Time cannot always heal all—especially for Filipinos who continue to live with the consequences of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.'s oppressive regime. Yet, it seems time has dulled the urgency of justice. The recent dismissal of a decades-long case against the Marcos family demonstrates how easily history can be buried.
On December 12, the Sandiganbayan dismissed the last six Coconut Industry Investment Fund (CIIF), also known as the coco levy cases, against former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., former first lady Imelda Marcos, former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile, businessmen Cesar Zalamea and Jesus Pineda, and the heirs of former Zamboanga Mayor Maria Clara Lobregat. Along with this, last October, Sandiganbayan also junked a 37-year-old case involving the P276 million ill-gotten wealth civil case against the Marcoses. The court claimed the case could “no longer be afforded a fair trial” due to the decades-long delay. While this may sound procedural, it raises a more unsettling question: why did it take nearly four decades to reach this conclusion? Justice delayed is justice denied, and in this instance, the Filipino people are once again left to wonder if accountability for the Marcoses will ever come.
The dismissal of the said case is the eighth dismissed case under President Marcos Jr.’s administration. Since the end of former president Marcos Sr.’s dictatorship in 1986, 43 civil and forfeiture cases were filed against the Marcoses at the Sandiganbayan. But we continue to ask, why was there no progress? And if there is, why is it always in favor of the dictator’s family? Each dismissal conveys that wealth and power can buy freedom from accountability. It also fuels a dangerous cycle of impunity, where political figures who exploit their positions face few if any, real consequences.
While some can say that dismissing these cases as remnants of a bygone era is easy, they remain deeply relevant today. The Marcos name is no longer confined to the history books—it has returned to power, with the dictator’s son now sitting as the president. By dismissing the case, they also disregard the nation's legal system's process, which is not only reluctant but also uncertain about attaining true justice.
The decades-long cases were not filed just to be dismissed easily, it was filed with solid evidence to recover the people's money and dignity, and to hold oppressors accountable. Above everything, these cases are a reminder to every Filipino to remember and not forget the impunity of the Marcos regime.
The P83 billion assets from the dismissed Coco Levy Fund case supposedly will be used for the benefit of coconut farmers. Now that it was dismissed, what about those who were promised assistance and compensation? Besides, how can the court dismiss the cases that will be beneficial to the Filipino citizens? Those millions up to billions of Marcos ill-gotten wealth could be used in the country's poverty crisis in responding to the health care system, education, disaster funds, and many more.
Dismissing the cases where Filipino citizens will benefit was a clear abandonment of the genuine justice we seek and an indication of who this justice system really serves. Every dismissed case of Marcoses is a slap to the humanity who are eager to find justice over the case that was long ago forgotten.
This reality forces us to ask hard questions about our collective memory and decision-making. Why do we continue to elect leaders who have failed us before? Why do we place our trust in individuals who are known for harming the country—not by accident but through deliberate actions? Once may be a mistake, twice a choice, but thrice becomes a poison that destroys the nation’s future.
Perhaps the most glaring symbol of this distorted narrative is Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, a cemetery that was supposed to be for the nation’s heroes. This distinct move rewrites history, sketching out the dictator as a savior rather than the one who wrote the darkest chapters of the country’s history.
Burying the crimes of the Marcoses is not just a disservice to history; it is an act of erasure that ensures these injustices can happen again. To forgive and forget without accountability is to dismiss the pain of those who suffered. It is putting future generations into prison and making them live under the same cycle of oppression and corruption.
The dismissed cases of Marcoses are not just about legal technicalities. It represents the silencing of voices that, after many years, are still crying out for justice. It tells the Filipino people that their suffering is inconsequential, that the crimes of the past can be pushed aside, and that power, when used by the wrong hands, will always be above the law. Only by acknowledging these buried injustices can we ensure that no Filipino will ever be buried alive beneath the lies of history again.
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