Message aux signatairesPREVENT THE MARCOSES FROM RETURNING TO MALACANANG

CHURCH LEADERS, MARTIAL LAW VICTIMS CONTINUE TO HOUND BBM

Ma. Socorro NaguitMuntinlupa, Philippines
26 avr. 2016 — By: Diego Mora, <a href="https://InterAksyon.com">InterAksyon.com</a> April 26, 2016 6:00 PM Some Church leaders are worried about the seeming popularity of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. "We must sharply voice our protest. We hope that voters still have ears to hear," says Rev. Rex. B. Reyes, NCCP general secretary. (Photo from the Facebook account of the senator) <a href="https://InterAksyon.com">InterAksyon.com</a> The online news portal of TV5 MANILA, Philippines – As election day gets nearer, anti-Marcos campaigners have started to beef up their efforts to prevent Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. from winning his vice presidential bid. On Tuesday (April 26), the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) issued a statement, signed by 34 Church leaders, with this message to voters: "Stop the return of another Ferdinand Marcos to Malacañan. "As a warning, it cited a Bible passage, from Proverbs 26:11: "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness." The elder Marcos ruled as president from 1965 to 1986. Nine of his 21 years in power were under martial law. "Remembering the accounts of torture, detention, disappearance and salvaging during the dark days of martial law should still make the people shudder," Rev. Rex. B. Reyes, NCCP general secretary, said. "The threat of the return of such evil is really just too much to bear even if we know that these persist since then." "As Church leaders, we usually focus in helping the citizenry to think through the responsibility of their vote," he continued. "But when faced with Bongbong’s seeming popularity despite the unfathomable atrocities and plunder of the Marcos family which they do not own up to, we must sharply voice our protest. We hope that voters still have ears to hear." The Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang (Carmma) sounded more optimistic that Marcos would not succeed in his bid to return to Malacañan. In a statement, playwright Bonifacio Ilagan, Carmma convenor, said Marcos was bound to lose, noting how he had already slipped to second place in the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS). "Our word to Ferdinand Marcos Jr. remains the same: Do not be delusional," he said. "You have just slipped down to second place, and you will slip down some more. As May 9 nears, Filipinos whom you have deceived will come to their senses and realize the threat to life, property, and democracy that you really are." No letup Still, Ilagan said, Carmma would not let up in its efforts to block Marcos."Carmma will hound you some more to expose and oppose the Marcos scheme to rehabilitate thieves and torturers without having to account to their victims and the whole nation," Ilagan added. In its latest move, Carmma staged a protest as the Marcos entourage arrived in Tacloban City on Monday night. Some placard-bearing members of the local chapters the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Aresto at Detensyon (Selda) join the protest. As the Marcos motorcade passed by, the protestors shouted "No to Bongbong Marcos" and "Never again to martial law." Earlier, on April 23, Ilagan joined the Carmma network in Baguio City and spoke during a forum on the crimes of martial law in Northern Luzon. An exhibit on the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses was also mounted. "As far as pursuing truth, freedom, and justice is concerned, we are never giving up," Ilagan said. "Assuming that the Marcos grand deceit succeeds and the son of the dictator wins, the fight, as far as we are concerned, will just have begun. Elections are just a phase in the continuing people’s struggle for national freedom and democracy." More NCCP voices Following are the statements of some NCCP members. Bishop Arturo M. Bastes, SVD, of the Diocese of Sorsogon: "As a victim of martial law myself, I believe that it is essential to call: Never again to a Marcos in power as vice president or occupant in Malacanang. When I was a diocesan pastoral coordinator of Bishop Miguel Cinches, SVD, in the Diocese of Surigao, the soldiers killed Lito Mahinay, who was simply giving a Bible seminar to lumad in the mountains of Surigao. The soldiers and authorities were extremely arrogant when we filed a habeas corpus case in court. After that, I was No. 3 in their list to be liquidated following the bishop and a lay leader. Marcos’s martial Law was a reign of terror." Bishop Elmer M. Bolocon, executive secretary of the Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF): "It is just not true that Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was not involved in what was happening during martial law. His father had appointed him as chairman of one of the companies that served as conduit for their plunder. During martial law, Bongbong lived like royalty, while the people starved. His other’s Imeldific grandeur enveloped the whole family, including him. After the people’s protests culminated in EDSA 1 and the family’s expulsion, Bongbong Marcos played a key role in seeking to secure his family’s stolen and plundered assets abroad. For three decades, when the Philippine government worked to recover the $10-billion ill-gotten wealth and victims of human rights violations sought for acknowledgment of injustices perpetrated against them, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has always responded in defense and denial." Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, DD of EBF: "The truth of history moves us to concern and prayer for the welfare of our nation. We really cannot remain silent when martial law victims and their families, including our own Church leaders, urge us to speak out. We must not forget the dark days of martial law. We pray for the Filipino people that they will vote responsibly when they go to the polls on May 9. We pray for the unity of our nation. And we sincerely pray that people will see the truth and hear the cry of those who cannot bear the threat of another Marcos in Malacañang. We must stand together and say, Never Again!" 'Insatiable greed' "For the past three decades, our country has taken pride in the historical achievement of ousting the Marcos dictatorship that brought misery and terror to the majority – a dictatorship that drew decadent strength from its adherence to the ways of this world shown by its insatiable greed for wealth, power and fame pursued in the most notorious of ways," tne NCCP statement said. The NCCP also cited some details painting a different picture of what Bongbong Marcos called "the golden years": Though the elder Marcos earned legitimately only $304,000 during his 21-year rule, a $10 billion fortune is believed to have been amassed by the Marcoses of which only about $4 billion have been recovered. The country’s foreign debt ballooned from $360 million in 1962 to $28.3 billion in 1986. The number of Filipinos living below the poverty line doubled from 18 million in 1965 to 35 million in February 1986. At least 3,000 were killed and more than 30,000 were detained, brutally tortured, raped, or suffered various forms of abuse, including church people who raised their voices against the dictatorship. "In their desire to return to power, remaining members of the Marcos family are slowly yet alarmingly worming themselves back to positions in government through deceit by distorting/revising Philippine history so as to present the Marcos dictatorship as the best thing that ever happened to this country," the NCCP said. "Quite a number, young and old, have been deceived by these lies." The NCCP statement ends with the following paragraphs: "Using the very loot they stole from the Filipino people to propel themselves back in power, the son and namesake of the dictator, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Romualdez Marcos Jr., is an inch away from the presidency by running for vice president under a fallacious claim that he will save this country from peril and perdition. "It would be the height of our nation’s folly if good Christians in our land will allow the return of evil by giving Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Romualdez Marcos, Jr. even just an iota of a chance at capturing the vice poresidency."As believers of the truth that Jesus proclaimed and demonstrated as the will of God, we unite in fighting against this mockery of God's will by preventing Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Romualdez Marcos Jr. from getting even a single vote from us God-fearing Filipinos." "The only correct response is: Never again!"