NHCP Chairperson hits President Rodrigo Duterte for allowing the burial of the late president at the heroes’ cemetery.
National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) chairperson has resigned in her post as protest of the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
In a statement on Tuesday, NHCP chair Maria Serena Diokno said her resignation is effective December 1.
According to her, her resignation was a move towards the “right side of history“, after the surprise burial of Marcos on November 18.
“At this moment in our history, every voice counts, and I wish to place mine on the side of history: not the history that the Duterte government ignores, but the history that beckons our people to demand justice that even the highest court of the land will not bestow,” Diokno said.
Diokno insisted the burial of Marcos at the heroes cemetery erases the bad memories of Martial Law.
“The burial of Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani is wrong; it denies our history, erases the memory of lives lost and destroyed, mocks the collective action action we took to oust the dictator, and denigrates the value of our struggle for freedom,” Diokno added.
She criticized the president for citing the lack of studies about the leadership of the former president and dismissed the claims the victims of Martial Law.
“Notwithstanding the narrow view adopted by nine members of the Supreme Court, President Duterte could have taken the higher ground,” Diokno said.
“But he chose not to. Worse, he justifies his ‘legalistic’ action by claiming, falsely, that ‘there’s no study, no movie about it [Marcos’ record as a leader], just the challenges and allegations of the other side,” she added.
However, Diokno said, that despite her resignation, she was still filled with hope even with her departure at the NHCP because of the younger generation of Filipinos defending history.
To recall, there was a large black Friday protest on November 25, following the burial of Marcos.