The debate on the Marcos burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani rages but what about the Libingan ng mga Manggagawa?
Let us go back in time.
It was well noted that the Philippines hosted the Ms. Universe 1974 pageant. It was less than 2 years after Martial Law was declared and it was an attempt to show the world the “Smiling Martial Law”. Those times were meant to show the world the New Society and a re-envigored Philippines. That the pageant was held at the 10,000 seater Folk Arts Theater (FAT) was evidence. The FAT was constructed at record time (for the Philippines) and was the precursor of other buildings to sate the caprices of Imelda Marcos who then was diagnosed with an “Edifice Complex”. Soon followed the National Nutrition Center, The Philippine Heart Center for Asia, The Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), the Kidney Center and 14 luxury hotels. These were the centerpieces of the Martial Law regime.
By 1981, there seemed no stopping the regime. By that time, Imelda Marcos sought to have a film festival to rival the Cannes film festival. Of course a venue for the Manila International Film Festival (MIFF) must be constructed since the MIFF was set on January 1982. The Manila Film Center was to be the centerpiece of the MIFF. It was to cost US$25 million at that time. Imelda Marcos wanted it to be modeled after the Parthenon in Greece. A place for the new Filipino “gods”.
It was hidden from the public at that time that the regime was teetering on the brink of economic collapse. The projected revenues to be generated by economic policies fueled by cheap petro-dollar loans were nowhere to be found. Thus, such extravagant spending on such buildings and edifices found its funding squeezed that resulted in delays. In order to compensate for the delays, more workers were required to meet the deadline. By that time, there were 4,000 construction workers toiling in 3 shifts around the clock.
It was on November 17, 1981 when tragedy struck. It was about 3:00 a.m. when the upper scaffolding collapsed and workers fell into the still wet cement of the lower scaffoldings. Some were buried, others were half buried and others were half buried and impaled on the steel reinforcing bars. Rescue workers raced against time and the quick drying cement to recover and save the workers.
Imelda Marcos was informed of the accident and told that it would take time to recover the workers. Imelda wanted to meet the deadline. She ordered that the workers just be covered by new cement and stories of protruding arms, legs and torsos were just cut and fresh cement was just poured on top of the workers, many who were still alive. The media was controlled tightly and the news just filtered out because the truth cannot be totally hidden. In fact, rescuers, ambulances and media were barred from the area for a full nine hours!
The festival opened on schedule on January 18, 1982. The guests included Brook Shields, Ben Kingsley, Robert Duvall among others. It was told that the carpets were squishy since the cement under it was not yet dry.
The first film screened was “Gandhi”. After that there was a party at the Film Center. The stars, notables and celebrities partied standing on a mausoleum.
The following year, the MIFF had to scramble for funds because US$5 million was withheld because of the scandal it caused. In order to finance the festival, Imelda Marcos allowed pornographic films to be shown. That was the end of the Manila International Film Festival.
Imelda Marcos and the Marcos family has a macabre sense of burials and interments. They are now pushing for the burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani and acting and behaving in such a way as that they have no sins during the regime.
The least they can do is rename the Manila Film Center to Libingan ng mga Manggagawa. An Elyseum for Sleepless Souls.
