Marcos burial decision set for tomorrow (Philippine time)
By Ted Alcuitas
“We cry for justice!,” Filipino-Americans, in front of the San Francisco Philippine Consulate, implore the Philippine Supreme Court to stop President Duterte’s action to bury Dictator Marcos with hero’s honors.
As organizer Ago Pedalizo read the names of some of Marcos’ martyrs among them, the Lacaba brothers, Maya Lorena Barros, etc. the crowd answered with a roar: “We Cry for Justice!”
But that cry might fall on deaf ears if the Philippine Supreme Court decides favourably tomorrow (November 8).
The court extended the status quo order when it expired on September 18.
In a press briefing, at the time, SC Public Information Office chief Theodore Te reported that the magistrates decided to defer the decision on the consolidated petitions arguing that Marcos’ burial at the national cemetery would be a “grave injustice” to victims of martial rule, which he oversaw as president.
Instead, the justices extended the status quo ante order.
This move halts the supposed internment of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City. The halt order was initially released August 23 which was valid only up to September 18, the date eyed for Marcos’s burial, but the high court decided to extend the order until October 18 after the oral arguments.
Petitions to block the burial of Marcos were filed after President Rodrigo Duterte announced that he would allow the internment of the late strongman at the national heroes’ cemetery. He said Marcos should be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani since he is a former president and soldier.
Duterte has been vocal about allowing Marcos to be buried at the heroes’ cemetery even during the campaign season. He argued that doing so would unite the nation, citing the Ilocanos’ clamor for it.
The late president’s remains has been kept at the Marcos mausoleum in Ilocos Norte for 23 years
Meanwhile, media reports said former president Benigno Aquino III on Sunday night made a surprise appearance at the Pray for 8 Concert held at the Lapu-Lapu Shrine at the Luneta, an effort by martial law victims to urge the Supreme Court justices to vote against the Duterte administration’s move to bury the dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB).
Aquino arrived with his former Cabinet secretary Mar Roxas. They were accompanied by Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.
All three were in white shirts, following the chosen fighting color of the organizers.
Asked if he felt the people were already abandoning the color yellow, Aquino replied that by choosing the color white, the people are emphasizing that the fight against the Marcos burial at the LNMB “is not a fight only between two families.”
Aquino reiterated that the fight for democracy was not only between his family and the Marcoses, saying that many families sacrificed during the dictatorship in the struggle to regain the country’s freedom.
Aquino’s father, opposition leader senator Ninoy Aquino, was assassinated in 1983 that became the tipping point for the people to rise against the dictator. Yellow became the political color that represented the fight for democracy, but it was also deeply associated with the Aquino family.
The former president said he was not breaking his moratorium to keep silent for a year by attending the concert.
“I’m just here as part of the audience,” he told media.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide on the petition against the Marcos LNMB burial on November 8.