“What is that idiot screaming about?” – Raffy Alunan asks

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By Raïssa Robles

 

UPDATE: Rafael Alunan again wrote on my website, this time to clarify that he was NOT referring to Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos as THE SCREAMING IDIOT. But to someone else:

Here is what he said:

Raissa, in the interest of accuracy, I did not refer to Bongbong Marcos as an idiot, so please correct the heading soonest possible. It was actually in reference to one of those who used a pseudonym screaming his disappointment on your wall why I did not take a stand. Like I posted in other walls that shared the erroneous heading, the fellow either doesn’t read too well, or has a comprehension problem or is simply too lazy to dig up the historical record.

Bongbong’s insistence does not surprise. He has been consistent in getting his father buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, even if he has to revise history to get it done. I am glad that PNoy upheld the Ramos administration’s position regarding the handling of the late president / dictator. It was unanimously and universally supported.

I hope this clarifies matters as this will be the last time I will speak on the subject as there is no point dwelling on a moot and academic issue, with or without screaming banshees..

 

Below is the original entry I made.

This is just too delicious to pass up.

And also unexpected.

Former Local Governments Secretary Rafael Alunan – the person assigned to deal with Imelda Marcos on the return of her husband Ferdinand’s body for burial in 1992 – commented on my piece entitled Did VP Jojo Binay mislead PNoy on the Marcos burial issue?

I’m reproducing below what Alunan wrote with all the mis-typing so you can get the flavor of his comment:

Raissa, your account is accurate as far as I know. i think the word negotiate is a misnomer. “Official position” is more like it. I delivered the Ramos administration’s position as follows in 1992:: the late-FM’s body to be flown directly to Ilocos Norte; it would have to be buried there immediately; and that mlitary honors due a major in the Armed Forces would be rendered. These were contained in a MOA signed between Mrs Marcos and me. The conditions were met or carried out except for the requirement for an immediate burial, which Mrs Marcos decided that it be an interment instead ala Stalin. Bongbong Marcos, then a Congressman, called for a hearing to demand an explanation why his father was being prevented from being buried at the Libingan. I told him that FM’s regime was overthrown just six years earlier antd that the wounds inflicted by the dictatorship on society were still fresh. To allow it would heighten the probabilitty of bloodshed and as Interior Secretary I said that I would never allow that to happen, not on my watch. It didin’t happen and still hasn’t. (So what is that idiot screaming about?).

Hmmm. Idiot.

I don’t recall Alunan ever using the word “idiot” when he was a cabinet secretary. He was quite diplomatic then.

Well, me, I would use the word manipulative.

The Marcoses have been manipulating that corpse since 1992.

And notice that not one of them has publicly spoken out to deny the preconditions that President Fidel Ramos gave them.

After PNoy spoke before FOCAP rejecting a hero’s burial for Marcos, his only son lambasted him and put this up on his site:

Bongbong burial - no word of honor

Sen. Bongbong also told Senate reporters:

Noong kampanya, ang ipinangako niya nang siya’y nangangampanya sa northern Luzon ay isang bagay—sabi nya, pag-upo niya ay pag-aaralan niya ito at nagpagawa pa siya ng study kay Vice President Binay. Pero ang puno’t dulo ay ganun din pala. Ang ang bagsak ay hindi naman pinagbasehan ang lahat ng sinasabi ng iba’t ibang grupo. Balik din pala tayo doon sa dati.

According to Sen. Bongbong,PNoy only promised to have a study made. That’s all.

Is it possible PNoy managed to put one over Bongbong? Naisahan?

Commenters have asked me why I am wasting precious time over this long dead issue over a cadaver.

My answer is that the Marcoses have been practicing necropolitics all these years: If daddy is declared a hero, Sen. Bongbong can package himself for the presidency as the son of the hero. And we’ll be in deep shit because most Filipino voters never knew how evil the Marcos dictatorship was.

