IN PHOTOS: Activists ‘celebrate’ Marcos’ 100th birth anniversary

MANILA, Philippines – Instead of marching out in the streets, activists staged a “party” for the 100th birth anniversary of the late President Ferdinand Marcos on Saturday evening, September 9. 

Artist alliance Respond and Break the Silence against the Killings (RESBAK), social medai advocacy group Temperamental Brats and urban poor organization Kadamay threw a mock birthday party ahead of the late strongman’s birthday on September 11. 

This new form of protest action was done to express their opposition against President Rodrigo Duterte’s supposed alignment to a Marcosian rule due to his brutal war on drugs and the martial law in Mindanao.  

“Si Duterte, idol na idol na niya si Marcos. Di lang niya simpleng pinagtatanggol si Marcos kundi ginagaya na niya ang patakaran ng Marcos regime…  Dapat tuloy-tuloy kundenahin ang nakaraang Martial Law at nagpapatuloy na martial law di sila nalalayo sa isa’t isa,” said Kadamay spokesperson Michael Beltran. 

(Duterte is really idolizing Marcos. He’s not just simply defending Marcos but he is also imposing policies similar to the ones during the Marcos regime… We should persistently condemn the previous Martial Law and the continuing martial law that are not so different from each other.) 

The groups also protested Duterte’s favors to the Marcoses, most especially the patriarch’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery). The Marcos family will hold a celebration of the centennial birth anniversary in the revered pantheon on Monday. (READ: Anti-Marcos legislators invited to Marcos birth centennial) 

Martial law victims and human rights advocates filed petitions against it last year but the Supreme Court upheld the President’s decision to allow it. This has spurred many actions accusing the Marcoses of revising history to paint the late dictator as a hero to the public. 

Aside from the celebration in the Heroes’ Cemetery, Malacañang has also declared Monday as a holiday in Marcos bailiwick Ilocos Norte. – Rappler.com