THOUSANDS of protesters are expected to gather at selected sites in both Cagayan de Oro City and the region this Friday, November 25, as part of simultaneous indignation rallies nationwide to protest the burial of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City last November 18.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) spokesperson Wildon Barros said in an interview the protests will take place simultaneously at 4 p.m. in Magsaysay Park, Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology in Iligan City, City Pubic Market in Gingoog City and in Valencia City, Bukidnon.
He said a second round of protest actions will be done, also in different parts of the country, on November 30.
“We will mount a peaceful protest, no riots, dili mi sa dalan (not on the road), no violence during that day,” Barros said.
Bayan, along with other militant groups such as Kalipinan ng Damayang Mahihirap, Samahan ng Ex-detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto and Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang, maintains that Marcos' burial at the Heroes’ Cemetery is akin to giving the late dictator, who died in 1989 while in exile, a hero’s burial.
The groups added the burial is the “greatest symbol of impunity” in the country.
Barros called on Kagay-anons to participate in the peaceful rally to protest the move of this administration that allowed the hero’s burial, which they said, is a big insult to the victims during Martial Law.
The Jesuit-run Xavier University also launched a call for support among students and other members of the University community to join a series of noise barrages to protest the Marcos burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
In a statement, university officials criticized the burial calling it “a tyrannical manifestation of revising history and an attempt to distort the truth.”