Please read my story entitled –

Why the Marcoses want Ferdinand buried a hero; and why Bongbong Marcos is now a senator

Thanks.

Comments

  1. “And we’ll be in deep shit because most Filipino voters never knew how evil the Marcos dictatorship was.”

    I totally agree with this statement. It makes me wonder if this is even taught in schools today. Martial Law and Marcos are part of our history and what he (Marcos) and his cronies did to the Philippines should never be forgotten. The sacrifice of many would have been in vain if we do.

    Reply

  2. magaling at matalino itong si ms raissa sana lang maging fair sya sa lahat ng tao…
    I just wanted you to make a story like: joma sison and ninoy aquino (CPP-NPA)
    (ramos and enrile secret combination) (military and abu-sayyap,MILF guns selling)
    I would be happy to read your blog again….

    Reply

    • No skin off my back if you don’t.

      I intend to write about such topics. In good time.

      I still have to work, you know. As a foreign correspondent..

      Reply

      • raiza, I agree with that remark from waidai. i am also curious reading about benigno aquino sr being a communist as charged. i think the filipino people should hear and read about that. if he is alive and defeated marcos, would the philippines fall to communism then? all is fair in love and war.

        Reply

        • i have read a book eons ago about Ninoy Aquino, and he indeed has personal views about socialism, which you can also equate to communism. but do not make the mistake of Ka Joma’s version of communism as the same. Joma’s version is tainted and twisted by that pudgy waxen corpse of Mao. Also do not mix Ninoy’s view to that of the failed Soviet experiment of “socialism”.

          i believe i still have a copy of Ninoy’s interview in Boston, on pre-Betamax VHS formatted tape (yup, recorded LIVE while it was being played on US TV a long time ago.)

          Reply

    • tama si aquino ay komunista dahil ng nagbakasyon ang kaibigan ko sa tarlac .noong madaling araw ay nagising sya at wala lahat ang tao sa bahay ng lumabas sya sa bahay ay nakita niya si nonoy aquino na nagbibigay ng baril sa mga tao ng nakita sya ng pinsan niya ay pinabalik agad sya sa maynila baka raw makita sya ..ay papatayin sya NG NPA..

      Reply

  3. Let’s all learn from Nelson Mandela. Forgive and let the past be our guiding light. Forget being vindictive instead let’s all work in harmony. No man is an island and Pnoy needs all of us to make our country much better. Once again, let all of us follow what Nelson Mandela did.

    Reply

    • Oh, but Nelson Mandela allowed his own wife Winnie – the woman who stood by his side while he was in jail – to be convicted.

      Reply

    • “Let the past be our guiding light.” Precisely! Let us not forget what the Marcoses did in the past and bury him as a hero.

      My self, my future sons, daughters, grand children and great grand children will have to assume the foreign debt that the Marcoses incurred to satisfy their greed.

      Reply

  4. but why is it that the government allowed Angelo Reyes to be buried in the Libingan? can ms raissa enlighten me on this? maybe you could also dig on this stuff

    Reply

    • Tama ka diyan Jools. Angelo Reyes shouldn’t have been buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. His heroic act (if you can call it as such) was for the Arroyos not for the Filipino people who thirst for justice.

      Reply

  5. A Plea from someone that cares

    Regarding this issue between President Aquino and Senator Bongbong Marcos, I decided to view my opinion as I feel I have no bias to either party concerned. I left the Philippines in 1968 to migrate to Australia as my family wishes. So during the martial law, during EDSA, during all the events from 1968-2005, I had no involvement or bear witness to events that occurred. One would say then I have no business commenting and in actuality, this is where my views maybe pertinent. It is ideal that a person without bias view this responsibly with practical views to be expressed.

    Firstly, Senator Bongbong and family is not the ex President Ferdinand Marcos nor President Aquino is not his parent’s being. Let us take the sentiments away from past history and understand the reality of a son doing the right thing for his parents. In reality, no one can be right or wrong as it is a person’s passion to defend any issues regarding his family. They are following what is in their heart and at times what they feel is their obligation.

