To Bury or Not Marcos in “Libingan ng mga Bayani”? That's the Question No More: A Filipino Chris

Now that the Supreme Court has thumbed down any hindrances to burying the former president Ferdinand Marcos in “Libingan ng mga Bayani”, the Country, rather, those who have the concerns and agenda are once again shaken.

Appealing so strongly to historical knowledge and sense of justice, politicians, netizens and other, commonly, with middle class consciousness raise their closed fists in the face of the statement of the Department of National Defense, aligned with the decision of the President himself[1].The issue subsumes every Filipino in fact, including the professed Christians.

With the recent statement of Senator Manny Pacquiao, the Christian credibility of participating into a meaningful social discussion is once again put into the litmus test, subtly or otherwise.

So, to focalize the discussion, one might ask a much tensed question: How ought a Christian, esp. a Filipino Christian, i.e. a Filipino who is a professed follower of Jesus Christ, view and respond to the issue? By this very qualification, this article is mainly addressed to those Filipino Christians who think they have a valid word to say regarding historical consciousness in line with the teachings of the Bible when it comes to local history, forgiveness, forgetting, and submission to authority.

Disclaimer: While the issue at hand is national and historical in scope, Filipino Christians are first “eternal” in identity

“Should Filipino Christians be concerned with the burial of the former president Marcos?” is indeed moot. As believers, whom God appointed to be in a nationality as ours, we are right away charged to be “stewards” and partakers of whatever events unfolding in this part of the globe.

However, such participation is not without the counsel of the Scriptures. More specifically, our participation should not be without the counsel of the Scriptures. Drawing from the life experiences of Daniel and Nehemiah[2], we see that the believer has all the right to be troubled for his people, with the intent of making God known amidst the turmoil. Rather, the better question is: “How can a Filipino Christian better contribute to the discussion, with the intent of Gospel proclamation?”

In this contemporary era, any religious talk can be deemed irrelevant or immaterial. There seems to be a category of detachment in which religion, specifically Christianity belongs. What matter more are political and economic talks, not religious or philosophical meaningless word salad, says the ‘pragmatic’ modern person. And with the issue of burying the dead ex-president to a place where he seems to not belong, the Filipino Christian has nothing to offer than “let’s just pray”, “let’s just obey God’s will”, or “let’s follow what the Bible says”.

While there is nothing wrong with how the ‘typical’ Filipino Christian may respond and there is nothing faulty with being pragmatically concerned with such and such issues, I do not think the Bible deems it completely correct to be just “metaphysical” and “mystical” in such discussions. The Bible also does not close its eyes with materialistic[3] concerns. To begin with, the fact that Jesus resurrected and promises to resurrect the material body and restore the whole physical creation, is central to the Christian doctrine, says a lot about God’s concern of the physical and material history. As the adage that is attributed to George Macdonald goes: “You (the human person) don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body”[4], thence, to the Filipino Christian, who says to be wanting to follow God’s will, this discussion must be priority nonetheless.

I am short of saying that the discussion is not mutually exclusive to secular politicians or leftist and progressive activists. The Filipino Christian ought to be an activist, too… an activist (i.e. someone who practices what he or she rightly and truthfully believes) for the Christian worldview with undeniable social ramifications. This belief takes roots, not solely in one’s nationality, much less in his/her historical consciousness, but in the identity s/he receives the moment s/he gave his/her life to the Author of faith, and the Author of all creation leading all of us to this very present moment of discussion.

Burying the dead ex-President: What must a Filipino Christian say?

In his/her zeal and haste to participate and be heard, the Filipino Christian might instantly abandon the identity s/he has received from the LORD. Chances are, with the pressure to readily respond, s/he will give his/her take of the issue as informed by what textbooks, documentaries and other parties, with their own agenda.

It is as if there are no other means and methods of responding to the issue, and qualifying it is not to be prioritized anymore. If to be analyzed carefully, taking an immediate stand in the issue at hand, like any other issues that came and went, actually takes away one of the essential confluences in being human: Rational.

