Lawmaker proposes heroes’ cemeteries in provinces

Not all presidents, statesmen, military figures and national artists hail from Manila and deserve to be buried there, according to a lawmaker who is proposing the construction of a “Libingan ng Mga Bayani,” or heroes’ cemeteries, in other regions of the country.

Pangasinan Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil has filed a bill seeking the establishment of burial places for heroes in Northern and Southern Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

In his explanatory note to the bill, Bataoil said “only those military men, presidents and artists who are residents of or live within the Metro Manila area have the chance of being buried or interred in a place reserved for them.”

“Those who are from the provinces are denied the opportunity to be buried in their place of residence,” said Bataoil, a retired police general.

The country’s only heroes’ cemetery sits on a sprawling military reservation in Taguig City.

Tribute to gallant Filipinos

The Libingan ng Mga Bayani, formerly known as the Republic Memorial Cemetery, is located at the Fort Bonifacio military reserve in Western Bicutan. It was established in 1947 as a fitting resting place for Filipino military personnel, with the rank of private to general, and also the country’s heroes and martyrs, Bataoil said.

“It is a tribute to the gallant Filipino soldiers who fought and died in World War II. In 1954, then President Ramon Magsaysay rededicated the cemetery and renamed it the Libingan ng mga Bayani,” he said.

In 1967, the dictator President Ferdinand Marcos reserved 142 hectares from the military reserve then known as Fort McKinley to serve not only as a cemetery for military personnel but also a national shrine for fallen heroes, he said.

“Presently, Libingan ng mga Bayani not only provides grave and interment services for military men who died in the line of duty or who were honorably discharged, but is also open as a final resting place for presidents, Filipino veterans, notable government statesmen, dignitaries and national artists,” said Bataoil.

Under Bataoil’s House Bill No. 5728, now pending with the House committee on national defense and security, a heroes’ cemetery is proposed to be built in Northern and Southern Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao to serve as the exclusive resting place of presidents, military veterans, national artists and other dignitaries originating from these places.

Board members

The bill provides that the administration of the new heroes’ cemeteries is to be vested exclusively in a board of trustees composed of the following: the secretary of Department of National Defense as chair; secretary of Department of Education as vice chair; and the secretary of Department of Public Works and Highways, the chairs of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and two prominent citizens, to be appointed by the President, with the approval of the Commission on Appointments, as members.

The board will also have the function of determining the location of a suitable site for a Libingan ng mga Bayani in Northern and Southern Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

An initial amount of P1 billion is to be appropriated out of the funds of the National Treasury and thereafter, the continuous operation and maintenance of the Libingan ng mga Bayani cemeteries is proposed to be included in the annual national budget.