Duterte on Marcos burial: I’m just being legalistic about it

President Rodrigo Duterte

LIMA, Peru—President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday justified his decision to allow the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos to be buried as a hero by virtue of the latter being a President for so long and a soldier.

“Me, I am just being legalistic about it. President Marcos was a President for so long, and he was a soldier. That’s about it,” he told Radio-TV Malacañang shortly after arriving in the Peruvian capital for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit.

Sounding unaffected by the criticisms back home, Mr. Duterte said he did it in part to allow the healing of the nation, particularly the Ilocano people.

“You know… we have a divided nation, though not that widespread. You can be very sure all the Ilocano-speaking people are hurt. They are dismayed. It’s been there floating like flotsam,” the President said.

He said he was making no moral judgments on Marcos’ record as a leader.

“Whether or not he performed worse or better, there’s no study, no movie about it, just the challenges and allegations of the other side,” Mr. Duterte said.

The President also left a message for those who were “hurt or injured” during the martial law years: “For those detained so long and suffering, we have this option to file the case against the late President Marcos.”

“You know the sins cannot visit the children and liability is always personal. That’s a principle of law which must always be followed,” he said.

Mr. Duterte suggested that the martial law victims “stretch” their understanding for what happened./rga