Duterte chides Aquinos for not passing law vs Marcos burial

President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech at the Philippine Economic Forum in Tokyo on Oct. 26. AP

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday chided the country’s previous presidents, particularly the Aquinos, for not passing any law or directive to stop the burial of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani, which was the subject of nationwide protests yesterday.

Still insisting that he had just followed the law by allowing the burial, Mr. Duterte said the Aquinos had 12 years to pass a law to prohibit Marcos from being laid to rest in the cemetery for heroes.

“It was a simple matter of amending the law and they had, the mother and the child, six, 12 golden years to do it,” he said, in apparent reference to former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Benigno Aquino III.

“Why did they not [do it] so that it would be clear if it was allowed? Because they did not want to gamble. They did not want to go into that because they were really afraid of what, the dissent, the crowd that would gather,” he added.

He claimed he has no choice but to follow the law and allow the Marcos burial at Libingan ng mga Bayani.

“Otherwise, if the Marcoses want to, they can charge me for not following, violating the law,” he said.

As President, Mr. Duterte is immune from suit.