Incoming President Rodrigo Duterte earlier announced that he will allow the burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Manila cementery for war heroes, the Libingan ng mga Bayani. The news wasn’t received well by martial law victims and their families.
On Sunday, Jun 26, the gravesite supposedly set aside for the late dictator (right next to the Tomb of the Unknown Solider) was filled with stones bearing the names of human rights violation victims in a silent protest called Bawat Bato.
The a non-partisan initiative by the groups Martial Law Chronicles Project, Claimants 1081, Nameless Heroes and Martyrs, and UP Samasa Almuni was in peaceful defiance of Duterte’s decision, which could whitewash the crimes committed during the Martial Law years.
“With no fanfare and media coverage, people gathered at the supposed burial site of former president and dictator Marcos to lay rocks and stones in the open crypt. On each stone laid was written the name of a man/woman/child kidnapped, tortured and murdered during Martial Law. They are the REAL HEROES who deserve to be buried here,” wrote Bubut Velasquez on his Facebook page.
Bawat Bato’s Facebook page urged supporters to “write a name of one of the Martial Law victims or a personal message… Drop the rock inside the grave site as a sign of your dissent and in memory of all those who suffered and died for our freedom.”
The Bawat Bato Facebook page even listed down the names of victims whose family could not make it to the site. They are encouraging Filipinos to lay a stone in memory of these victims.
In one of the comments, Bawat Bato explained the campaign “We stand against the rewriting of history. Against the monumentalization of lies and the glorification of impunity. Hopefully, a stand like ours may inspire this generation to reject any walls, wells, plaques, statues, monuments and books that turn history into a farce and the sacrifice of so many into a mockery.”
Marcos ruled the Philippines under Martial Law from 1972 to 1981. Amnesty International (AI) has estimated that during martial law, 70,000 people were imprisoned, 34,000 were tortured, and 3,240 were killed.- with reports from ABS-CBN News.
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