Brion: Marcos’ burial a political question decided by Duterte

Supporters shows their 1 million signatures gathered to call for former President Ferdinand Marcos burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in front of Supreme Court in Manila. RICHARD A. REYES/Philippine Daily Inquirer

Associate Justice Arturo Brion, one of the justices who voted in favor of the hero’s burial for the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, said President Rodrigo Duterte’s position was a “political question” that the high tribunal did not have jurisdiction to review. In his concurring opinion, Brion also noted that petitioners against the President’s directive failed to cite a law prohibiting Marcos’ interment at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Here’s a summary of Brion’s concurring opinion, as released by the SC public information office:

1. Judicial review, even under the Court’s expanded jurisdiction, does not empower the Court to review allegations involving violations of statutes;
2. The faithful execution clause cannot be made the basis for questioning the manner by which the Executive implements the law;
3. The petitioners failed to point to a specific treaty obligation prohibiting the burial at the LNMB;
4. The Constitution, while built on the ashes of the Marcos administration, should not be so interpreted as to prevent reconciliation and moving forward in the name of national unity; and
5. The necessity of Marcos’s burial at the LNMB is a political question that had been decided by the President, and not without support from the Filipino electorate.

Voting 9-5 with one abstention, the high court on Tuesday gave the green light for Marcos’ burial at the heroes’ cemetery, noting that Duterte did not commit grave abuse of discretion in exercising his prerogative. YG