Former first lady and incumbent Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos sent out invitations to commemorate what would have been her husband Ferdinand Marcos’ 100th birthday this coming Monday at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery).
The invitation states that there will be a mass at 9:30am followed by a lunch and a short program.
Unsurprisingly, many Filipinos, including netizens and politicians, were less than happy to hear about the planned celebration of the former dictator’s life.
Inquirer.net reported that Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin said he “puked” on the invite upon receiving it.
“With President Duterte’s blessings and absolution of their sins, including his push for their immunity from prosecution, the Marcoses are enjoying their heyday since they were booted out by people power,” he said.
In an interview with CNN Philippines, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he was not invited to the event and has “better things to do.”
Filipino netizens, meanwhile, did not take the planned memorial lightly either, with the search term “Libingan” (cemetery) quickly becoming a trending topic on Twitter.
Many who are against having Marcos’ remains interred at the site suggested that the word bayani (hero) should be dropped from cemetery’s name altogether.
https://twitter.com/reneeigh_chewah/status/906048604896296960
PhilStar, Abs-Cbn News, and other news outlets are just calling it Libingan now, and not Libingan ng mga Bayani. Thanks b 2 u Marcos.
— Jesie Castro (@jesiecastro) September 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/atbva/status/906043639842799616
The talk about the Marcos family returning their wealth proves 2 things:
Magnanakaw sila.
Wala dapat sa Libingan ng mga Bayani si Marcos.— MasterOfManila (@MasterOfManila) September 8, 2017
Last November, with President Rodrigo Duterte’s approval, Marcos’ remains were moved from his hometown of Ilocos Norte (where they had been since his body was brought back to the Philippines from Hawaii in 1993) to the cemetery in Metro Manila.
The burial ceremony, complete with a 21-gun salute, was done in secret, angering many Filipinos and sparking nationwide protests.
After the burial, Duterte said he hoped Filipinos would forgive the late dictator.
Just last week, Duterte said the Marcos family has plans to return part of their ill-gotten wealth to the government. On Tuesday, he said that “If I were the Marcoses, if I return [the money], I’d say to them, ‘ask for immunity.’ Otherwise, keep the goddamn money because you might return it and get jailed.”
