At least 3,000 protest Marcos burial at People Power Monument
A coalition of critics of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. held a rally at the People Power Monument in Quezon City on Wednesday in protest of the burial of the strongman's remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani
An estimated 3,200 people occupied White Plains avenue and voiced their anger against the burial of a person whom they say was responsible for numerous atrocities during Martial Law.
They listened to messages from guests and song numbers from musicians who performed on a big stage made of steel. The event started around 4 pm and will end at 12 midnight.
There was a slight tension when approximately 400 pro-Marcos protesters arrived at the venue around 2 pm. Police stepped in and prevented a clash. The group left after several minutes.
"The activity was generally peaceful," said Senior Superintendent Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, Quezon City police chief, said in a text message.
The demonstrators urged for the exhumation of Marcos' corpse which was buried at the Heroes Cemetery on November 18.
"Marcos! Hitler! Dictator! Puppet! was their battlecry, comparing the former dictator to Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazis in Germany responsible for the mass murder of Jews during the Second World War.
President Rodrigo Duterte did not escape their wrath, calling the fiery leader as Marcos' puppet.
The organizer, Coalition against Marcos' Burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, called for an activity similar to the Black Friday Protest in Manila last November 25.
Students, teachers, nuns, priests and ordinary civilians were among the crowd.
Former Cabinet secretaries allied with former President Benigno Aquino III such as Manuel Roxas II and Brother Armin Luistro were present.
Maria Serena Diokno, former chairperson of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines who resigned Tuesday in protest over Marcos' burial, has a message to Duterte.
"Not everything that is allowed is proper," she said in her speech.
Christian Monsod, one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, said Duterte and the Supreme Court were wrong in allowing Marcos' remains to be buried at the heroes cemetery.
"How can a person like Marcos who is not respected is qualified to be buried at the Libingan?," Monsod told reporters in an interview.
"The reason he was overthrown was because of Martial Law," he added.
Monsod said Duterte was wrong in claiming he was following the law in allowing the burial of Marcos being a former president and soldier.
"What is stated in the law is he should be a hero and Marcos is no hero," he stressed.
A man who said he suffered oppression during Martial Law, Bong Bautista, 61, is disgusted Marcos is with former presidents and heroes in the heroes cemetery.
"It's plain stupidity. Marcos is a not a hero. He is a thief," he told Daily Manila Shimbun in a brief interview.
He claimed he was assaulted by a policeman in his home province of Tarlac during Martial Law. "I was just 16-years-old at that time. It was a painful memory."
Bautista called on Marcos' family to return the money they stole from Filipinos before asking for unity.
He also urged Duterte to reconsider his decision and bring Marcos' remains back to Ilocos Norte.
One of the highlights was a 10- minute noise barrage which started from 5:45 pm to 5:55 pm. The protesters also took out their cellphones as they made a pledge for unity.
In support of the demonstrators, motorists blared their horns as they passed by White Plains. Emmanuel Tupas/DMS
