Satur Ocampo to Duterte: 'Sa bayan, o sa Marcoses?'

From InterAksyon (Nov 27): Satur Ocampo to Duterte: 'Sa bayan, o sa Marcoses?'



Former partylist representative and NDF peace negotiator Satur Ocampo

"Are you for the country, or for the Marcoses?"

This was the question of Martial Law survivor and former National Democratic Front peace negotiator Satur Ocampo thrown to President Rodrigo Duterte.

NDF and the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army is presently engaged in peace negotiations with the government over its decades-old insurgency.

In a speech at the #BlackFriday protest in Luneta Park on Friday, the former Bayan Muna representative acknowledged that Duterte had reached out to them as a sign of reconciliation and to work for a final peace agreement.

But, Ocampo said, "Para walang conflict, mamili siya: sa bayan o sa mga Marcoses (So that there will be no conflict, he should choose: For the country, or for the Marcoses)?"
Ocampo made it clear that he holds President Duterte as the most accountable for the burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, even though Duterte was not alone in what transpired.

Ocampo also called out the Supreme Court for ruling to allow the burial, singling out ponente Justice Diosdado Peralta for saying Marcos was "Certainly, just a human who erred like us."

In fact, Ocampo asserted, the Marcoses stole, killed, and dragged the Philippine economy to ruin during regime that lasted two decades.

He challenged Duterte to work for the recovery of the Marcoses' ill-gotten wealth and use it to benefit the Filipino people.

Ocampo also lambasted all the government administrations that had come after Marcos was kicked out of Malacañang during the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986, for the "political accommodation" of the Marcoses, which led to Imelda, the wife, landing a congressional seat, daughter Imee getting elected as a provincial governor, and son Bongbong a senator who almost became vice-president after running in the May 2016 elections.

Former President Fidel Ramos had even allowed the remains of Ferdinand Marcos to be returned to the Philippines after the family's exile to Hawaii. Ocampo accused Ramos, the former chief of the Philippine Constabulary, and other Marcos allies, of negotiating with the Marcoses, who had riches to bargain with.

During the dictatorship, Marcos built the "infrastructure of authoritarian rule", thus leaving the police and military establishments with a "martial law mindset", Ocampo said.

He lamented that policemen and soldiers who abused their power and committed human rights violations during the Marcos regime were welcomed with open arms with the change of governments, and not made to account and atone for their sins.

Ocampo also criticized the presidents and lawmakers who came after Marcos for having "no political will" to prevent the proliferation of political dynasties, leading to the return of politics for "self-interest" and "self-aggrandizement". Partylist lawmakers like he were but a "small voice" in Congress, he added.

Ocampo thanked former Senator Rene Saguisag for saying Duterte must talk with the Left because they were the first ones who fought and continued to fight against the Marcos dictatorship. But, Ocampo said, they were not even given credit by the administrations that followed for the fall of the dictatorship.

He urged Duterte to make good on his plans to give the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) more power.

But first, Ocampo said, "Kumalas sa alyansa sa mga Marcoses. Panindigan ang damdamin ng bayan. Singilin ang mga magnanakaw! Bawiin ang kayamanan! Usigin sila diyan sa kanilang mga kaso na higit, ayon sa PCGG, sa tinatayang $10 billion worth na ninakaw nila (Break free from the alliance with the Marcoses. Heed the call of the people. Hold the thieves accountable! Recover the wealth! Prosecute the cases that, according to the PCGG, involve $10 billion worth of thievery)."

http://interaksyon.com/article/134691/satur-ocampo-to-duterte-sa-bayan-o-sa-marcoses