MANILA, Philippines – Former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has refuted allegations that President Duterte revised history when he ordered the burial of the late strongman at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig city last month.

Speaking before delegates of the Philippine Constitution Association in Manila Golf Club last Thursday, Marcos argued that the burial was not historical revisionism since as a former president, his father and namesake was supposed to make history.

“It’s up to others to record that history,” he said. “Sometimes there is disparity between the history that is made and the history that is written. I believe that from there we can see where the revision comes in.”

He admitted there were times that he and his sister – Ilocos Gov. Imee Marcos – get weary of the contentions when history and martial law and all the other historical baggage that his late father actually put on them is being talked about.

“But don’t get me wrong. I am happy to carry any historical baggage that my father actually did and put on us. But those inventions that our detractors would like to add to redefine that baggage I will not accept,” the former lawmaker added.

Although wanting to set aside history and focus instead on the country’s development, he admitted that no one can escape this as “history will find you.”

In the same forum, Marcos mentioned the “political heresies” surrounding the burial issue, quoting former prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

He said the first heresy is when a determined minority, along with enough adjuncts to bully or intimidate others, thinks that the law will not or cannot be enforced against them.

“The inference is not only there is safety in numbers, but that this brings some kind of collective immunity from legal process – it does not,” he added.

The second heresy, he quoted, is when one feels sufficiently strong about a particular case that one thinks or claims superiority to the laws and is, therefore, absolved.

“This is arrogant nonsense and deserves to be treated as such,” Marcos said.

The third heresy is when the law can be obeyed selectively.

When groups, the former senator said, would pick and chose which to obey and which to break, “liberty itself is imperiled.”

“The law must be obeyed as a whole,” Marcos stressed.

He pointed out that their detractors and what they do actually mirror the three political heresies mentioned by Thatcher.