    The sad part of this issue is again the situation of segmenting Filipinos in siding whose party you are affiliated with. It aggravates the lack of unity here in the Philippines and segment groups that affect the future positive governance of the Philippines. The country does not need this right now. We should be working in finding unity in developing proper governance of the country.
    I may have been away during the past bad experiences here in the Philippines but I have learnt with my life to get over what happened in the past and move forward in positively addressing the future. Let us sacrifice our personal feelings and think constructively in how we can all get together peacefully. This does not cost money to pursue.

    Reply

    • Hi, I will explain shortly why the son is as much part o the problem. Give me a bit of time.

      You can’t just get over the past here because the past is about to ram you down. Imelda Marcos has decided that Bongbong will be the next VP or President.

      Reply

      • “Imelda Marcos has decided that Bongbong will be the next VP or President.”

        is this true? I want to know more about this, if u could please help me :)

        Reply

      • And if ever that ass hole wins (may God forbid), this will be the biggest stupidity of stupidities of the Filipino voters. We have been a world headliner for more than two decades not because we have become an economy powerhouse but rather because of our political condition (as the “base cake”) and the growing poverty (as the icing). I really hope that the new generation will learn the true sense of nationalism by looking BACK and learning from it…

        Reply

    • This journal is – for all its worth, appears to be just a mere hate campaign. It encourages people to move forward with their visions focused and glued at the back of their shoulders. It is a manifestation of a dreamer – simply hoping of a bright future for the whole country – along the banner of “PAGKAKAISA” (read: They are bad, so please hate them too!), armored with full motivations from hatred, anger and revenge. It pushes people to be trigger-happy even when the main target is long subdued – due to a principle that the very same target is expandable. FM is gone, and Bongbong is at the helm. So that when all guns are aimed at Borgy Manotoc, the same haters will be again seen from the opposite side of the barrels.

      These haters wants to IMPOSE a legacy that if you do not hate the Marcoses, then you are not “in”. You must then be socially deprived, and be the subject of public ridicule and scrutiny. An elitists’ personal take must be injected to every citizen’s mind – so that it is carried out as the general sentiment of the the whole populace.

      Bloggers that are as famous as the author can do better. They do not need to educate us of their own beliefs because most of the readers have been observers of the dynamics even before they started writing. It is moronic to be vigilant of the past as the history has its records already. And it is also oxymoronic to over-think of the future without an intellectual reference, but is only based from selective statistics.

      I say it again, 25-years after the rein of Marcos, why is it that CCP, FAT, Nat’l Kidney, Heart Center, and all those iconic government structures and establishments identified to the Marcos government were never upgraded? I used the word ‘upgrade’ because either those programs should have been renovated, rehabilitated, or altered and substituted according to the calling of present times and in line with modern technology. But hell, no! And even worse, there was not a single government program that came about that is as remarkable than those old government programs – except of course the departmentalized corruption.

      I wish I can get a better academic response.

      Reply

      • I want to help impose a legacy that that even a Marcos cannot get away with what he has done.

        Look, nobody is putting a gun to your head to read my blog.

        But if it were during Marcos’ Martial Law, I would have a gun to my head to make me stop writing my blog.

        When you say – “It is moronic to be vigilant of the past as the history has its records already.” – you are very wrong.

        Well-researched, extensive history has not been written about the Marcos dictatorship. I am merely trying to contribute to the body of work.

        And please, I’m not famous. I’m just a blogger and a journalist in the trenches.

        Reply

        • Ma’am Raisa,
          I want to address you formally this time, and that I may be doing this from now on because for me, it’s just the right thing to do.

          It very evident from our cyber-discussion that we are from opposite sides of the fence, as long as the subject is Marcos. While in your other writeups where I subscribe to your inputs, I can only do so but agree.

