President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos’s remains is finally interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Now, the healing process of a fragmented nation can begin. Or so, claimed the former president’s family and most vocal and ardent supporters.
The Marcos family interred the former president on November 18, 2016 with “honors befitting a soldier.”
Expectedly, anti-Marcos forces did not take this peacefully. Protests began as soon as the burial was confirmed. The unannounced plan only stoked the flames of protests.The Marcos family, in justifying the “surprise” burial, said they want the internment to be a “private, family affair”.
It was the wide belief of the Marcos family and their supporters that the burial would start the healing process towards real unity in the country. President Duterte, himself, said the burial would signal the end of the “great divide”; and that the country would move on from the issues of Martial Law and all other inconveniences that occurred from 1972 to 1986.
But if the reaction of Martial Law victims is to be gauged, the healing process would take a longer time—after all, the burial seemed to have opened old wounds.
Though time was said to have the ability to heal all wounds, those psychological and physical lacerations may take more than time to fully heal.
And it should be at this situation that the Marcoses should try to really understand the causes of those wounds and to try their best in truly healing them.
For after all, a healing process should include those were really wounded; otherwise, it is not a healing process at all.
…Or not
But the healing process seems to be the farthest from the minds of both sides of the “great divide”.
From sources of silly—at times, awkward—snap shots of people, social media today is full of venom, vitriol and just plain, unadulterated hate.
If the Marcos loyal supporters are really sincere in their belief that the burial would start the healing process, they are certainly not showing it by ridiculing those who are protesting the burial.
And though it is understandable that the other side felt betrayed by the “lightning quick” burial, they should also stay within the bounds of decency.
But above all, the Marcos loyal supporters should now take the high ground—after all they got what they wanted. And that they should really start defusing the tense situation by not reacting negatively and violently on the protests against the burial.
If it is healing they are sincerely after, then they should start acting it.