"Ruskin and Priscilla" Desecrate the Libingan ng mga Bayani

“We’re saddened by this kind of disrespect by some people, and we appeal to the public to refrain from doing such things over the graves of our heroes,” military spokesman Commodore Miguel Jose Rodriguez said.

by Florante S. Solmerin

The Armed Forces on Thursday said the photos published on the Internet showing a pre-nuptial gathering of friends at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, a military cemetery in Fort Bonifacio, were offensive and disrespectful.

“We’re saddened by this kind of disrespect by some people, and we appeal to the public to refrain from doing such things over the graves of our heroes,” military spokesman Commodore Miguel Jose Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez referred to a series of outre prenuptial photos for “Ruskin and Priscilla” taken by East Digital Studio. One photo showed a man laughing while wrapping his arms and legs around a grave marker, while another showed his fiancee sitting on a cross and raising a wine glass in a toast, with bottles of liquor beside her.

In another shot, the couple, cross-dressed, pose beside a grave marker—with the man in drag puffing on a cigarette.

The photos were taken down from the studio’s Web site, but not before they were roundly criticized and re-posted on other sites.

A spokesman for the studio, head photographer Anthony Magana, apologized to the families of Filipino soldiers for “overlooking the sanctity” of the cemetery.

“We also want to apologize to our fellow photographers for crossing the line in doing our jobs,” he said.

Magana told the Manila Standard the concept for the shoot, built around the theme “Till Death Do Us Part,” came from the couple, whom he identified as Ruskin and Priscilla Magat, who were married March 19.

Both the couple and the studio came under heavy criticism online.

One page created on Facebook, called “100,000 like to condemn the desecration of graves of Filipino soldiers,” drew hundreds of comments, most of them critical.

“I have been to Libingan ng mga Bayani and the soldiers who are managing the place have the highest regard for it,” said Shirley Lim.

“This photo shoot is very, very disrespectful. To be creative is good but to desecrate the burial site of our soldiers is highly unacceptable.”

“May the couple rest in peace,” Edwin Cordoba added.

“I’ve carried so many caskets of my hero-friends [who] were buried in this hallowed ground. Our comrades and their families don’t deserve this selfish act of insensitivity and irresponsibility.”

“Our heroes gave their lives for the likes of such losers?” Bobby Bernal Navarro said.
Rodriguez said Army Chief Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz was ordered to investigate the incident.
“The Libingan is a public place and open for everybody to visit,” Rodriguez said.

“It is a very sacred place for our heroes who died in the line of duty and statesmen who served our country faithfully. It’s imperative for us to show our full respect to them.”

Rodriguez said, however, that no charges would be filed against the couple or the photo studio.
“What we are looking at is the management of the Libingan ng mga Bayani and how this happened,’’ he said.

“We definitely don’t want this kind of thing repeated. We probably should revisit our regulations.”

Pre-nuptial pictorials and videos started to become popular among couples about to be married aroundseven or eight years ago. Couples would hire a photographer and sometimes even a stylist to generate striking photographs or unusual videos that would be shown during the wedding.

Late last year, businessman Victor Consunji and beauty queen and actress Maggie Wilson created a stir when they posted their pre-nuptial video on the Web. Some people described it as “racy” and some called it soft porn, featuring Consunji, a real estate scion, making out with a leggy Wilson inside a car.