Duterte defends Ilocos Norte holiday for Marcos birthday

GOOD FRIENDS. President Rodrigo Duterte speaks with Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos on the sidelines of The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) 2016 awarding ceremony at the Heroes' Hall of Malacañang Palace on December 12, 2016. Malacañang file photo

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte defended his decision to declare a holiday in Ilocos Norte on Monday, September 11, the 100th birthday of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

"He is a hero to Ilocanos," Duterte said in a press conference in Cagayan de Oro City on Saturday, September 9.

"Ang sabi nila, si Marcos masamang tao. (They say Marcos is a bad person.) That is a sentiment not shared by all," Duterte said.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea earlier signed Proclamation Number 310 by the authority of President Rodrigo Duterte, "declaring Monday 11 September 2017, as a special day in the Province of Ilocos Norte."

Marcos was born on September 11, 1917, in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte.

During his decades-long rule as president, Marcos placed the Philippines under martial law, a period remembered for enforced disappearances and other human rights abuses. He was eventually ousted after a popular uprising known as the People Power Revolution of February 1986. – Rappler.com