MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court en banc decided to allow the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani or Heroes' Cemetery.
Voting 9-5-1, the magistrates of the high court dismissed the consolidated petitions arguing that a hero's burial for Marcos would be a "grave injustice" to the victims of Martial rule.
The decision penned by Peralta stated that Duterte was within the bounds of his powers under the Constitution and the administrative code when he ordered the burial.
Associate Justices Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Lucas Bersamin, Arturo Brion, Leonardo-De Castro, Mariano Del Castillo, Jose Mendoza, Diosdado Peralta, Jose Perez, and Presbitero Velasco Jr. voted to dismiss the petitions while Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno and Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Antonio Carpio, Marvic Victor Leonen, Francis Jardeleza dissented.
Justice Bienvenido Reyes abstained from voting.