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Strong dissent: Luneta rally set vs hero's burial for Marcos

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ABS-CBN News

Lawmakers, student groups, and advocacy groups are urging the public to help stop a hero&#x27;s burial for former president Ferdinand Marcos. Various groups have formed &#x27;Coalition Against the Marcos Burial in Libingan Ng Mga Bayan,&#x27; which aims to prevent Marcos&#x27;s interment at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB).They are inviting the public to wear white and join a non-partisan citizens&#x27; assembly at the Lapu-Lapu Area, in Rizal Park, Manila on Sunday, August 14.&quot;Every day that passes, Marcos&#x27; burial at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani becomes more and more inevitable,&quot; wrote the organizers on their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1122772611097733/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>.In a <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/07/16/dnd-issues-memo-on-marcos-burial-at-heroes-cemetery" target="_blank">memorandum</a> dated August 7, the Department of National Defense instructed Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to plan and prepare Marcos&#x27;s interment at the heroes&#x27; cemetery. The burial has been projected to be held on September 18, after a <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/06/16/marcos-ililibing-sa-libingan-sa-sept-18-philstar" target="_blank">nod</a> from President Rodrigo Duterte. The coalition cited Duterte&#x27;s willingness to bury the late dictator in the site is &quot;because he doesn&#x27;t see widespread opposition to it.&quot; With the assembly, they aim &quot;to prove him wrong.&quot;&quot;Before the president makes an official announcement and goes past the point of no return, we Filipinos need to make our strong opposition loud and clear,&quot; they wrote.They said that because they recognize that the ultimate decision remains with Duterte, they call for the assembly to be able to offer a solution to the chief executive.&quot;We believe that the LNMB issue is too critical to how we define ourselves as a nation and to how our future as a nation will be shaped - we cannot lose focus,&quot; they added.Susan Quimpo, one of the organizers of the assembly, told ABS-CBN News Sunday&#x27;s program will focus solely on the &quot;issue of Marcos burial and [their] opposition to it, and [their] request to President Duterte to change his mind about it.&quot;&quot;We have a petition to President Duterte outlining our reasons for requesting the burial not be held in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Mayroon po tayong petition signing na mangyayari on Sunday,&quot; she said.She revealed, there will also be simultaneous rallies planned in Cebu, Bacolod, and Davao.&quot;Sa ngayon, sabi ni President Duterte, mag-rally daw. E di, magra-rally tayo. For now, that is the expression that we see of this request to President Duterte,&quot; she said.She also urged citizens to course their opposition through their congressional district representatives.Quimpo was also among the conveners of the <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/06/27/16/set-in-stone-martial-law-victims-names-placed-at-marcos-grave" target="_blank">Bawat Bato</a> initiative which laid rocks and stones bearing the names of Martial Law victims on Marcos&#x27;s burial site.She emphasized that Marcos has no room in the heroes&#x27; cemetery in Taguig.Republic Act 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act signed in 2013, she cited, &quot;provides reparation for the human rights victims of the Marcos regime.&quot;&quot;Kung nagbibigay ng reparations yung batas, ibig sabihin, talagang may human rights violations, &#x27;di ba po? When you say human rights violations, automatic po, the state is responsible for it,&quot; she said.&quot;Ang dami pong claimants--umabot po ng 75,730 claimants. Ito po ang clear cut na batas na po ito, saying that he is guilty of human rights violation,&quot; she said.Five of Quimpo&#x27;s siblings were among those who were victims of human rights violations.&quot;Sa tingin ko, hindi naman karapat-dapat that he is given a hero&#x27;s burial, when [there are] tens of thousands of people who were the real heroes fighting for freedom and justice and democracy,&quot; she said.Apart from the human rights violations, Quimpo also underscored that there is proof Marcos laundered the people&#x27;s money.&quot;In fact, even the Swiss courts have basically said na yung kaniyang deposits na umaabot sa approximately $10-billion ay ill-gotten wealth,&quot; she said.She also noted, Marcos &quot;was deposed by popular uprising,&quot; and as a soldier was &quot;given dishonorable dismissal by the people that he was supposed to serve.&quot;&quot;Because he is a plunderer, because he is a violator of human rights, and fake naman yung kaniyang war medals and war records, patong-patong na po ito. It is overwhelming proof that he is not a hero,&quot; she said.

Lawmakers, student groups, and advocacy groups are urging the public to help stop a hero's burial for former president Ferdinand Marcos.

Lawmakers, student groups, and advocacy groups are urging the public to help stop a hero's burial for former president Ferdinand Marcos.