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The issue on Marcos burial should go beyond the issue of legality, its also an
issue of propriety. Is it proper then, to put a dictator who caused the killing,
torture, disappearance and detention of almost a hundred thousand of
activists struggling for social change; who put the Philippines into a huge debt,
just because he built infrastructure projects? More than just the rhetoric that
he deserves it because he was a solider or a president, it should be noted
the LMB is a commemorative and symbolic ground of heroism, and heroism
doesnt mean being a plunderer, and a dictator who will instantly kill political
opponents.
While its an issue of propriety I will still rebut the legal argument that my
opponent launched. Marcos involvement in the Guerrilla warfare during the
World War II is still a myth that it yet to be proven. While I concede that
Marcos built different infrastructure projects during his regime, it should not be
taken into a vacuum. It should be weighed with Marcos human rights
violations, plunder cases and political abuses during the Martial Law regime.
Lastly, I would argue that Marcos burial would further become a divisive tactic,
and will not end historical judgment to the late dictator.
On Marcos being a guerilla fighter
In an article written in 1986, archived in the New York Times website entitled,
Marcoss Wartime Role Discredited in US Files, reports say that the US Army
concluded that Marcoss leadership in a guerilla resistance unit was
fraudulent and absurd. In the archives of the Army, there was evidence
proving that he led the guerilla group named Maharlika in 1942-1944 during
the Japanese Occupation. The US Government, in 1986 had the attempt to let
Marcos speak about these findings (or the lack thereof) about his claims on
his involvement during the Guerilla Warfare, but he declined to respond.
According to the Article, after the war, Marcos tried to appeal for recognition of
the Maharlika unit, but was denied because his claims were distorted,
exaggerated, fraudulent, contradictory and absurd.