          I believe that the meat of my inquiry was not addressed, and so now I feel obliged to rephrase it;

          “What remarkable accomplishment has any post-Marcos administration had put up, as compared to those that were established during the Marcos era; such as those that are/were not tainted of scandals and/or anomalies, and as well that are undeniably beneficial to the majority of the Filipino populace?”

          Just a note: continuance of old programs may not be included. Because 25-years after Marcos, there must be at least one that immediately hits your attention that would convincingly push your fingertips to jot down in response – in full conviction and pride.

          And just for fun; if Marcos was worst of the olden days, who is your post-Marcos best President, and why?

          I’m beginning to see how you fix your chair now – smilingly shaking your head with a sound of ‘tsk-tsk-tsk’, getting ready for your own bomb.

          Reply

            • Ma’am Raissa,
              Just be cautious on how you play with the words when you do that piece. I’m just worried that you might unwittingly put Marcos on a pedestal. ;)

              Reply

            • Seems Ma’am Raissa lost track on this one now. Or maybe she realized on her loopholes about this particular topic. Being a journalist, I don’t think she needs too much time to reply on this thing.

              Reply

              • I think you can put all the “good deeds” of your best-president-Marcos into perspective by noting how many years Marcos ruled (21yrs) the Philippines and the economic status of the country before his reign and then compare this to how many years had passed (25yrs) and what was the financial status of the country after his rule that put our beloved country in dis-array for the post-Marcos governments to build a “remarkable acomplishment” to your liking. It was during his time that every good thing about the Philippine society worth continuing was sadly disrupted and every effort now was to at least gain back what was lost. Then say again how “remarkable” Marcos’ legacy were as an administrator.

                Reply

                • Yeah, my Singaporean colleague told me how his father envied the Filipinos during glorious days of the Philippines ( under Marcos , of course :-). He told me that we were already an export powerhouse ( just like China now) while Singapore was merely a “fishing village”. But I myself, being a martial law babe, did not experience those glorious days..I remember, they even told us at the primary school that Ninoy Aquino was the leader of the rebels( I didn’t know who the rebels were) but I have seen a burial of a decapitated soldier who died at an encounter in Mindanao and no one can imagine the picture I have painted in my mind regarding what the Muslims are. It was only when I was in high school and Ninoy returned to the country that I have learned the real truth abut Marcos although I was still refusing to believe as our Ilocano father has made us to. Gone are those glorious days ( which I wished I had experienced as a family man and a professional)..I have seen the weakening of the peso from its powerful 2:1 against the greenback up to what it is now… tsk tsk tsk.. the offsprings of my offsprings will have to pay for the Philippine debts inherited from the Marcoses.

                  Reply

          • bart,

            kindly let raissa do what she does best : dig up the truth.

            on the other hand you may want to look back to our place right after WW II, when PH was economically 2nd only to Japan in Asia, which was propped up by American interests while PH was able to recover all by itself.

            Marcos undid the growth & development with the help of his cronies in the military and in business, turning PH 2nd only to Bangladesh within his lifetime. in short, he squandered the opportunity to become a true statesman.

            look it up and spare raissa the trouble of fact-finding for you.

            best wishes,

            Reply

        • raissa ano ang alam mo sa pagsabog ng bomba sa plaza miranda noong meeting de abanse ng liberal party.na wala si aquino at late ng dumating ,,pati narin ang pera ng mga marcos na nakuha ni salonga sa new york..alam ko marami kang konection sa balita..

          Reply

  6. I grew up and became an adult all through during marcos presidency and dictatorship and no matter how I look at those years I really cannot remember anything good happening to the country but instead what I remember is the country’s debts getting bigger while the lives of the people are getting worst and worst every year.

    Many filipinos are joining the insurgency movement apparently dissatisfied of the government and prefer to die fighting than to die in poverty. Many filipinos just disappear, anybody can be executed by the military and police who continue accumulating abusive powers due to the martial law. Marcos and his people are the Gods and the people seem to exists only for the purpose of worshiping them

    .Marcos is a murderer, cheater, thief, power and fame greedy and a liar. I was only lucky to have been occupied by some other more important personal matters during that time otherwise I would have become an insurgent too.

