Anger as Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos buried in heroes’ cemetery

Manila: Former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos was buried with military honours at a heroes’ cemetery in Manila on Friday, nearly 30 years after his death in Hawaii, amid scattered protests around the sprawling capital.

The ceremony was described as “very simple” and “just a family affair” by Police Chief Superintendent Oscar Albayalde, who helped manage security for the event.

Marcos’s widow, Imelda, and her children attended the simple ceremony, along with dozens of relatives and friends.

Left-wing activist Bonifacio Ilagan, who was tortured and detained during Marcos’ time in power, said Marcos was being buried “like a thief in the night”.

But in its decision on Nov 8, the Supreme Court said all petitions filed against the plan were dismissed on numerous grounds, including, among others that there was no abuse of discretion on Duterte’s part in ordering the burial. She said they had given her family strength as they kept the hope for almost 30 years to have him buried at the national cemetery.

The Supreme Court did decide in favor of Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani, but it has yet to be cast in stone or ruled with finality.

The division created by the sneaky burial of the dictator could have been avoided if the Aquino administration had swiftly acted on the acceptances of the Marcoses to have the dictator buried in his home province of Ilocos Norte with full military honors.

“The Supreme Court lifted the status quo ante order and allowed the interment of the remains and the President adheres to the ruling of the High Court”.

President Duterte, who was in Lima, Peru for a summit of Pacific rim leaders, urged anti-Marcos protestors to forgive the late strongman. “But I know we still have a lot of criticisms to face”. One son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, ran for vice president earlier this year and lost by a slim margin.

The Marcos family thanked the President shortly after the burial. Marcos died while in exile in Honolulu on September 28, 1989, and the body was kept in a refrigerated crypt in Batac, Ilocos Norte, from 1993 until President Rodrigo R. Duterte, last July 11, allowed his burial at the LNMB.

It now appears that the announcement of 9-day prayers for the dead-begun in Batac on November 16, moving to Sarrat, Dingras, Vintar and other towns of Ilocos Norte before ending in Batac on November 24-was a clever red herring drawn across the trail by the Marcos heirs, to confuse protest organizers.

Marcos was buried with military honors despite petitions from various groups to block the ceremony because of the many human rights violations committed by the former president.

The NCRPO Director added that, in the case of the EDSA People Power Monument and EDSA Shrine, these are not considered as freedom parks because they are private property, in which rallies are not permitted. “It is the Marcos style all over again”, GMA News quoted Boni Ilagan, an activist who fought the Marcos dictatorship, as saying; “We condemn this latest assault on justice by the Marcos cabal”.

He said the Marcos family has only opened old wounds of the martial law regime and glorified a dictator.