Thousands of Marcos loyalists hold vigil at Libingan

FINAL TRIBUTE. Military officers and the Marcos family give a final tribute to Ferdinand Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani. PHILIPPINE ARMY

At least 3,000 supporters held a vigil at the grave of dictator Ferdinand Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani on Saturday, a day after his secrecy-shrouded burial triggered mass protests across the Philippines.

The Marcos loyalists, mostly from the Ilocos Region, arrived aboard 71 buses and 49 other private vehicles, said Anthony Sumagui, the political affairs staff of Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, who led the family in offering Masses for the late President.

Wilma Agarpao, wearing a green indigenous wardrobe, said she and other members of her community left the mountains of Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, at 6 p.m. Friday to visit the grave of “Apo Lakay,” as Marcos was popularly called among Ilocanos.

“I am happy that the President has finally been buried here. What else should I feel?” the 71-year-old said after she paid her respects to Marcos and the family, led by matriarch Imelda.

Imelda Marcos appeared tired, but in good spirits, as she stood in front of her husband’s black tomb surrounded by a wreath of flowers.

“I know Ferdinand will at last be at rest here at the heroes’ cemetery. But I know we will have a lot of criticisms to face,” she said.

Her son, former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for paving the way for a hero’s burial for the dictator, 30 years after he was ousted in a military-backed Edsa People Power Revolution that ended his two-decade regime in 1986.

Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, but his remains were subsequently allowed to return and be kept in a refrigerated crypt.

The Supreme Court early this month ruled Marcos could be buried at Libingan, but the surprise burial on Friday still took the nation by surprise because it came even as an appeal was being readied under court rules. Thousands poured into the streets to protest the burial, with vows to hold more rallies in the  days and weeks ahead.

Fervent wish

In a speech before his father’s grave, Bongbong thanked the President for “his recognition of my father’s service to the nation” and expressed gratitude to both the military and the police for their support.

“It was my father’s fervent wish that when he came to the end of his days, that he be buried in a simple soldier’s ceremony. This was in keeping with his idea that he was but a soldier doing his duty, a citizen serving his country,” Bongbong told a small crowd composed  mostly of close relatives at the private ceremony on Friday.

“We have waited 27 years to fulfill that wish that he left us with. But we are here today and we are able to grant him that wish,” he said.

The ceremony was simple, he stressed, in accordance with the late President’s wish. Photos released by the family showed soldiers carrying Marcos’ flag-draped casket before it was laid to the ground. His epitaph simply read “Ferdinand E. Marcos 1917-1989 Filipino.”

The tomb is at the leftmost side of a section where former Presidents were also interred. At his right is the grave of former President Carlos P. Garcia, while at the back are graves of World War II veterans marked by their white crosses.

“Let today be the first day amongst many days, and months, and years of our continuing to work for the unity and the progress of our country,” Bongbong said. “Let us be the heroes that my father asked us all to be and finally bring the Filipino nation together and finally bring the Filipinos to greatness.”

He thanked members of the military and the police who were present and who wanted “to pay their last respects to their former commander in chief.”

“And to the Filipino people for their continuing support of my father’s dream of unity and progress for our country,” Marcos added.

Barred

But family members of others who were buried at the state-run cemetery were barred from visiting their dead on Saturday, military guards said.

One of them, a woman with her family, was not able to celebrate the death anniversary of her father buried at Libingan.

“We could not visit because of Marcos? I will stage a rally here if you will not let us in,” the incensed woman, who requested anonymity, told the military guards as her vehicle was turned back.

June Gudoy, a media staff member of Imee, told reporters they were not aware that there were orders to block other people from the military cemetery, but acknowledged that security was tight in the wake of the presidential burial.

Lone protester

Marcos supporters from the Cordillera Administrative Region and Cagayan Valley were scheduled to visit on Sunday and Monday respectively.

A 22-year-old student, John Leo Algo, was the lone anti-Marcos protester at the site on  Saturday. He carried a placard that read: “If Marcos is a hero then I’d rather be a villain! #NeverForget #NeverAgain.”

Algo identified himself as a student at Ateneo de Manila University, who wanted to “voice my right as a Filipino citizen to express disdain over the lack of respect of our history and the families of the victims of martial law.”

He said he could not participate in the metrowide protests Friday, but said he was not afraid of the pro-Marcos supporters.

“I am not here to instigate any kind of violence. I am just here to simply express my disappointment to this particular series of events,” he said. —WITH A REPORT FROM AP