Marcoses waiting for gov’t offer

Until the Marcos family has been formally notified that the government has made the decision to bury the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in Ilocos Norte, the Marcoses cannot say whether or not they have accepted such a proposal.

“I cannot say I have already agreed because we have not yet received any proposal,” Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in Filipino.

Full military honors

“I am sure other members of the family also feel the same way but we are open to the idea of giving my father full military and state honors in Ilocos…that he be given honors as president and as a soldier,” Marcos added.

Marcos made this clarification after Vice President Jejomar Binay announced in a press conference in Ilocos Norte on Tuesday that the family had already agreed to a proposal to have the late dictator’s remains buried in his Batac hometown.

In the presence of widow

Binay made the announcement in the presence of the dictator’s widow, Imelda, who is now a congresswoman representing the province.

Marcos Jr. said Binay had not talked to him or his sister, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos.

“We are aware that this proposal being reported now is the recommendation that Binay gave in his report (to President Aquino). But until now, we are still waiting for a formal notice,” he said.

In a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo on Wednesday, Binay admitted that the proposed compromise on the long-festering issue of Marcos’ burial has not been formally offered to the Marcos family as Mr. Aquino has not yet approved his recommendation.

Proposal agreed

“But hopefully very soon the decision will be made. My job there was recommendatory so the final action will have to come from the Office of the President,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Binay insisted that the Marcos family had agreed to his proposal though he would not say which family member he had spoken to.

“It’s enough that I have spoken with the Marcos family. Just allow me not to [disclose who] because the issue might become sensitive,” he said.

Idea rejected

Mr. Aquino, the son of opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. who was assassinated in 1983 by the Marcos military, has rejected the idea of a burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani for Marcos.

It has been nearly 22 years since the death of the dictator, who was ousted in the first Edsa People Power Revolution in 1986. His remains lie in a refrigerated crypt in his hometown. With Dona Pazzibugan