Moral turpitude: Hindrance to Marcos's state burial

The issue of Marcos burial in Hero's Cemetery or in Filipino, the Libingan ng mga Bayani, had draw different reactions across the Philippine populace. It deeply divide Filipinos into those who favor and those who don't. Filipinos who are in favor of the state burial are generally considered as pro-Marcos, although this is not always true. These Filipinos are mostly millennials and does not have direct experience living under Martial Law. On the other hand, those who are oppose to Marcos's state burial are demographically older and had lived mostly in trepidation under the Proclamation No. 1081. A more liberal approach necessitate a state burial for the former strongman of Asia's on the ground that Ferdinand Marcos is a former president of the Philippines, and that, he had laid the foundation for a modern Philippines. The conservative, believing otherwise, disregard the 20 year long rule of Ferdinand Marcos, even labeling his two decades rule as a lost era. They argue that he can't be buried in the Hero's Cemetery because all his contribution was contrary to the societal standard of what is considered good or in short, moral turpitude.  

In legal parlance, turpitude means "a corrupt, depraved or degenerate act or practices". Moral refer to a "private conduct in a strict adherence to a code of what is right or wrong". Thus, moral turpitude convey a whole new meaning: a private conduct that is considered corrupt and is contrary by the societal's norm. The concept of moral turpitude is not a universal concept which is reverberated by John Rawl's relative morality. This legal concept was firstly borne in U.S Immigration law way back in 19th cent. purportedly to facilitate societal cohesion among immigrants. Being a former colony of the United States, we inherited a similar legal concept. But what makes an act a moral turpitude ? Among these are universal like: murder, voluntary manslaughter, rape, prostitution, fraud, theft (at any degree), blackmail, arson, smuggling, bribery and perjury. The list can go longer as long as it does not qualifies into the standard of what is good in a society. For example, in ancient practices, prostitution was considered as a job and it wasn't until the advent of Christianity (and I thank for this) that prostitution was regarded as an act of degrading woman into 'commercial flesh'. Since then, prostitution was considered immoral and even a crime in most society. A moral turpitude.

Ditching into Marcos's case, opponents argue that he doesn't deserve to be in Hero's Cemetery because even as a president he plundered billions of pesos away. Solidifying their claim, Marcos much celebrated military career was either a hoax or highly improbable, pinning dishonesty as another moral turpitude. But in the hindsight, we cannot disregard that Marcos had contributed greatly to the Philippine economy. The only mistake he made, in my opinion, was he relied too much on the Americans and international organization controlled by the Americans like the World Bank. Nevertheless, if  it wasn't Marcos, we wouldn't have MRT, Philippine Lung Center, Philippine Heart Center, Philippine General Hospital, Philippine International Convention Center etc. All these buildings are still in place, a legacy of Marcos dictatorial rule for 20 years. Doubting that perhaps the media manipulating Marcos contribution ? Well, perhaps the 30 years pass have provide a sufficient clue. I'm not denying that Marcos has indeed amass great personal wealth worth a large multinational corporation considering his public office and as verified through extensive research by reputable historian Dr. Alfred W. McCoy. But wouldn't it trigger any curious mind to how Marcos can be both benevolent to construct major infrastructures for the Philippines and at the same time malevolent by extracting approximately 10 billions dollar in his 20 year rule and deposited it elsewhere ? Or would that be his cronies ? Think, if he steal 10 billions, stuck it in a vault elsewhere and spend another 10 billions for major physical infrastructure, wouldn't that mean most agency of the government will be deprived of roughly similar amount ? We still manage to have decent progress though. On the side, how can we avoid default all throughout Marcos years in office, only to renege under Cory Aquino ? Wouldn't these reminisces you about our highly vengeance political cycle inherited from Spanish era ? Political opponents converge just to prop-up conspiracy and makes it appear like they are united for a  common stance ? Piling up, reputable historians also cast doubt on the authenticity of Marcos's involvement in major uprising during WWII. And I quote: "Cast doubts and that others was proven to be false". Not all are false I presumed, which entail validity of his contribution is beyond doubt. In fact, he is a soldier that holds 3 notable medals: the Purple Heart, the Silver Star and the Philippine Medal of Valor. The latter medal is the highest military medal possibly given. 

I think the sufficiency of the latter medal coupled with the fact that he is the former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos with all respect and due right have the lawful place in Hero's Cemetery. Let history be his judge, in totality, in virtuous or wickedness. Let the former president have his rest in peace just like any human would cherished to have, dead or alive.

Again, moral turpitude dictates.