Group presses Aquino Cabinet to state position on Marcos burial

MANILA, Philippines—A network of individuals and groups pushing for “substantial change” met with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Thursday to urge Cabinet members to make a stand on the proposed burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

The group, Pagbabago! People’s Movement for Change, strongly opposes Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery), saying he was a “tyrant and plunderer, never a hero.”

“We are encouraging, urging the Cabinet members as an official family to make a statement so President Benigno Aquino III is not left alone in this issue,” said film writer and former political prisoner Bonifacio Ilagan, who is Pagbabago’s vice chairman.

The group has also recently met with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and intends to meet with other Cabinet members, Ilagan said.

As of 11 a.m., De Lima was in a meeting and could not yet be sought for comment.

In a statement, Pagbabago said that burying Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani should not be allowed “if we are to move on as a people and as a nation.”

“We could not simply forget the past in the name of so-called political reconciliation which in reality is nothing but a compromise between factions of the ruling elite for the sake of political expediency,” it said.

The Associated Press reported last week that President Aquino had ruled out a Marcos burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

The President, according to the report, was studying the proposal of Vice President Jejomar Binay for the strongman to be buried in his hometown in Ilocos Norte with military honors.