FORMER anti-Marcos activists claimed over the weekend that the country is worse now than 30 years after the Marcos administration was ousted.
For this reason, they have chosen to support the vice presidential bid of Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to arrest the problem.
In a forum entitled “30 years after Edsa, Veterans unite for a better Philippines,” Mandaluyong Mayor Benhur Abalos, Pastor Grepor “Butch” Belgica, labor leader Terry Tuazon and coconut farmers’ group representative Ka Efren Villaseñor appealed for objectivity on the part of the public in viewing the events of the Marcos regime.
They vowed to campaign for Marcos.
They addressed pressing issues that the country is facing three decades after martial law.
During the forum, Abalos, who joined the People Power Revolt in 1986 and whose family has always been identified with the Aquinos because his father was made officer-in-charge or OIC of Mandaluyong after Edsa, urged the public to be fair and objective when it comes to the Marcoses.
According to Abalos, he is pitching his support for Marcos because he believes that the senator is the most capable of the candidates running for the vice presidency.
He said that while he and the others who attended the forum expect a public backlash for their support, he will still stand firm in his endorsement because this is what he believes is right.
“I would be betraying myself if I do not campaign for him, because it has always been in my character that even if the chips are down, I will stick by what I believe is right,” Abalos said.
The mayor addressed martial law issues on human rights and corruption and said that after 30 years, the public must learn to filter out these issues to make the right decision.
Abalos added that it was unfair to Marcos to still be judged for the same issues from three decades ago.
“There is a proper institution to process this. Charges have been filed, and what should be recovered has already been recovered. Thirty years after and we are still barking up the same issues. Isn’t it unfair? And when will it stop? Does this mean that even Senator Marcos’ grandchildren and great grandchildren will be condemned?” Abalos said.
Labor leader Terry Tuazon, who was also imprisoned and charged during the Marcos regime, said that based on track record, former President Marcos remained to be the leader who had established the most gains on the labor front.
He cited that the Labor Code of the Philippines, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the TESDA were created during the time of deposed President Marcos as well as presidential decrees that worked in favor of the labor force as examples of measures and legislation that are still being enjoyed by workers today.
For his part, Villasenor, Confederation of Coconut Farmers (Confed) national chairman also threw his support behind Marcos because he shared the same position with the coconut farmers that the coco levy fund should not be controlled by the government but rather, for the fund to be treated in a trust ownership where the farmers have the final say on how it will be spent by the government.
“Marcos was the only the senator who first threw his support behind the measure before other legislators saw the merits of our position,” Villasenor said.
Belgica, on the other hand said that the government is much worse off now than it was before because of the missing check and balance in government that was not reinstated after Congress was re-established in the wake of EDSA.
This, he said, enabled abuses such as the illegal Disbursement Acceleration Program or DAP and billions worth of pork barrel to be spent without being monitored and without congressional scrutiny.
Belgica appealed for the public to move on from the martial law issue and put it in perspective since the main problem was not the decree in itself but rather that it overstayed.