Supreme Court halts Marcos' burial for 20 days

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 1:45 p.m.) — The Supreme Court, sitting as a whole, on Tuesday stopped preparations for the planned burial of late strongman Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in September.

 

In a press briefing , SC Public Information Office chief Theodore Te announced that the court has issued a status quo ante order against Marcos' burial set in September.

 

The halt order is effective for 20 days as the court prepares for oral arguments on the petitions against the former president's final interment at the Heroes' Cemetery in Taguig.

 

The SC enjoined respondents Department of National Defense and Armed Forces of the Philippines to stop their preparations for the burial.

 

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana last August 7 issued a memorandum asking the AFP chief of staff, Gen. Ricardo Visaya, to conduct the necessary preparations and facilitate the coordination of all agencies concerned for the ceremonial and security requirements of the burial.

 

“The status quo ante brings us back to the prevailing situation before the certain event. The event we are talking about is the order issued by Department of National Defense. So, we count including the day and the last day,” Te explained.

 

A status quo ante order restores a situation to its original state and is usually issued to prevent an act from being done until a case's merits have been heard.

 

Asked why the court only issued a status quo ante order that will expire before September 18, the eyed date for burial, Te said he did not know and said setting the length of the order's validity is up to the court.

 

Aside from the status quo ante order, the oral arguments, originally set on Wednesday morning were also rescheduled to 10 a.m. next Wednesday, August 31. 

 

Te said the SC en banc granted the request of the SC PIO for a live audio stream of the oral arguments on the case subject to the usual conditions and restrictions imposed.

 

“The advisory for the oral arguments will be issued in due course,” Te said.

 

President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to have the former president buried at the site where deceased heads of state, soldiers and other dignitaries are granted space was met with opposition by groups decrying atrocities under Marcos' administration.

 

The five petitions against the move, which the Supreme Court consolidated on Monday, argue that Marcos' burial at the national cemetery would be a "grave injustice" to victims of martial rule, which he oversaw as president. -- Rosette Adel