Ilocos Norte remembers Marcos

BURIAL FOR A PRESIDENT. Philippines former first lady Imelda Marcos looks at the glass coffin of her late husband former president Ferdinand Marcos in Batac, Ilocos norte province north of Manila on March 26, 2010, prior to the start of her election campaign sortie in the province. Mrs. Marcos ran for Congress and won a seat in the May 10, 2010 elections. AFP FILE PHOTO

LAOAG CITY, Philippines—The Marcos family has scheduled a whole day of fanfare for a province that remembers September 11 as the birthday of its favorite son.

Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will offer a Mass at 7 a.m. at the Sarrat Church for his late father, the toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who would have been 94 had he lived today.

Marcos will also visit his father’s old school before gracing a festival in Laoag City.

Members of the Marcos family will troop to Batac town where their father’s preserved remains are kept refrigerated in a museum.

In the afternoon, children will participate in a Ferdinand and Imelda lookalike contest in Paoay town.

During the strongman Marcos’ 20-year rule, September 11 had been commemorated with much fanfare. But a new generation of Filipinos now remembers that date as the day America was attacked by terrorists.