Throw The Gatecrasher Out

Image from Reuters (no copyright infringement intended)

My parents are from Leyte, which is also the home province of Imelda Romualdez-Marcos. It’s hard to talk politics in a household where people still hold her and her family in high regard. “Shempre kelangan sila suportahan, kababayan e,” I remember my mom telling me once. What can you do? It’s not like you can hold your mother down and shake her until she comes to her senses.

But after hearing about the surprise Marcos burial earlier today, I figured enough is enough. The next time I see my parents at home, I’m gonna have to have The Talk, and this is what I’m going to say:

The Libingan ng Mga Bayani is so-named for a reason. It’s not like people just decided to call it that on a whim. It’s supposed to be the ultimate honor we can bestow on people who have given more of themselves for the country than what is required or expected of them. They’re heroes because they did something in their life—or even dedicated their entire lives—to a cause greater than themselves.

Ferdinand Marcos is NOT A HERO. Ergo, he has no right to be buried there. That’s the simplest way to put it. If he was, then what was the EDSA Revolution for?

Burying him in a place reserved for heroes is a bit like some loser gatecrashing a party. He might think highly of himself and feel like he deserves a place at the cool table, but think of the last time you saw somebody hopelessly out of place at a by-invite only gathering; it’s actually just pathetic and sad.

I don’t blame Marcos’s heirs for pushing the burial in the first place. We’re often so caught up in our loathing for the Marcoses that we forget that they’re just like any family who will insist to their dying breath that their patriarch was a decent and honorable man. How many of us would willingly choose to turn our backs on the people who gave us life? And even if the Marcoses know for sure that he committed some pretty horrific things, or even that he was the devil himself, I bet they would sooner die than admit to his faults enough to betray his “good” name. Most every father is a hero, and, to his children, Ferdinand Marcos is one no matter the countless voices screaming to the contrary.

At the same time, I have nothing but respect and admiration for those who are voicing their anger and disgust now that such a travesty was even allowed to take place. Whether it’s a tweet, a Facebook post, a passionate discourse over lunch at the office pantry, or their presence at a demonstration opposing the burial, it’s heartening to see our vibrant democracy on visible display, particularly among the young.

(It’s not lost on me that we only get to enjoy all of this thanks to those who fought to overthrow the dictator whose waxen remains are now taking up space in the resting place of geuine heroes).

So here’s my proposal: let the guests with actual invites enjoy their party without the undesirable gatecrasher. Throw him out now. Or if that’s not an option (because the honorable justices of the Supreme Court said so), let’s move to plan B. It’s going to cost a lot and will be a tremendous burden to the heirs of legitimate heroes, but I propose moving every single one of those buried at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani to a new location and leave the dictator to rot in a field all by himself. It’s the ultimate bitch move, but the gatecrasher who sneaked past the velvet ropes certainly deserves it.