Ferdinand Marcos deserves military honors

Senator Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos was so disappointed yesterday that he went out of the Senate plenary hall in a haste. He just learned that President Noynoy Aquino decided not to give military honors to his late father and namesake, the former strongman, Ferdie Marcos. Marcos still lies in a refrigerated crypt in Ilocos, waiting for that time when government finally decides to give him military honors and bury him in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.


The issue, according to Noynoy is simple: government cannot honor a man who orchestrated martial law and made millions or thousands suffer extreme human rights violations. For Vice President Jejomar Binay and those who want a closure of this issue, the issue is also very simple: Ferdinand was a former soldier, who got the highest military honors. For such an honor, Ferdie deserved to get the highest form of appreciation the military gives to its distinguished sons, and that is, military honors. Never mind if Ferdie's family bury him in Sarat; the most important thing is for him to get those 21-gun salutes.


For the President, he does not think that Ferdie deserves such an honor. He wants to deny Ferdie such an honor, a thing which, for the Marcoses, still divide this country. Ilocos governor Imee Marcos says Noynoy wasted the opportunity to unite the country, a feeling shared by her brother, Bongbong. 


What the President failed to appreciate is this---the Marcos family already agreed not to bury Ferdie in that hallowed lot in the Fort. They only want a recognition of Ferdie's highly distinguished sacrifice for the country in World War two. 


Let me write here that for me, Ferdie deserves such an honor. His feat when he was a USAFFE guerilla was recognized even by the Armed Forces of the Philippines. No one has the right to dispute such an historical fact. 


History is never kind to dictators yet Ferdie when he did that sacrifice, was years before he even became a Governor, or a Senator and eventually, President. When he was serving in the trenches, martial rule was never in his thoughts. He was thinking of sacrificing his life for the greater good, an honorable thing that merited him the highest medal of valor and bravery the armed forces gave to its illustrious sons. 


Whatever Noynoy or anybody in his Cabinet say on the contrary, the Aquino administration cannot erase history. Ferdinand Marcos was one of our most distinguished soldiers, a distinction that even Noynoy's predecessor, the late Benigno Aquino Sr, never enjoyed.


Remember that Noynoy's grandfather was even accused of collaborating with the Japanese. This is a historical fact. It was his dad, that great patriot Ninoy, who tried to erase that memory from the Filipino People with his own sacrifice. 


Now, Noynoy wanted nothing more than erase the very thing that made Marcos great, a thing which the late President can claim as his greatest contribution to the history and welfare of this nation.