Duterte won’t stop protests vs hero’s burial for Marcos

Former first lady Imelda Marcos kisses the glass case that contains the frozen remains of former dictator and president Ferdinand Marcos on July 2, 2014. AFP FILE PHOTO

Malacañang on Wednesday said it would allow oppositors of the burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos to hold public demonstrations.

“President Rodrigo R. Duterte declared this morning that he will allow public demonstration protesting the burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos, and will assign only a minimum number of policemen to direct traffic,” Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

Duterte has earlier said he has given the go-signal to the Marcos family for a hero’s burial for the late president.

READ: Duterte gives go-ahead for Marcos burial at Libingan

The President said Marcos was qualified to be buried at the military-run Libingan ng mga Bayani as a former soldier and president.

Amid criticisms for what others perceived as a politically divisive move, Malacañang has said it would oppose any legal move to stop the burial of Marcos, saying it has no legal basis.

READ: ‘Hero’s burial for Marcos will cause divisiveness’

Presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said Marcos was qualified to be buried at the hero’s cemetery both as a former president and as a soldier.

READ: Panelo: All Presidents—good or bad—may be buried at Libingan

“The regulation issued by the Armed Forces of the Philippines is very clear: those who are entitled to be interred in the Libingan ng mga Bayani are among others soldiers and presidents, so on the basis of that the late president Marcos is entitled to be buried there,” Panelo said.

“It does not distinguish whether a president is good, bad, handsome or ugly. If you’re a president, you’re entitled to be buried there,” he added.

The hero’s burial for Marcos is reportedly scheduled on September 18. IDL

RELATED VIDEOS