Supreme Court extends halt order vs Marcos' burial

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended its halt order on the burial of strongman Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

The high court extended the status quo ante order until October 18 after the second round of oral arguments, according to a report by the STAR.

The tribunal first issued a 20-day halt order on August 23 to stop President Rodrigo Duterte's directive to the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to prepare the burial site in Taguig City.

"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," Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te said in August.

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.

The order came following a heated exchange between respondents, led by Solicitor General Jose Calida, to petitions filed questioning Duterte's order.