Ferdinand Marcos to get burial at Manila Heroes’ Cemetery
The Philippines’ president-elect Rodrigo Duterte will allow the “immediate burial” of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos at a heroes’ cemetery in Manila.
“I will allow the burial of President Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani not because he is a hero but because he was a Filipino soldier,” Duterte told reporters in Davao City on May 23.
Libingan ng mga Bayani is the Tagalog name for the Heroes’ Cemetery which is located within Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, Metro Manila. It was established as a resting place for Filipino military personnel from privates to generals, as well as heroes and martyrs. Some former Philippine presidents are also buried there.
Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989 and was first interred in a private mausoleum on the island of Oahu. In 1993, his remains were taken to the Philippines as then-president Fidel Ramos allowed Marcos’ widow Imelda to bring her husband’s body home but refused her demand for a hero’s burial
As of 2016, Marcos’s embalmed body is stored inside a refrigerated crypt at the Marcos’ family home in Ilocos Norte, northern Philippines.
The issue of the late dictator’s burial remains unresolved and continued to be a divisive issue in the country. A burial at the Heroes’ Cemetery is opposed by current president Benigno Aquino and his family, left-wing groups and nationalists. Aquino and other Marcos opponents have cited massive graft and human rights violations during Marcos’ administration as reasons for refusing such a burial. Marcos was ousted in a 1986 “people power” revolt.
The Marcos clan keeps insisting that the late ruler deserves to be buried at the cemetery, arguing he was a World War II hero for resisting the Japanese occupiers. However, US and Philippine historians have disputed his military credentials.
Duterte also said that he will support the release of ex-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from detention on corruption charges as he believed Arroyo, who has been detained since 2011, should be free. Arroyo finished her tumultuous term in 2010. Since then, she has been charged with vote fraud and corruption and was detained at a government-run hospital. She, however, refused a pardon because she said that would require she admit wrongdoing and she was not guilty of any crime.
Duterte said he also plans to release detained communist guerrillas, including Communist Party of the Philippines leaders Benito Tiamzon, in order to foster peace talks to settle the decades-long Marxist insurgency.
[caption id="attachment_28282" align="alignleft" width="300"] Ferdinand Marcos' embalmed body is currently kept in the Marcos' family home in Ilocos Norte[/caption] The Philippines' president-elect Rodrigo Duterte will allow the "immediate burial" of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos at a heroes' cemetery in Manila. “I will allow the burial of President Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani not because he is a hero but because he was a Filipino soldier,” Duterte told reporters in Davao City on May 23. Libingan ng mga Bayani is the Tagalog name for the Heroes' Cemetery which is located within Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, Metro Manila. It...
The Philippines’ president-elect Rodrigo Duterte will allow the “immediate burial” of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos at a heroes’ cemetery in Manila.
“I will allow the burial of President Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani not because he is a hero but because he was a Filipino soldier,” Duterte told reporters in Davao City on May 23.
Libingan ng mga Bayani is the Tagalog name for the Heroes’ Cemetery which is located within Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, Metro Manila. It was established as a resting place for Filipino military personnel from privates to generals, as well as heroes and martyrs. Some former Philippine presidents are also buried there.
Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989 and was first interred in a private mausoleum on the island of Oahu. In 1993, his remains were taken to the Philippines as then-president Fidel Ramos allowed Marcos’ widow Imelda to bring her husband’s body home but refused her demand for a hero’s burial
As of 2016, Marcos’s embalmed body is stored inside a refrigerated crypt at the Marcos’ family home in Ilocos Norte, northern Philippines.
The issue of the late dictator’s burial remains unresolved and continued to be a divisive issue in the country. A burial at the Heroes’ Cemetery is opposed by current president Benigno Aquino and his family, left-wing groups and nationalists. Aquino and other Marcos opponents have cited massive graft and human rights violations during Marcos’ administration as reasons for refusing such a burial. Marcos was ousted in a 1986 “people power” revolt.
The Marcos clan keeps insisting that the late ruler deserves to be buried at the cemetery, arguing he was a World War II hero for resisting the Japanese occupiers. However, US and Philippine historians have disputed his military credentials.
Duterte also said that he will support the release of ex-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from detention on corruption charges as he believed Arroyo, who has been detained since 2011, should be free. Arroyo finished her tumultuous term in 2010. Since then, she has been charged with vote fraud and corruption and was detained at a government-run hospital. She, however, refused a pardon because she said that would require she admit wrongdoing and she was not guilty of any crime.
Duterte said he also plans to release detained communist guerrillas, including Communist Party of the Philippines leaders Benito Tiamzon, in order to foster peace talks to settle the decades-long Marxist insurgency.