    Reply

  7. I was 1 year and 4 months old during EDSA-1… My Father was one of a million in EDSA… As I grow up marcos issues were consistent topic during past times and that is how I started to learn a small piece of the history of martial law years. As time goes on, documentaries and writing confirmed the stories I was hearing during my childhood days. . . When i was in college I did a research about marcos regime because I needed it in school, not intentionally to know what was it all about. . . All things in about marcos was a mixture of good stories when he was not a president and still good when he was already president but not until he declared martial law. . . HONESTLY, I am sincerely in favor not to bury FM in Heroes Cemetery. . . He was not a hero – he was nothing short of a greedy man hungry for power and money. . . In the future – Bong Bong might try his luck in presidency, that would mean another marcos, threatening another nightmare to Philippine Democracy. . .

    Reply

    • ang talino mo siguro biro mo 1yr and4month kalang alam mo na at naiintindihan mo na ang balita ..kung ang tatay mo ay isa sa edsa 1 ang tatay mo ay one sided lamang ganuon din ako pero ngayon ,mas mabuti pa noong martial law ewan ko ,sa lugar ninyo pero sa maynila ay tahimik walang nagkalat na lasing sa karsada alas 9 ng gabi wala ng tao sa kasada wala ng nagdadrug walang hire killer ang mga holdaper pag nahuli ay pinatatakas ng pulis at binabaril na kaya bihira ang mga holdaper. at karnaper.. noon pag nahuli ang magnanakaw yuko lang ngayon sinisigawan at minumura pa ang pulis..ngayon pagnakabaril ang pulis ng holdaper ang pulis pa ang nadedemanda .gaya ng pinsan ko..self depense at maybaril ang holdaper..

      Reply

  8. ..and so let us make sure we won’t be in deep shit again–publish the country’s- history–aren’t all these in our schools textbooks anyway?– and why not, if not?? let the young generation know the real score, by word of mouth if we have to.

    Reply

  9. Bongbong, the mad revisionist:

    “Trust no future, however pleasant! Let the dead past bury its dead! Act — act in the living Present! Heart within and God overhead.”

    Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

    Reply

  10. Bakit nga ba? Bakit nga ba nating napakadaling kalimutan ang mga ginawa ng mga Marcoses? How come there are so many Filipinos thinks that murder during martial law is actually a good thing, thinking that it brought peace and order?! Why do they think that way? Will somebody tell me why so many Filipinos think that Marcos’ actions were necessary and legitimate? If you are a concerned Filipino, please join Filipinos Urging Countrymen Kick Marcos Out of Politics on facebook to tell the Marcoses, NEVER AGAIN!!!

    Reply

  11. Raissa, in the interest of accuracy, I did not refer to Bongbong Marcos as an idiot, so please correct the heading soonest possible. It was actually in reference to one of those who used a pseudonym screaming his disappointment on your wall why I did not take a stand. Like I posted in other walls that shared the erroneous heading, the fellow either doesn’t read too well, or has a comprehension problem or is simply too lazy to dig up the historical record.

    Bongbong’s insistence does not surprise. He has been consistent in getting his father buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, even if he has to revise history to get it done. I am glad that PNoy upheld the Ramos administration’s position regarding the handling of the late president / dictator. It was unanimously and universally supported.

    I hope this clarifies matters as this will be the last time I will speak on the subject as there is no point dwelling on a moot and academic issue, with or without screaming banshees..

    Reply

  12. Ask Bongbong what happened to Ed Jopson. Then ask Pete Lacaba what happened to his brother, one of my heroes, poet Eman Lacaba. So many of our bright, young patriots killed, our country’s hope and future robbed of so many good men and women, murdered thanks to “things were more orderly then” martial law.

