Thank you, ABS-CBN, GMA, Sunstar, & Malaya for picking up my story that Imelda Marcos already waived a hero’s burial for Ferdinand Marcos I am so very, very glad the major Philippine news media companies have picked up my stories on this. Here’s what they published. This one’s from Sunstar: Aquino to consider Ramos’ views on Marcos burial Monday, June 13, [...]
Malacañang reacts to my story on Imelda Marcos waiving Libingan burial & full military honors for Ferdinand Marcos
Just so she could bring his body home in 1993 My Exclusive By Raïssa Robles My editor at South China Morning Post has given me permission to post my story below: Marcos burial plans hit a snag Imelda signed away any right to inter the late dictator in the Heroes’ Cemetery so she could bring his body [...]
Part I: Fidel Ramos told me Imelda Marcos waived burial at Libingan, a state funeral and full military honors
In exchange for bringing back Ferdinand Marcos’ body My exclusive By Raïssa Robles I was really very surprised when my phone rang last Friday and an aide of Fidel Ramos said the former Philippine president wanted to speak with me. Beyond the usual press briefings and conferences, Ramos and I have never been warm friends. But we’ve had several [...]
Fidel Ramos phoned me to shed light on his role in Ferdinand Marcos' non-burial
By Raïssa Robles Coming from the dentist yesterday, the last thing I expected was a phone call from former President Fidel Ramos. We talked for nearly two hours about how, a year into his presidency, he allowed Marcos’ body to be brought back to the Philippines under certain preconditions. We also talked about other things which he repeatedly told [...]
Marcoses broke promise to bury FM's body at once in Ilocos - Fidel Ramos
Marcos body was accorded military honors in 1993 My exclusive By Raïssa Robles Should we be surprised? In his very last news conference as outgoing President, Fidel Ramos told reporters that the Marcos family broke one of the three preconditions they had agreed to in exchange for bringing Ferdinand Marcos’ remains to the Philippines. “I authorized the return of [...]
Sen. Bongbong Marcos' daddy messed up Muslim Mindanao big time
Now his son wants to play there, too By Raïssa Robles Starting today Monday, as Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos tries to block a proposal to cancel this year’s Muslim Mindanao polls, it is a good time to remind Filipinos that Muslim Mindanao continues to be in a terrible state mainly because of his father, the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Marcos [...]
Human Rights Commission Chair Loretta Ann Rosales was repeatedly raped during the Marcos dictatorship
Rape was the choice form of torture for female detainees - My exclusive by Raïssa Robles In 1999, my editor at South China Morning Post asked me to do a first person account to show the vileness of the Marcos conjugal dictatorship. This was soon after then Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena denied a motion to release US$150 million [...]
Fool military honors for Ferdinand Marcos? Yes, oh yes!
Is there a Binay-Marcos alliance shaping up? By Raïssa Robles But full military honors for a Commander-in-Chief who turned sections of the military into torture machines that killed and maimed thousands of Filipinos whose only crime was to oppose his rotten, greedy dictatorship? Hell, no way! The decision of Vice-President Jejomar Binay to recommend “full military honors” for a man [...]
Make smoking uncool: put yucky "cancer" photos on cigarette boxes
By Raïssa Robles Yawn. The toothless MMDA(Metro Manila Development Authority) has warned it would start arresting people who smoke in public areas. Big deal. This will just turn into another money-making racket for MMDA but will not drastically reduce the number of smokers in the country. What the government has to do is to make smoking uncool by displaying photos [...]
Will Father Bernas be cowed by higher authority & fall silent on the RH bill?
Not if he hasn’t changed since Martial Law By Raïssa Robles Father Joaquin Bernas has built a formidable reputation as an intellectual priest. One who has put together his vast knowledge of Catholic Theology with that of Philippine Law and Constitution. Early this week, I stumbled on a document dating back to those dark years of Martial Law that showed [...]
Part 2 - Marcos' Medal of Valor 'highly suspicious', says Filipino war historian
My Exclusive By Raïssa Robles Ferdinand Marcos’ so-called Medal of Valor – the Philippines’ highest war medal awarded to a soldier for bravery – is “highly suspicious”, military historian Dr. Ricardo Trota Jose said. “In the (original) citation, they can’t seem to get it straight because they keep saying Medal for Valor. I think the real official name is really [...]
Part 1 - Eminent Filipino war historian slams Marcos burial as a "hero"
My exclusive By Raïssa Robles Dr. Ricardo Trota Jose took exception to Ferdinand Marcos’ claim that his exploits in Bataan delayed its fall by three months. He said: “One man could not have done that. (To claim that) is an injustice to the others. Some of the others died, gave up their lives.” Dr. Jose also said a [...]
Marcos in brief
To those who still don’t get why Ferdinand Marcos is no hero, this one’s for you: Cliff Notes for fuggedabout it Filipinos By Alan Robles One so-called argument from Marcos loyalists or fuggedabout it Filipinos is that “Marcos was no worse than other presidents.” WRONG. Marcos was the WORST president the country ever had, for the following reasons. Politics has [...]
Bongbong Marcos replies to me: The Presidency? "Thanks, but no thanks."
By Raissa Robles Senator Bongbong Marcos has replied via Twitter to my post on Why the Marcoses want Ferdinand buried a hero. Someone told this to me and so I checked it out. Here is how the son of the late dictator replied to all the points I raised on why his father does not deserve to be buried a [...]
Noynoy Aquino rejected a hero's burial for Marcos during his pres'l campaign
Just my opinion By Raissa Robles A year ago when Benigno Aquino III was courting the people’s vote to clinch the presidency he “unequivocally rejected the idea of allowing a state and hero’s burial for the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos which his rival, Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manuel Villar, is supportive of.” That was what Philippine Daily Inquirer reporter Gil Cabacungan [...]
Marcos' proof for his war medals was a book on goldfish and plants
Dear Vice-President Jejomar Binay, Burying Ferdinand Marcos as a hero at Libingan ng mga Bayani is not a matter of public debate but of truth. Marcos lied on live international TV about his stupendous war record. Which makes most of his war medals suspect. Before engaging everyone in debate, text or e-mail, please investigate his war medals. When I interviewed [...]
Meet the REAL Marcos
Alan Robles, a multi-awarded journalist, has been posting a series of exposés on the Marcoses in his website hotmanila.ph over the last 11 years. I’d like to share them with you all, especially with the present generation. Alan intentionally wrote in satire to celebrate our new-found freedoms. You see, during Martial Law, laughing at the Marcoses could land you in [...]
Why the Marcoses want Ferdinand buried a hero
And why Bongbong Marcos is now a senator By Raissa Robles By having the dictator Ferdinand Marcos buried at Libingan ng mga Bayani, the Marcos clan will be able to erase his sordid and wicked past and have him declared a hero. Then Senator Bongbong Marcos will run for President five years from now and package himself as – of [...]
Lucio Tan is part of our corrupt ecosystem, Romulo Neri told Whistle-blower Jun Lozada
By Raïssa Robles What’s happening now with Philippine Airlines (PAL) is not mere labor trouble. It is actually part of a political power struggle between the Aquino presidency and an entrenched kingmaker, whom the former economic planning agency chief once named as a key player in the Philippines’ corrupt ecosystem. The nation’s other power players are closely watching [...]