Media either print, visual or social, pressures all of us, in one way or the other, to make a stand without giving us the opportunity to process the information/question given. This is what Rushkoff, in his book, “Present Shock[5]” observes as fostering our “reptilian”[6] tendencies. There are more issues to be discussed in the false dichotomy of allowing or not allowing Marcos to be buried. And now that the decision has been given, all the more angles are to be gleaned from. There are many other facets to be considered, mostly if we are the people whom God appointed in this country. We have a larger “ministry” to observe, than simply and readily airing our angst, which are actually materialistically conditioned, in case we forgot. God entrusted us a ministry of reconciliation (see 2 Corinthians 5:11-21).

Listen carefully to the clamor of those who forward “historical awareness”: do not allow the burial in “Libingan ng mga Bayani”, because Marcos is no hero due to the horrors of Martial Law. The Department of National Defense, aligning themselves with the decision of the President, hold otherwise and says Marcos’ once being a soldier and a former president qualify him to be buried in the site.

The arguments and counter-arguments from the same materials and references (Philippine Constitution, Historical accounts, parallel events abroad etc.) may go on and on, yet proponents from both camps cannot meet eye-to-eye. Now, with this ‘pressure’, we ask: In what sense can the Filipino Christian, by taking either of the stands, minister reconciliation?[7] By merely ‘dancing’ to the bifurcating tunes of material history and secular ideologies, the rift simply grows bigger and wider. The Christian, that is, the Filipino Christian will not be able to speak unity in diversity as s/he ought to do.

But the Christian ought to have a higher and broader perspective, in that while s/he proclaims the Gospel by personal and one-on-one discipleship on the one hand, s/he is communicating the Godly truths in and for the society on the other. The Bible, for sure, does not simply want us to appear apathetic to such concerns, for the social and spiritual health of the people are God’s heartbeat, needless to say (see Hebrews 6). More critically, if not doctrinally speaking, as a matter of fact, the clamors of both sides are actually and can actually be given by the Christian position, alone! The ones who disavow Marcos’ heroism, that he may not be buried in the site, appeal to the universality and objectivity of Morality and ultimate/cosmic justice: Evil has to be addressed and it should never be forgotten at any rate. It should be punished. There should be a commensurate remuneration.

Conversely, the affirmative side for the burial in the site, (to that sense, Pacquiao as a professed Christian is one) invoke mutual forgiveness, at the same time, appreciation of just honor (Cf. Romans 13:7).

Justice? Forgiveness? Are not these two the very message of the Cross of Jesus Christ?

We now see the pivotal point of discussion. Instead of surfing on the wave of the popular media and publicly airing out the ‘conditioned’ angst, the Filipino Christian may now take the opportunity of entering into a personal, yet meaningful, much more with relevant historical and spiritual dimension of discussion. In this contemporary time, when the media ushers pluralistically echoing cacophony, the gentle voice of the Christian that speaks justice and forgiveness, since 2,000 years back, has to have a space where more humane talks are done and more rational discussions are welcome.

This is the reason why God calls and invites us to “come and reason together”, for we ought to demonstrate the fullness of our being created in the image of God: creatures with love, strength, mind and soul (see Genesis 1:26, Isaiah 1:18, Matthew 22:37, Luke 10:27 consecutively). In this way, Filipino Christians avoid two things: 1. They avoid being trapped in meaningless arguments or absurdities[8]; 2. They avoid becoming the laughing stock (or a straw man) in Christianity’s stead. In turn, hence: 1. let us be reminded that there is nothing wrong to dodge the stifling challenge of faulty reasoning at times, and return to it, once we are more prepared (Cf. 1 Peter 3:15); and that 2. We are to be “ambassadors for Christ, [with] God making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20), knowing that the real enemy is the one that causes strife and apparently irreconcilable differences (Cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4-6).

Conclusion: So, who is to be buried?

