To this date, there are many that believe Pres. Marcos is still the best president the Philippines ever had. There are still many of us who saw how the Writ of Habeas Corpuz was suspended that eventually turned into Martial Law. We were then into our second year in college when it happened or was declared. Many of us were sporting long hair and were scared to go out of our house because the military was after long haired men. If we were caught, our hairs would be cut and forced to go to a barber to make a clean haircut.
Those were the first abuses of the military and it was the Philippine Constabulary (PC) headed by then Gen. Fidel V. Ramos. Their reason for doing that is because long haired men are suspected to be Kabataang Makabayan (KM), a leftist arm composed of the youth. Maybe we can let go of their stupid suspicion.
Pres. Marcos trusted men during martial law were Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, Juan Ponce Enrile and Gen. Fabian Ver. Among his cronies then were Eduardo Cojuangco, Roberto Benedicto, Jose Campos and some other prominent people who made a fortune during the martial law years.
Of his trusted men, FVR and Enrile were responsible for his overthrow. The truth behind it will never be known because Marcos is now dead. There were rumors that the two went against Marcos because they were going to be exposed to have abused martial law. They went against Marcos claiming the snap elections was rigged and Marcos cheated. Filipinos then were bent to believe them because they were the trusted lieutenants of Marcos. Anything Marcos had on them as abusers of martial law would not matter anymore.
After the EDSA revolution, no one bothered on investigating the roles of FVR and Enrile during the martial law years as they were perceived to be the heroes of the overthrow! Corazon C. Aquino did not bother too as they were instrumental in installing her as the rightful president. Cory also just settled that the assassination of Ninoy was as what the Agrava board determined. Her son, B.S. Aquino Jr. who became president did not bother finding out the truth on his father's assassination! Would a relative be a mastermind?
Anyway, a number of those who experienced the grave abuses of martial law might no longer be around.
For the burial in the Libingan ng mga bayani (LNMB), Ninoy Aquino does not deserve it! What did he do for the country? There are evidence that he was linked to the CPP-NPA in destabilizing the country! As for Marcos, he may not be a hero but he deserves to be buried there as a former president of the Philippines.
