Imee loyalists, Imee utang-na-loob

LESLIE BOCOBO. In spite of every disappointing thing Sen. Imee Marcos has said and done to hurt true-blue Marcos loyalists (myself included), I have decided to include her still in my very short list of personal choices for the Senate. … [Beyond “utang na loob”] … Imee will always be a Marcos and, politically speaking, may be the future conduit between her family and the Dutertes. … You are free to castigate me on this, and believe me when I say I am torn … https://www.facebook.com/lesliebocobo/posts/

I imagine that many loyalists also see, and understand, Imee’s defense of former president Rodrigo Duterte as pagtanaw ng utang na loob na hindi matatawaran. After all, Digong did not just happily help along the Marcoses’ relentless campaign to polish up the dictator’s tainted image, even pushed the takedown of ABS-CBN and everything identified with yellow history, he also dared in 2016 to bury the OG Marcos in Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) with full military honors — a favor Imelda had long been seeking from every president since FVR, to no avail.

It was FVR who in 1993 allowed the remains to return home from Hawaii direct to Ilocos Norte for immediate burial with military honors fit for an army major, the highest rank Marcos obtained in WW2 according to US military records. Imelda balked, insisted that as former president and commander-in-chief he deserved a state burial in Manila’s Heroes Cemetery. When FVR stood his ground, Imelda installed the dead one in a glass vault for display in a Batac museum — a tourist attraction — while waiting for more opportune times.  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/

She tried again in 1998. Ran for president, then withdrew and endorsed Joseph Estrada, who, upon his election, immediately ordered the burial of Marcos in LNMB. Cement  was already being poured on the foundation of the tomb site weeks before Estrada’s June 30 swearing-in. Pero ipinatigil ni FVR, pangulo pa siya noon, dahil galit na galit ang anti-Marcos groups, war veterans, at Kaliwa. Atras si Imelda. Inamin ni Erap na nagkamali siya, akala niya burying Marcos in the LNMB  would  also bury the “bitter differences” between the pro- and  anti-Marcos. Estrada urged Imelda to bury the remains of her husband in Batac na lang. “End to Marcos’ burial dispute” New Straits Times July 13 1998 

Imelda gave the project a rest during GMA’s time . In PNoy’s time she turned to Congress for help. In  2011, a few days before the 25th EDSA anniversary, Marcos ally Rep. Salvador Escudero authored a resolution calling for the LNMB burial that gathered close to 200 signatures, a clear House majority. In the Senate, Bongbong Marcos released a statement insisting that his father deserved no less than a state burial. http://legacy.senate.gov.ph/press_release/

PNoy asked VP Jejomar Binay to decide the case. After 3 months of research and consultations with civil society groups and other concerned citizens, and taking into account the Escudero resolution and an SWS survey [March 3 – March 7] showing that Filipinos were split right down the middle — 50% in favor, 49% not — and a personal meeting daw with Bongbong and Imee Marcos, Binay came to the conclusion that it was a “partisan” issue and a compromise that might be acceptable to both sides would be to bury Marcos in Ilocos Norte with full military honors.  https://ph.news.yahoo.com/news/binay

But as it turned out, Binay had misread the Marcoses: Imelda was adamant about a state burial in Manila. On the 17th of June 2011, PNoy just said no. “Not during my watch.” https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/

And then came Duterte.

Kampanya pa lang, ipinangako na niya ang LNMB burial for the dictator, about whom he only had good things to say; and the burial would unite the nation daw. It is not clear if it was his way of making ligaw the Marcos loyalist vote or if naligawan na siya ni Imee vis a vis the burial in exchange for the same. But once he had won, Digong was quick to thank her publicly.

“Who supported me in Luzon? … Only Imee Marcos.” https://www.youtube.com/

“Sinong tumulong sa akin? Ilan lang … 4, 5, 6? Wala akong barangay captain. Wala akong congressman. Wala akong pera, si Imee pa nga ang nagbigay, sabi niya inutang daw niya. … Si Imee supported me.” https://www.youtube.com/

On June 30 he took his oath, August 7 he ordered the Marcos burial, August through September eight petitions were filed with the Supreme Court seeking a restraining order. Rallies pro and con, left right and center.

Imee Marcos, daughter of the former dictator and now the governor of Ilocos Norte Province painted Duterte as the natural successor to her father. She also implied that recognizing Marcos as a hero would allow the country to move forward. 

