Party-list group Akbayan condemned a Senate committee’s approval of a bill that would declare every September 11 as a holiday honoring the late ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos in his clan’s bailiwick Ilocos Norte.

Akbayan Chair Emeritus Loretta “Etta” Rosales – who was among those tortured during Martial Law – said on Tuesday, October 27, that the Senate committee on local government served as a “Marcos deodorant” when it passed the controversial measure a day before. 

“The committee shamed and cheapened itself by acting as a Marcos deodorant to hide the awful stench of the dead dictator’s brutal rule, tamper with history, and invalidate the people’s struggle against the dictatorship,” said Rosales in a statement. 

Rosales was an activist and a teacher during the 21-year Marcos regime, notorious for rampant corruption, killings, torture, disappearances, and media oppression.

The daughter of a Navy captain who died during World War II, Rosales was arrested twice during the Martial Law years, where she was repeatedly raped and tortured – at one point by military agents who turned out to be her students. 

On Monday, October 26, the Senate committee agreed to adopt in principle House Bill (HB) No. 7137, which seeks to set every September 11 as “President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Day” in Ilocos Norte. The lower chamber already approved HB 7137 on 3rd and final reading last month.

Among the senators who agreed to adopt HB 7137 during the virtual Senate committee hearing was Marcos’ own daughter, Senator Imee Marcos.

The other senators who backed the bill are Francis Tolentino, Cynthia Villar, Bong Go, Ronald dela Rosa, and Joel Villanueva.

Reports initially identified Senator Nancy Binay as among those who voted in favor of the bill, but she clarified on Wednesday, October 28, that she was not able to cast her vote because she left the hybrid hearing before her colleagues decided on the measure. 

“Contrary to reports circulating online, I did not vote for the approval of House Bill No. 7137 which aims to declare September 11 a special non-working holiday in observance of ‘President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Day’ in Ilocos Norte,” Binay said. 

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian was also initially identified as among those who voted for the bill. But he later issued a statement saying he did not vote and that no voting for the measure occurred.

“I merely moved to have the bill, along with other local bills, tackled by the Local Government Committee in last Monday’s hearing, subject to further study by the technical working group,” said Gatchalian.

“The exact words that I said during the hearing were, ‘I’m moving for an omnibus endorsement to the TWG to reconcile the different versions and also to request for position papers from the resource persons. I so move’,” he added.

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With the Senate panel’s approval of the Marcos holiday bill, the measure now only needs to go through its 2nd and 3rd reading passage in the upper chamber before successfully hurdling Congress. 

If the Senate version of the Marcos holiday bill is passed on 3rd and final reading, the measure would be transmitted to Malacañang for the approval of President Rodrigo Duterte, who counts the Marcoses as his allies. 

Whitewashing history

Rosales urged other senators to block the Marcos holiday measure, arguing the local bill should not be downplayed.

“This bill seeks to repudiate the mandate of the 1986 People Power Uprising, whitewash the atrocities of the Marcos dictatorship and attack our sense of history,” she said. 

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Marcos was born in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, on September 11, 1917. September is also the month when he declared Martial Law, a period considered the darkest years of post-colonial Philippines.

Amnesty International also estimated that about 70,000 people were imprisoned, 34,000 tortured, and 3,240 killed during Martial Law. 

The Marcoses also plundered the country’s coffers, with various estimates pegging the amount between $5 billion to $10 billion.

The family patriarch was ousted during the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. Years later, his clan successfully returned to politics, holding key posts in the so-called Solid North and still enjoying the support of Marcos loyalists nationwide.

The current governor of Ilocos Norte is Matthew Marcos Manotoc, Marcos’ grandson and the youngest son of his daughter Imee. – Rappler.com