The Filipino Christian, i.e. the one who upholds the supremacy of the Scriptures, ought not to be caught in the false dichotomy of the issue of forgiveness and forgetting. The issue has long been addressed by the Cross: God forgives the person― a genuinely repentant one―on the basis of the Cross. God does not forget, because the marks of the nails on Jesus’ hands and feet are eternally present and hell awaits for those who do not choose to receive His grace through Christ. The issue is not in our hands anymore. Evidently, it is already subsumed under the providential plan of the LORD, beyond our control and opinion.

As for the Christian, Filipino or not, we are called to have faith that God is just enough to bring in the ultimate justice and avenge for the all the evils done (see Romans 12:19). Included in which is the justice for those who were wronged in, by and during the Martial Law. If we Filipino Christians, whose God, we claim, is the LORD, really understand the implications and affirmations of God’s justice and grace through Christ, our response should be not the one that contributes to the deepening of the wound of the Filipino soul, neither fosters historical amnesia. Both can be done by any none believers. Our perspective has to offer an elevated one. As a pastor noted, “our responses to social and national issues, as Christians, must elevate the level of discussion[9]”.

The Bible is clear: we are citizens of God’s kingdom. And even if it is “not yet” fully demonstrated, we believe, with the Blessed hope, that it is an “already” thing for us, knowing that “God’s works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Cf. Hebrews 4:3). What remains is whether or not we will choose to bring glory to God with the kind of discussions and conversations we are entering into, seasoning it with salt and proving that the Christian perspective is not dictated by the world or just be like the average citizen of the world who, by their arrogance of the mind, but ignorance of the sovereignty and economy of God, just blurt out whatever they feel, blindly responding to the “click baits” of the prince of air (Cf. Romans 12:1-2).

The real issue for the Filipino Christian, therefore, is this: Is Christ glorified with the way we participate in the discussions at hand or we are just flaunting our societal epistemology, that knows only part and can never judge in whole?

Anyway, did Jesus not say: “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:60 ESV)[10]?

[1] News and facts referred to in this article are courtesy of Rappler Philippines, in their succeeding news articles:* http://www.rappler.com/nation/142372-marcos-burial-libingan-bayani-department-national-defense-preparations* http://www.rappler.com/nation/143015-malacanang-andanar-duterte-stance-firm-marcos-burial-libingan-ng-mga-bayani* http://www.rappler.com/nation/143115-supreme-court-petition-ferdinand-marcos-burial?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=referral* http://www.rappler.com/nation/143127-manny-pacquiao-favors-ferdinand-marcos-burial-libingan?utm_content=buffer30263&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

2] Verses from the Bible are from the ESV unless otherwise noted.

[3] This term, in this article, is taken with a philosophical nuance, i.e. a belief that all that world and life is all that is material, physical and naturalistic (see the notions of Hume, Marx and other Nihilistic thinkers).

[4] While this quotation has a debatable source, it is often related to C.S. Lewis, who admired George Macdonald, a Scottish minister.

[5] “Present Shock”, Rushkoff, Douglass. 2013. Penguin Books

[6] As noted in the book, reptiles simply respond to the stimulus without processing. Anything that moves in front of them are either food or threat, nothing in between.

[7] Of course, I do not mean reconciliation as in bringing the two parties at the negotiation table and end up with an agreement photo-op. But the Biblical sense that “God holds the supreme justice” and that the government or the authority is part of God’s plan of order and justice at the moment?[7] We cannot fault the “outsiders” (Cf. Colossians 4:5) for not thinking in such a manner.

[8] Jesus is a master of avoiding such cases by employing Reductio ad absurdum and faulty dilemmas (see Geisler and Zukeran, “The Apologetics of Jesus”. 2009. Baker Books)

[9] Noted in one of the 2016 preaching of Pastor Eyriche Cortez of Filinvest Community Christian Fellowship (FCCF).

[10] Lest this be taken out of context, the verse bespeaks of one’s full commitment to the truth value of one’s personal relationship with God. The dead are those who do not have their personal relationship with God. The real living ones pay attention to what matters more to God: that everyone may know Him as to be proclaimed by the followers of Jesus.

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