The Philippine Online Chronicles

Following President Bengino Aquino III's rejection of a hero's burial for his father, Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said his father should not be solely blamed for the human rights violations (HRVs) in the country, adding that the succeeding presidents, particularly former president Corazon Aquino, had their own share of violations.

In a note in his Facebook account, Sen. Marcos replied to a statement from presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda saying that former president Marcos never apologized for the HRVs committed during his term.

"Does Mr. Lacierda have any inkling of the gravity of human rights violations during Cory’s term? Is he aware of Cory’s request to the US government to bomb the airbase controlled by RAM soldiers during the attempted coup where Filipinos would have certainly been killed by American fire upon Cory’s request and according to US Vice President Chenney [sic], had warned the Americans that she would publicly deny having made the request,” said Sen. Marcos.

Sen. Marcos referred to information from books written by former US vice president Dan Quayle, former US vice president Dick Cheney, and US general and former secretary of state Colin Powell.

Sen. Marcos also mentioned the Hacienda Luisita Massacre, the Mendiola Massacre, and the defunct Task Force Detainees of the Philippines in his note.

"The Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, at the time the country’s leading human-rights group, recorded more than 1.2 million victims of dislocations due to military operations, 135 cases of massacres, 1,064 victims of summary executions, and 20,523 victims of illegal arrest and detention, all during Cory’s time,” Sen. Marcos said.

Sen. Marcos added that while the late president Aquino released the political prisoners during her term, she gave amnesty to human rights violators under the Marcos dictatorship.

"Mr. Lacierda would be doing this country a favor by suggesting who he thinks should be apologizing to and compensating the human rights victims during Cory’s regime. We suggest Mr. Lacierda work on this ASAP so these victims and their families will find their own closure as well as be adequately compensated,” said Marcos.

Lacierda, on the other hand, responded to Sen. Marcos's claims, rejecting the senator's call for an apology.

"With respect to the human rights violations, it’s very, very clear that the administration under President Cory Aquino has no State policy on the oppression of human rights. That’s very clear, the facts speak for themselves,” said Lacierda.

“There’s a judgment against the Marcoses in a foreign court. There had been an outcry of human rights violations. These things have not been resolved until the present time, and so I think there is a deliberate diversion of issues by Senator Bongbong Marcos.”