Warns Marcos family about possible desecration of tomb in Libingan

MANILA –Former Senator Aquilino 'Nene' Pimentel Jr., said it's not the victims of the Marcos dictatorship, but the family of the late President Ferdinand Marcos who should move on.

“Ipipilit mong ilibing dyan, they cannot move on quietly,” said Pimentel on DZMM on Friday, exactly a week after Marcos was hurriedly buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani despite opposition from various sectors.

• READ: Imee: Time to move on as SC OKs Marcos burial at LNMB

“We can never say let’s just move on. Hindi pwede dahil nasasaktan ang mga tao. Hindi lang nasaktan emotionally, pati buhay, ang daming nakatayang buhay na mercilessly massacred during the martial law,” he said.

Pimentel, a political detainee during martial law, remains opposed to Marcos’s burial at the Heroes’ Cemetery citing the atrocities the dictator committed during his regime.

“Ang dami pong napinsala si Mr. Marcos sa panahon ng kanyang administrasyon. Ang daming pinatay, tinorture, nakulong wala namang basehan sa batas.

“During the martial law regime, ang batas na ating iginagalang na dapat iiral kung saan irespeto ang karapatang pangtao ay binalewala nung kapanahunan ni Marcos. Yun po ang dahilan kung bakit kami nagbibigay ng paalala sa inyo na itong taong ito hindi po dapat bigyan ng katahimikan dyan sa Libingan ng mga Bayani because pinapahiya na niya ang ibang mga tunay na bayani, mga sundalo dyan na nakalibing sa Libingan ng mga Bayani,” said Pimentel.

Pimentel said the Marcos family should ask for forgiveness and not justify the martial law as the Golden Age of Philippine history.

He also believes that at some point, people will go to the Libingan ng mga Bayani and desecrate the place where Marcos is buried.

“Ang suggestion ko na kung gusto nilang to move on, mas maganda sana na sina Bongbong [former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.], sina Gov. Imee [Marcos], dapat doon na nila ilibing si Marcos doon sa Paoay, Batac, Ilocos Norte---sa mga lugar kung saan minamahal siya ng mga tao,” he said.

"Doon sa Batac ilipat ninyo, mga anak ni Marcos, doon na kayo magsaya at bahala na kayo sa inyong buhay doon."

Thousands are expected to converge on Friday at the Luneta Park to protest the burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.