Former President and dictator Ferdinand Marcos could be expected to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani within the year, Malacañang said today.
The President’s spokesperson Ernesto Abella could not provide a working date of the burial but indicated that it was bound to happen soon.
“The best we can say is it will be within the year,” Abella said in a press briefing.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied petitions to stop President Rodrigo Duterte from allowing Marcos’ burial at the cemetery reserved for soldiers and heroes.
READ: SC votes, 9-5, for burial of Marcos at Libingan
But the petitioners, who include human rights violations victims during martial law, are expected to file a motion for reconsideration of the high court’s ruling.
READ: SC asked to stop Marcos burial at Libingan pending final ruling
Duterte earlier said he was allowing Marcos’ remains to be laid to rest at Libingan ng mga Bayani because he was a former soldier and, under the law, is allowed to be buried there.
The decision has met with outrage from martial law victims and their families, who view the move as an insult to the spirit of the 1986 people’s revolution that ousted Marcos from power after a 20 year rule.
They also fear that the decision would whitewash Marcos’ crimes against the people. CDG/rga