“[The reburial] is an opportunity to erase the hatred, conflicts and discord in our society,” she said at a pro-Marcos rally outside the Supreme Court in October. “The healing presidency of President Duterte will take over and we as one nation will be great again,” CNN reported. https://www.csmonitor.com/

Nov 8 the Supreme Court, voting 9-5-1, dismissed all petitions. Nov 17 Duterte flew to Lima Peru for an APEC summit, Nov 18 the dead one was flown to Manila by Army helicopter and buried in “sneaky” rites, behind shut gates, away from public view. https://www.nationthailand.com/

RACHEL AG REYES. There was a grand hearse. Relatives and guests arrived in a fleet of big cars. The Marcos family was impeccably dressed: Imelda wore a beautiful black terno whose silken folds fluttered elegantly in the breeze. Imee was in immaculate white, and her brother chose a barong his father would have favored. The coffin, draped in the nation’s flag, was carried with great ceremony by military pallbearers and honored with a 21- gun salute. Soldiers in full military regalia dutifully saluted. Priests, just as dutifully, prayed and officiated. There were wreaths and bouquets, one said to be from the President. The ceremony began promptly at noon, as tradition dictated, and ended an hour later. Rows and rows of soldiers and police stood guarding the cemetery’s perimeter and entrances. Clearly,the event was planned and executed with the sort of precision and meticulous coordination that seems so uncharacteristic of us Filipinos. Moreover, somehow, remarkably, it was all accomplished with absolute secrecy. Not a shred of information was leaked. Not a single journalist was alerted. Not a single pesky protester was there to ruin the moment and the photos. The Marcoses even controlled the visuals, selecting only a few images of the event for public consumption. The President was conveniently out of the country. His office claimed ignorance. “We honestly don’t know,” said the doe-eyed spokesperson who stood before an aghast press corps. What an impressive and extraordinary feat.  https://www.manilatimes.net/

That the burial was held in secret tells us that the Marcoses were aware of, even sensitive to, the pulse, the agitation, of the people. In the 2011 SWS survey that asked people if Marcos deserved to be buried in LNMB, of the 50% who approved, only 30% said yes to official honors, 20% said yes to a private burial only — this 20% plus the 49% who said no, not worthy, made for a resounding 69%. https://www.sws.org.ph/

Just the same, post-LNMB saw Imee elected to the Senate in 2018. And then in Nov 2021 — tila nagmamadaling maiakyat si Bongbong sa palasyo — she was able to convince Sara Duterte to UniTeam with BBM because otherwise there was no beating Leni Robredo, and Sara agreed, despite Digong preferring that she run as Senator Bong Go‘s VP.  https://www.philstar.com/headlines/

But as it turned out, outside the kulambo pala si Imee, and the pamamangka sa dalawang partido has proven unsustainable with the impeachment of VP Sara by Congress, the turnover of Digong to ICC, and her lagapak sa surveys.

Bocobo’s reading, that “Imee will always be a Marcos and, politically speaking, may be the future conduit between her family and the Dutertes”, might turn out a pipe dream, unless Imee makes it back to the Senate in May, the Senate acquits VP Sara, and Digong gets to come home alive.

Ninoy he is not

When Ninoy Aquino was murdered in 1983 by Marcos minions, the reaction of many opposition figures was: “If they can do this to Ninoy, they can do this to any of us.”  Beyond grief and anger, they were suddenly feeling vulnerable — wala palang untouchable, not even Ninoy — baka sila na ang susunod.

When Digong Duterte was arrested some two weeks ago, I heard some DDS peeps saying roughly the same thing: “If they can do this to Tatay Digong, they can do it to any of us.” I wondered if it was a natural visceral reaction, as in ’83, or a knowing and deliberate copy, meant to liken Digong, accused of crimes against humanity, to Ninoy, the hero and martyr who dared stand up to the dictator and died for it. I thought to give them the benefit of the doubt, Hindi naman siguro deliberate.

But when VP Sara said from The Hague na “Nag-iisa ako dito…” and Imee Marcos responded from the Senate na  “Hindi kayo nag-iisa…” and soon after, I heard a “tribute song” via Tiktok pa-lovingly sadly intoning “Tatay Digong, hindi ka nag-iisa…,” there was no longer any doubt that the DDS are deliberately using a significant artifact of the Ninoy narrative as a slogan to convey their love for Digong, never mind that Digong is no Ninoy, basta lang makaantig ng puso.

“Ninoy, hindi ka nag-iisa!” was a welcome message upon his return from U.S. exile in August 1983, meant to assure Ninoy that his kababayans had not forgotten him, he was not alone, we were with him in the struggle to end martial law through nonviolent means. A message, along with yellow ribbons, that Ninoy never got to see but which became the dominant soundbite cried out by the millions of Filipinos who paid him homage in the longest funeral procession in history. Addressed to Digong, however, it is a message of support for EJKs and their perpetrators, nothing more, nothing less. https://web.archive.org/web/

Then came the latest Ninoy reference that quickly went viral. Sara from Den Haag shared a conversation with Digong who asked daw when he could go home and Sara said daw that it would be better if he didn’t, otherwise he’d end up like Ninoy Aquino Jr., or something to that effect. Eh okay lang daw kay Digong, because, I guess, he is ready to die for country? better than to rot in jail?

