SHRUGGING off threats of protests, President Duterte said on Sunday he would push through with his campaign promise to have the remains of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, frozen in a glass coffin for 23 years in his hometown, finally interred in his chosen burial ground in Metro Manila.
“As a former soldier and former President of the Philippines, I see nothing wrong in having Marcos buried at Libingan ng mga Bayani,” Mr. Duterte told reporters during his visit to Camp Panatan in Davao City for the wake of four soldiers killed in clashes with communist guerrillas in Compostela Valley last week.
The burial at Libingan is provided by law, he said, dismissing protests by militants and victims of martial law abuses.
“They can demonstrate all they want. They can decide if it would be one month for as long as they do not deny public access to roads,” he said.
Commenting on criticisms that Marcos was never a hero-soldier as claimed, the President said it was the contrary. He said seven sources would say he was a soldier while only one would dispute it.
During the presidential campaign, he said the Marcos issue had so divided the nation and was among the reasons Filipinos could not move forward. “We should move on,” he said.
The burial was supposed to have been scheduled on Marcos’ birthday on Sept. 11 or a week after that. It is up to the family to decide the date, said Mr. Duterte, whose father served in the Marcos Cabinet.
The Marcos family has staged a remarkable political comeback since their ouster in the Edsa People Power Revolution of 1986 that swept to power the late Corazon Aquino.
On the 30th anniversary of Marcos’ ouster, the New York Times said in a front-page analysis that Filipinos, disenchanted by an insensitive and inept second Aquino administration, yearned for the “golden age” of the Philippines under martial law, prompting a spirited campaign by then President Benigno Aquino III, for the rejection of Marcos’ namesake son in the vice presidential race in May.
MARCOS BURIAL SITE? Workers prepare a plot fenced off by green metal sheets and scaffolding in an area where past presidents are buried at Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City. An online book club had earlier placed stones on the site, bearing the names of martial law victims. LYN RILLON
Ferdinand Jr. lost by a hairline to Leni Robredo, who is facing charges of widespread electoral fraud allegedly mounted by the second Aquino administration.
MARKED STONES Jalandoni Oliveros, founder of Pinoy Reads Pinoy Books, inserts in a tree trunk stones marked with names of people killed during the Marcos dictatorship near the mass graves for heroes of World War II at Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City. LYN RILLON
The body of Marcos, who died in exile in Hawaii, is encased in a glass casket inside a temperature-controlled mausoleum at the family ancestral home in Batac, Ilocos Norte province.
Full military honors
The family has demanded that Marcos be buried at Libingan with full military honors. Many Ilocanos, including those helping out with the long-delayed funeral rites, have expressed mixed feelings about the burial.
Rosalia Baysac, 81, said Marcos’ remains had kept her city alive for decades. The mausoleum in Batac has made the city a top tourist destination.
“We are blessed for having a great Ilocano leader like him. It makes me sad though that we may no longer see him should his body be taken to Libingan,” Baysac said.
Arrangements are now being made for the burial in Manila.
It is customary for Ilocanos to bring their dead home, so the Marcos remains will be taken to Sarrat town, his birthplace. His casket will be carried to Santa Monica Parish Church, the largest church in Ilocos Norte, which former first lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos helped restore after it was destroyed by a strong earthquake.
Fr. Carlito Ranjo Jr. of Santa Monica Parish said he expected Marcos’ remains to arrive at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 15 for Mass. A 24-hour prayer vigil will follow.
Prayers will be offered every hour by designated representatives of towns as well as by residents who may wish to pay their last respects to the “beloved son of Ilocos Norte,” Ranjo said.
After the overnight vigil in Sarrat, Marcos’ remains will be taken to St. Augustine Church, a World Heritage site, in Paoay town on Sept. 16 for Mass and prayer vigil.
The funeral comes after Marcos’ 99th birthday on Sept. 11, and the Marcos family is taking pains to make his last birthday celebration at home equally memorable for Ilocanos and his supporters.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines has been circulating a petition from the group, Bantayog ng Mga Bayani, which urged Mr. Duterte to take back the order granting the late strongman a hero’s burial. With reports from Marlon Ramos and AFP