I AM so disgusted at our lawmakers that I am violating the personal rule of conduct (I wrote about in a previous column) and calling them shit-brained and stone-hearted on top of callous and insensitive. My rational and objective justification, the latest of many, is the bill that declares a Marcos Day for Ilocanos.

I almost could not believe they were capable of such a despicable act. Almost, because after the initial shock I realized this is the Philippines and only in the Philippines are lawmakers that insensitive of the feelings, that insulting of the intelligence, of their constituents.

Your honors... no, take that back... your dishonors, you insult both the living and the dead who suffered under Marcos’ Martial Law, the many non-Ilocanos but equally Filipinos whom he imprisoned, tortured, caused to disappear or be killed in his pursuit of wealth, fame and the worship of his fellow Ilocanos. You further dishonor the country he plundered so thoroughly it still teeters at the bottom rung of the Asian economic ladder.

It is disgraceful enough that we have not indicted him of plunder and murder but instead buried him a hero and allowed the family back into the corridors of power; but to declare a Day in his honor, that is just so ultra disgusting, so over-the-top-insensitive, so arrogantly insulting of the rest of us Filipinos.

Fine, so Ilocanos worship Marcos because they only know how well he took care of them when he was on top of the world. But would it not be the responsible thing to do for lawmakers to make Ilocanos aware of the destructiveness of their tribe’s idol to the rest of the Filipino nation instead of allowing them to live under the illusion that he was anything but honorable?

The Marcos Day bill is also proof that we are not a nation yet but a bunch of disparate tribes. It is proof that lawmakers, instead of fostering unity among us, are doing just the opposite. They favor the Ilocos region at the expense of the other regions, especially Visayas and Mindanao for what I suspect is a selfish political reason and just because they have the power to do so.

Knowing our lawmakers, I cannot help but suspect by its timing that the bill is what they think the Marcos family might want in exchange for the votes of the solid North in the coming elections. What else could blind our dishonorable lawmakers to the truth that the bill does nothing but disgrace and dishonor the Filipino nation? It is so patently indicative of abnormal brain function.

Frankly, I am now ashamed of my country whose lawmakers are so lacking in self-respect, so disloyal to the motherland as to even think of declaring a holiday for the world’s all-time No. 2 (Sukarno is No. 1) most corrupt leader.