Aquino Family.  Kung pag-aaralan natin ang kasaysayan, makikita natin na ibang iba ang ginawa kay Ninoy sa pinagdadaanan ngayon ni dating Pang. Duterte.
https://www.facebook.com/francis.n.dee/

Ruben Carranza.  Si Ninoy na-EJK ni Marcos. Si Duterte nang-EJK at ginawang hero si Marcos.  https://www.facebook.com/ruben.carranza.

Kiko Aquino Dee. Mas annoying po ito sa akin kaysa nakakasakit. … Huwag na sana idamay ang Lolo Ninoy ko…. Sa both sides po ito. Alam kong may pahayag din ang Malakanyang tungkol sa sinabi ni VP Sara.  Again, parang ginagamit yung pangalan ng Lolo Ninoy ko upang basically ipagtanggol yung anak ng isang presidente na siya mismo yung nagpasimuno sa lahat ng pagdurusa ng Lolo Ninoy ko. To both of them, sana tigil-tigilan yung paggamit ng dugo ng isang Aquino upang ipaglaban yung kani-kanilang sariling interes. https://www.youtube.com/

Luke Espiritu #25. The nerve! … Yung tatay mo mamamatay-tao, si Ninoy lumaban para sa karapatang pantao. Yung tatay mo ang nagpalibing sa pumatay kay Ninoy sa Libingan ng mga Bayani. Kayo ng tatay mo ang naging instrumental sa pagbalik ng mga Marcos sa kapangyarihan, si Ninoy ang naging instrumental para sila bumagsak. Pag pinatay tatay mo ang tawag diyan ay justice, noong pinatay si Ninoy ang tawag dun ay injustice. Ispesyal na katangian at pambihirang level ng kapal ng mukha ang kailangan para di mo mapansin ang kontradiksyon sa mga sinasabi mo. https://www.facebook.com/LukeEspirituPH/

It’s all very ironic, considering that Digong, once in office, had been quick to discredit and dismiss the defeated LP as elitist dilawans.

The main opposition, the LP, became the focus of Duterte and his supporters’ criticism. This animosity has been further simplified and popularized by personalities like Mocha Uson, bloggers, administration officials, and Duterte himself, allowing them to cluster their opponents into an easily recognizable group: dilawans.

Patricio Abinales stressed that yellow was also “associated with the elite,” noting how Duterte, in line with the populist approach, redefined yellow to refer to the oligarchs he promised to depose. Furthermore, he mentioned the failure of the LP to appeal to the Filipino masses, unable to counter President Duterte’s populism. https://theguidon.com/2020/04/

That the DDS are now taking tips from the dilawan drama but in a twisted kind of way is nakakainis talaga, annoying nga, because there is no basis for comparison: hindi sila magkatulad, on any level.  But like FB friend Fredda Ruth Rosete says, “… nobody owns or has a patent on strategies like boycotts, EDSA People Power and zero remittance day…” https://www.facebook.com/fredda.r.rosete/posts/

I imagine that the attitude is, “Hindi ka nag-iisa” atbp. worked for Cory and EDSA, it can work for Digong, let’s get creative. And so, kahit pa it’s for Tiktok and YouTube content that can be skewed or exaggerated in favor of Digong for some future blitz, I’m taking it na lang, pa rin, as a win, of pogi points for Ninoy, because we’re having conversations about him, beyond birth and death anniversary tributes. Thanks, DDS!

 

The Galileo test #fake news

ATTY. TRIXIE. Minsan po ang tinatawag na “fake news” ay time-bound: posibleng totoo ngayon, bukas ‘di na totoo. https://mb.com.ph/2025/3/21/

She cited Galileo who was punished by the Catholic Church for saying that the earth revolves around the sun, when the religious wisdom in the 1600s was the other way around, i.e., the sun revolved around the earth.

ATTY. TRIXIE. … naparusahan po si Galileo. Pero 600 years later, nag-apologize ang simbahan dahil totoo pala siya. https://www.abs-cbn.com/

Actually, it was 359 years later when the Church acknowledged the mistake. The astronomer was condemned by the Inquisition in 1633. Pope John Paul II formally apologized for the “Galileo Case” in October 1992, in the first of many formal apologies during his papacy. https://content.time.com/time/

But that was all the way back in medieval times. These days, wala akong maisip na fake news that would pass the Galileo test, i.e., yung mapapatunayang true pala, based on facts based on evidence, in some future time.

