We Filipinos are very proud of the fact that we are Christians. We go to church every Sunday for some even twice on a Sunday. We see to it that we celebrate Christmas as it is very important to acknowledge and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Saviour. On the holy week to show how real their faith is, some will even let himself be crucified. We are even very proud to say that we are the only Christian nation in Asia, back when we are the only Christian nation in Asia.
Of course being a Christian, at an early age, we Filipinos are taught of Christian values. We were taught of the 10 commandments. We were taught that respect, forgiveness and all those virtues in the Bible is the way of life. There is even a saying that is popular in our culture “pag binato ka ng bato, batuhing mo ng tinapay” ( if somebody threw. a stone at you, instead of doing the same thing throw a bread on him.) and Filipinos are always wishing that a time on their life will be provided wherein they can demonstrate these and please God in doing so.
A situation just presented itself when the Supreme Court gave their decision that the late President and Dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos is allowed to be buried at Libingan ng mga Bayani. As one of the First Christian country in Asia. I was expecting the Filipinos to be Forgiving and let this issue be forgotten. What happened was totally different. A lot of protest was happening here and there. Even the big media companies are against it.
While it is true that Martial Law has destroyed all aspect of the Filipinos life, one can never deny the fact that Marcos served in the Military during the World War II. He was a survivor of the Bataan Death March. And Most of all, before he became a Dictator he was the president of the Philippines. These among other are the criteria for a person to be buried in that cemetery. Some would say, he is not a hero and they can be right but still the law allows the person to be buried there.
As a Christian, which we are proud to say we are, why not respect the Supreme Court’s decision and let the person be buried in that cemetery. If he is buried there, would it kill our children? Would it destroy our economy? Let it go. Show the act of forgiveness or what they say practice what we preach. If we read our laws there are a lot of flaws, one of the flaws had him buried in the cemetery and yes, it is a decision we have to respect and forgo.
Why not focus on a more important issue like the fulfillment of the promises given to those victims of the Martial Law and make sure that everyone of them is compensated for the sacrifices that they have done to protect democracy. That is the one we should be complaining about because some of those victims are still alive.
To most people, the beauty of Democracy lies on the reality that everyone can voice out what they feel. But if we are to dig deeper, the beauty of Democracy lies on the fact that we are free to choose our action and belief with the consideration that we must choose those that is practical and will give us the moral high ground to rise and develop as a human being. And if thing didn’t go our way, we must have the ability to respect and acknowledge the rule.#
