Alvarez on Marcos burial: Rule of law prevailed over emotions

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Tuesday urged the public to respect the Supreme Court decision allowing Ferdinand Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

In a statement, Alvarez, an ally and close friend of President Rodrigo Duterte, said the “rule of law” has prevailed over emotions spawned by the controversy over the hero’s burial of Marcos.

“Now that the Supreme Court has spoken on the contentious issue of the burial of the late former president Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani, we should respect its ruling as its sole mandate is to decide on constitutional and legal questions,” Alvarez said in a statement.

“The rule of law has triumphed over partisan emotions,” he added.

Alvarez urged both parties to “exercise restraint and refrain from any action that would serve to further inflame political passions.”

“We must focus instead on addressing vital issues we now face: fighting crime, illegal drugs and corruption; sustaining economic growth to reduce poverty and to improve the lives of our people; and ending armed rebellion so that we can achieve lasting peace vital to economic development and social progress,” Alvarez said.

Duterte has aligned himself with the Marcoses and vowed to fulfill his campaign promise of putting the divisive issue to rest.

The Supreme Court voted to dismiss the petitions assailing the move of the Duterte administration to allow Marcos to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani as a former President and soldier./rga

READ: SC OKs Marcos burial at Libingan

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