Halimbawa, yung tinalakay sa TriComm hearing —  marami daw pulis na nag-resign nung dinakip si Digong, at nang-wa-water cannon din daw ang PH forces vs China sa West Ph Sea — ay parehong bagsak sa Galileo test, walang ebidensiya, dahil hindi nangyari. Fake nga. Fake commentary. Forever and ever.

Though clearly Atty. Cruz-Angeles is on another wavelength, maybe on the level of: Digong was kidnapped, taken against his will, in violation of Ph law — na maaari pang mapatunayang totoo? But that’s not “fake news”, that’s “biased commentary”, and we all indulge, one way or another, and if when developments prove us right, e di wow.

The Galileo example is even more problematic in the reverse. Just a few days ago, director Daryll Yap was charged with two counts of cyberlibel at the Muntinlupa RTC over his teaser for the Pepsi movie that “attributes” the “crime” to Vic Sotto who, of course, denies it. Tipong “fake news” daw?!?

And yet, back in 1982, we all believed it to be true, just because it was all over the martial law tabloids and broadsheets. In effect, kabaligtaran ng nangyari kay Galileo. Totoo noon, fake news ngayon. Only in da Pilipins?!?

Shifting sands

It was nothing like the euphoria of EDSA ’86 when the dictator Marcos fled the country, but still it was quite a rare high when former president Duterte unexpectedly flew off to The Hague without a fight. A WOW! who-would-have-thought moment that we are all still wrapping our heads around, whether in mixed joy and pity, how dissonant, or intense sorrow and rage, how DDS.

It also couldn’t have happened at a more critical time — it’s election season with Duterte and Marcos campaigning for control of the Senate where VP Sara, the daughter, is up for an impeachment trial, and last week civil society was clamoring for the trial to begin forthwith, before elections.

That’s a lost cause now, it would seem. We’ve already lost another week, the window of possibility grows narrower. And given the Duterte-ICC shock-and-awe political drama that’s got everyone thinking, rethinking, reevaluating (sooo Mercury retrograde), I imagine that the trial will just have to wait until after the May elections, in early June. The incumbent senators, re-electionist and otherwise, will not want to be seen adding to the tribulations of the VP, not while she’s in The Hague attending to Digong’s defense, and not while the DDS are screaming to bring him home, or else.

Or else, what? People power daw. The movie-in-the-mind of DDS peeps starts with street rallies that become so large and nasty and noisy that PBBM would have no choice but to declare martial law, which would then unite the opposition, the DDS greens with the pinks and yellows, left right and center; fast-forward to the ouster of Marcos and the rise of Sara. Parang fairy tale. And it’s not as if, if she became president she could bring her tatay home from ICC. Sa intindi ko, the only time Digong gets to come home is if and when the ICC declares him innocent.

Meanwhile they promise a sweep for Duterte’s senatorial slate, certain that they can count on voter sympathy to seat the entire caboodle in the Senate and guarantee Sara’s acquittal sa impeachment trial.

Voter sympathy. But I can also imagine voters levelling up, listening to both sides, going through now-I-see moments, and making up their own minds. Wishful thinking, I know, but heck all the information and opinions and platforms have to account for something worthwhile, or what’s the point.

And let’s not forget BBM who is very much in control. Here’s a Facebook post by information consultant James Matthew Miraflor on why BBM did it.

Marcos, Jr. follows the footstep of Macapagal-Arroyo – it does not matter how unpopular your regime becomes, as long as you satisfy the established elite. Unfortunately for the Duterte family, it is the same elite they pissed off when they maneuvered Dennis Uy into their circle.

For this elite, #NeverAgain to the Dutertes. This elite will ensure that Sara is impeached and perpetually disqualified, Polong is jailed (probably), and Baste is politically kneecapped. Kitty? All clans have Anastasias, she’ll probably have her own harmless Disney movie. The Dutertes cannot survive this without compromise. Marcos, Jr. and the rest of the Marcos family cannot risk a vindictive political force post-2028.

Hell, the Marcoses might even be willing to engineer charter change to ensure a transition to a federal-parliamentary system, one that will be dominated by corporate-sponsored parties*. Perhaps a semi-Presidential system, with a Tulfo as President and Romualdez as PM? It will be the apotheosis of the Philippine elite: dual power ala Roman consulate, fully liberalized, rules-based, with institutionalized consensus-based gerrymandering.

Alas, a low-intensity democracy that is also the technocrats dream: capitalists govern, economists appoint regulators, and the electorate simply vote party mascots.

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* Nacionalista for Villar, NPC for San Miguel, NUP for Razon, LAKAS-NUCD for Aboitiz, and the LP for the Negros vieux riche; Consunjis, Tans, and Gokongweis might commit to new parties, who knows?

https://www.philstar.com/…/2239719/tycoons-men-marcos-men
https://bilyonaryo.com/…/gokongwei-zobel…/business/