‘Digong, 9 justices on wrong side of history’

Anti-Marcos protesters bury the effigy of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Inayawan landfill. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)

“THEY are on the wrong side of history.”

This is retired Judge Meinrado Paredes’, a known anti-Marcos advocate, description of President Rodrigo Duterte and the nine Supreme Court justices, who voted in favor of the burial of the late president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB).

With the pending burial at LNMB for Marcos, Paredes said the justices as well as President Duterte who allowed it are on the “wrong side of history.”

“We will repeat that — they are on the wrong side of history,” he said.

“Ang tinuod nga bayani ang mga tawo. . . . So basura siya (Marcos) sa kasaysayan. Dili siya bayani. Ang tinuod nga bayani ang katawhan (The truth is the people are the heroes . . . so Marcos is trash in history. He is not a hero. The heroes are the people),” said Paredes, who joined yesterday’s march and burial of a Marcos effigy at the Inayawan Landfill.

Paredes recalled why he could never forget the atrocities during the Martial Law years.

“Ang di nako malimtan kay sa adlaw nga gipatuman ang Martial Law, gi-pick up ko 7 o’clock in the morning,” he said. “I was reviewing for the Bar examinations. I did not expect that I will be put behind bars — walay warrant of arrest, walay search warrant.”

Paredes said he was brought to Camp Sergio Osmeña without any charges and no one could give him a reason other than his name being included in “the list.”

Paredes said that he was imprisoned for a year while his brother was tortured.

Paredes was among the about 500 anti-Marcos supporters who came to bury the effigy of the late dictator.

They also came to send a clear message — Marcos is not a hero and he deserves to be buried in trash.

The rallyists made up of several militant groups gathered at the Mambaling flyover. They brought along flyers, banners and a “coffin” containing an effigy of the late president.

They marched to Inayawan in an activity called “Ilubong si Marcos sa Inayawan Landfill” which involved the burial of the Marcos effigy in the landfill.

Teody Navea, secretary general of Sanlakas, said the activity also showed how they felt about the decision of the nine SC justices who voted in favor for the hero’s burial of the late dictator.

“It signifies the nine Supreme Court justices who gave injustice to the Martial Law victims,” he said.

“So basura ang ilang decision kay gibugal-bugalan nila ang Martial Law victims. Gusto namo na ipakita na simbolo nga angay sila nga tukion sad nga dako nga problema ang ilang gibuhat sa mga Martial Law victims.”

Navea said that in burying the effigy of Marcos at the landfill, eight shovels were used to represent the eight sectors who suffered under the Martial Law regime, which includes the labor and OFW, urban poor, fisherfolk, farmers, vendors, women, indigenous people, and youth sectors.

Meanwhile, as a show of support for the protesters’ cause, Mayor Tomas Osmeña dropped by the Inayawan Landfill for a few minutes just as the protesters arrived at the landfill to bury the Marcos effigy in trash.