Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III insisted on Tuesday that former President Ferdinand Marcos is not a hero and should not be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

And Pimentel said he would talk to President Rodrigo Duterte to express his opinion and probably convince him against burying him at the heroes’ cemetery.

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The Senate leader is president of Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), which is now chaired by Duterte.

“Sabihin ko lang siguro sa kanya yung personal opinion ko na (I would tell him my personal opinion that) he’s (Marcos) not a hero, former President Marcos is not a hero, hence, let’s rethink the propriety of burying somebody in a place called Libingan ng mga Bayani,” Pimentel said in an interview with Senate reporters.

He said the legal battle at the Supreme Court might be over but “no court case will make somebody a hero in the hearts and mind of the people.”

“Hindi po nadadaan sa legal arguments yan (This could not be settled through legal arguments),” he said.

The Senate leader said he would bring up the issue with Duterte when they meet.

“I can bring this up and say that the legal battle is over. It’s back to political, in the political arena, hence, he’s the number one political figure in the country and the power actually belongs to him to decide to pursue or to abandon the plan,” Pimentel said.

“Pwede pang i- discuss ulit (It could be discussed again), just like the Climate Change Agreement,” he said, referring to the Paris Agreement.

Duterte earlier said that he would not honor the agreement but later changed his mind, saying he would uphold it.

Pimentel’s father, former Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., shared the same sentiments.

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“Off the cuff, the decision, at the very least, defies decency and spits on the graves of the heroes—sung and unsung—who are buried there,” the former senator said.

“But, let it be. For the moment anyway,” he said.

The former senator echoed his son’s statement that Marcos’s burial at the heroes’ cemetery does not make the late strongman a hero.

“It does (not) erase the brutality of his regime or its rapacity,” he said.

“I guess the hypocrisy that lurks behind the facade of the ‘national interest’ argument justifying the burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani will sooner than later rear its ugly head for all the people to see its fakery,” the former senator added. RAM/rga

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