be the nation’s greatest falsehood. A Marcos interment in the Libingan ng mga Bayani will create a tall heap of insults. It would, for one, imply that we think of Marcos as a greater hero than the Martial Law victims whose remains do not lie in the Libingan. The very fact that there is a call for the burial demonstrates the Filipino people's inability to remember and the undisguised contempt for national memory. As if it were not sinister enough that the indictment of Marcos as a tyrant be called “an open book,” the proposal demonstrates deceptive shrewdness: bury Marcos among heroes, so that he may be grouped among them. Let us not fall for this deception. Room 200, Manual V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership, Ateneo de Manila University, Katipunan Avenue, @.. (02) 929 1029 | sanggusecgenegmailcomSanggunian ‘The Libingan ng Mga Bayani was established to honor with a hero's burial the men and women who risked their lives for the preservation of this country, heroes who selflessly gave their lives for the freedom of its people. The burial of a man who increasingly and unapologetically sought to subvert the will of the people and plundered the very nation he swore to defend would mock the sanctity of the resting place. If we, as a nation, allow this ‘to happen, we shall have committed an indictment of our character, and shall have sold cheaply our honor and dear memory for an illusory promise of national unity and reconciliation. Room 200, Manual V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership, Ateneo de Manila University, Katipunan Avenue, @.. (02) 929 1029 | sanggusecgenegmailcom