Youth group to lead anti-Marcos protest in Cebu via ‘wall art’

YOUTH-initiated activities against the burial of the late dictator former president Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) will continue in Cebu City this week.

Niño Olayvar, vice president of Anakbayan-Visayas, said another protest will be held on Nov. 25, but this time they will not only march but will also put up anti-Marcos posters, dubbed as “protest wall art,” along Osmeña Boulevard in Cebu City.

“It’s a continuing protest against the burial of the late dictator. We are also encouraging other groups and private individuals to join us,” Olayvar told Cebu Daily News.

A vacant wall across YMCA building will be filled with anti-Marcos posters including the electricity posts along Osmeña Boulevard, he said.

Olayvar also invited local artists in Cebu to join them on November 25 for an anti-Marcos wall art.

Just like other groups in Cebu, Olayvar and his group backed the call to exhume the body of Marcos from the Libingan ng mga Bayani and send him back to his province, Ilocos Norte.

“They were desperate to bury him at Libingan ng mga Bayani. We want to send him back to Ilocos,” Olayvar added.

After the placing of anti-Marcos posters, a march from Osmeña Boulevard will follow. Olayvar said they will have to finalize today the details of their march.

Olayvar also believed that President Rodrigo Duterte has an accountability to the people for allowing the Marcos burial at the heroes’ cemetery.

Another anti-Marcos coalition, the Cebu Citizens Assembly, is considering a signature campaign for the petition to demand that Marcos be sent back to Ilocos Norte, said Teody Navea, secretary general of Sanlakas-Cebu, a member of the coalition.

“This advocacy will not stop. To people who will tell us to move on, how will you move on when the people involved here did not ask for forgiveness? When they ask forgiveness, then there is healing,” Navea said.

Aside from the signature campaign, the Cebu Citizens Assembly will also discuss how to place the marker that will be installed at Plaza Independencia and will bear the names of the Supreme Court justices who voted in favor of the LNMB burial for Marcos, namely Associate Justices Arturo Brion, Presbitero Velasco Jr., Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, Jose Perez, Teresita de Castro, Jose Mendoza and Estela Perlas-Bernabe.

Another marker will be placed at Plaza Independencia, which will read, “Marcos is not a hero.” It will be placed beside the memorial marker for the Martial Law victims, said Navea.