Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III defended the anti-Marcos protesters from Palace Communications Secretary Martin Andanar who labeled the protesters of the upcoming hero’s burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos as “temperamental brats.”
“Of course, this is a very emotional issue. But they’re not brats actually. A lot of protesters are coming from poorer segments of society,” Pimentel told reporters on Monday.
Pimentel further argued that these protesters are “principled” and that it was Andanar who should “review his history.”
“They can never be called brats. These are actually principled positions. So Martin Andanar should review his history,” he said.
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Through his Inquirer column, Andanar compared the protesters of the impending hero’s burial of Ferdinand Marcos to the protesters of the victory of US President-elect Donald Trump, saying that these protesters are not followers of the law. Andanar adds in his column that the Supreme Court’s decision for the burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani was final.
“Both the Americans protesting the outcome of a fair election and the Filipinos objecting to the well-considered ruling of our own Supreme Court are undermining institutions. They are temperamental brats refusing to concede to the outcome of regular processes,” Andanar wrote in his column.
Andanar also said that critics are being “self-righteous” for pressuring President Duterte to change his decision on the burial and arguing that what seems to be legal now might still be morally incorrect.
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“As a last card, antiburial people now intend to apply pressure on President Duterte to reverse his position allowing Marcos to be buried in the Libingan. They argue that what is now legal may not be moral,” Anadanar said.
“That is a chronically self-righteous thing to say. One might counterargue that what is moral may not be legal. Unfortunately for them, the President is bent on bending the divisive acrimony,” he added.
On the other hand, Pimentel remains hopeful that the President would still change his mind about it.
“Habang may buhay, may pag-asa,” Pimentel said.
Sources: (rappler.com, opinion.inquirer.net)
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