Marcos buried at Libingan ng mga Bayani

Marcos family

THE late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was buried with military honors at a heroes’ cemetery in Manila almost 30 years after his death in Hawaii, triggering mass protests across the country.

President Rodrigo Duterte, who was in Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, gave orders in August that the burial may proceed, fulfilling an election campaign promise.

Progressive groups filed their opposition to the burial before the Supreme Court, which in turn ruled that Marcos can be interred at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani.

“President Marcos was a president for so long and he was a soldier. So, that’s about it. Whether or not he performed worse or better, there is no study, there is no movie about it. It’s just the challenges and allegations of the other side which is not enough,” the President said.

“I was just being legally strict about it,” Duterte added.

Former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. called for unity following intense protests over his father burial at LNMB.

“Let my father’s burial be the first day amongst many days of our continuing to work for the unity and the progress of our country,” he said on Twitter.

His eldest sister, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, thanked Duterte for allowing her father, a former soldier and guerrilla leader during World War Two, to be laid to rest with soldiers.

Vice President Leni Robredo, for her part, likened the secret burial to “a thief in the night.”

“This is nothing new to the Marcoses – they who had hidden wealth, hidden human rights abuses and now hidden burial – with complete disrespect for the rule of law,” said Robredo.