“Is that not enough evidence?” Rosales asked, with the crowd yelling back: “No!”
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There has been no word from the Marcos family yet on the matter. “To honor the man a hero and bury his remains in a place reserved for the courageous and martyred is an inimitable political abomination”.
Vicitms of the martial law imposed by former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972 asked the Supreme Court on Monday to stop the government’s plan to bury him in the country’s heroes’ cemetery. Marcos died of kidney, heart and lung ailments in 1989 while in exile in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Marcos family, which has made a remarkable political comeback in recent years, has kept the preserved body of their patriarch on display in their hometown in the northern Philippines but have insisted that it deserves burial with honours in the Heroes’ Cemetery in a Manila suburb.
Mr Duterte has defended his decision on Marcos, saying he should be buried at the National Heroes’ Cemetery because he “was a Filipino soldier”.
Ric Agnes, who leads the Marcos for Peace Movement (MPM) in Honolulu, said the group was happy to hear that the late President may “finally find peace” after staying in a refrigerated crypt at the Marcos ancestral house in Batac City since September 1993.
On Tuesday, Vice President Leni Robredo warned that Duterte’s decision will cost him, noting that even his trusted allies such as former President Fidel Ramos and former Interior and Local Government Secretary Rafael Alunan 3rd are against burying Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Victims of torture during the Martial Law years of the Marcos dictatorship raised their fists in indignation at the rally.
The move by Duterte, a former Marcos foe who reached out to the family during his presidential run, reflects the country’s often shifting political alliances, and the reaction against it underscores the trauma that racked Philippine society during the Marcos era and that has continued to divide Filipinos since his ouster.
As far as the Palace is concerned, the burial of the late President Marcos at the LNMB is still a go unless the Supreme Court stops it.
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) scoffed at the reported bronze casket being prepared for Marcos’ remains, in stark contrast to how hundreds of martial law victims, the desaparecidos, were “abducted, murdered and buried in unmarked graves”. “We sent feelers since this is an open invitation for those who are willing to attend and from what I’ve heard she has confirmed her attendance just today [Friday]”, Acosta said in a Philippine Star report. “We strongly urge the Philippines to ensure its law enforcement efforts are consistent with its human rights obligations”, the embassy added.
It is “an undeserved reward”, said Congressman Lagman, whose own family lost a member to the Marcos apparat.
Philippine police said Friday they had killed 550 drug suspects while arresting almost 8,000 others since after the May election.
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The petitioners explained that Marcos is not qualified to be buried at the Libingan because he was a human rights violator and his regime was liable for the numerous cases of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, aside from amassing ill-gotten wealth.