    Reply

      • A very convenient time for FM to declare Martial Law was to stage a good reason to do it.
        It was a good thing that the fake assassination of Enrile did not cause him his life (Marcos never thought he will turn coat later on). Had he been endowed with the power to foresee the future, Both Ramos and Enrile would have been long dead before Ver.

        Reply

          • President Ramos was wrong by getting them back alive, now they are going to be president of the philippines. and they want their father buried at LNMB. what they hell do they really think of us idiots and morons like them,? wake up filipino! enough is enough ! do not ever give them an iota of a chance to be what they wanted, they should be under six feet or less at any graveyard. We have to be vigilant, so nothing again will happen like 1966 to now trouble from this family. and looted billions of filipinos money.

            Reply

  15. Maybe we should do some occupying to intimidate self-centered politicians into behaving or — better yet — into leaving public office once and for all. Masyado na tayo mabait sa mga iyan, which is already katangahan in my book.

    Reply

    • maybe it is time for those who were involved in the edsa 1 that topple down the Marcos admin to speak up and tell the truth that aquino was used to further a faggot country’s interest in staying in the philippines for FREE. it has been a decade for these people to have shut the filipinos out of the truth and i really can’t wait to see those involved apologize to the Marcos family and i would love to see them all put behind bars.

      Reply

        • What’s wrong being a Marcos lover? Your hate for them is so superficial that as if all people who still subscribe to the Marcoses are sinners, and you may want to be called saint? Pathetic!

          Reply

          • Ah, something really hurts, doesn’t it.

            You missed your chance to be with the Marcoses when they were so in power.

            Reply

            • We have Malacanan Palace of the North. None in Tarlac, nil in Pangasinan, zero in San Juan, and nada in Pampanga.

              PICC, FAT, CCP, Heart Center, Nat’l Kidney, San Juanico, gazillions of infras – as compared to anomalous flyovers and record-breaking highways.

              Before, thief is ALMOST monopolized. (Iisa lang DAW ang magnanakaw noon!)

              Now? Departmentalized – and in bigger chunks. AND..! In broad daylight!

              Legal na kasi ngayon ang magnakaw. Naipagyayabang pa sa Senado actually. It has been a norm. Casual lang.

              And here we are still alive talking about 20-years ago.

              So that the GMA saga will only be edible in 2030, and so on and so forth. That’s the drama that Filipinos adapt to.

              Reply

      • mas masahol pa nga ang mga nangyayari ngayon kaysa panahon ng martial law, look at the news for the past months, panay patayan, walang order ang country natin, walang natatakot at sumusunod sa batas, mga police mismo mga law breakers, pag hindi guiguising si pnoy baka di nya matapos ang termino nya.

        Reply

        • Vangie,

          You hit the nail on the head when you said – “look at the news for the past months…”

          Marcos controlled the news. There were a lot of killings, especially perpetuated by state authorities, but the people did not know the extent because Marcos controlled the news.

          Your last phrase – pag hindi guiguising si pnoy baka di nya matapos ang termino nya. There is a missing connection there. Are you saying, since crime is rampant, therefore PNoy could be overthrown as a result?

          Reply

  16. “And we’ll be in deep shit because most Filipino voters never knew how evil the Marcos dictatorship was.” – Sad but true. For some reason, many Filipinos are nostalgic about the Martial Law years. They say it was more orderly at that time, it was more prosperous and so on. They conveniently forget about the climate of fear at the time. For goodness’ sake, it was at that time when “salvaging” became a euphemism for murder. How can they forget that?

    Reply

    • Filipinos are going to be really really deep deep shit when Bongbong becomes president. The new Filipino generation should be aware of the Philippine history para alam nila kung paano naging ganito ngayon ang Pilipinas, Same goes to the old generation lalong lalo na sa mga nakalimot kung paano ito niyurakan at ginahasa ng mga Marcos at ng kanilang mga cronies!

      Reply

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