‘Exhume whatever was buried in Libingan’

Contempt raps filed vs Marcos family, AFP, PNP

Libingan burial an insult to soldiers, says FVR

MANILA, Philippines - The battle over Ferdinand Marcos’ burial returned to the Supreme Court yesterday as a group led by Rep. Edcel Lagman asked the SC to order Malacañang and the military to immediately exhume “whatever was buried as Marcos remains” at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Another group comprising mostly martial law torture victims is asking the SC to cite in contempt the heirs of Marcos as well as government officials for proceeding with the burial last Friday.

In their petition, Lagman said an exhumation of Marcos’ remains or “whatever was buried” as his remains would be a form of discipline or penalty for the disrespect for the SC and its rules shown by officials of the Duterte administration.

An exhumation, Lagman added, would determine with certainty if the body buried at the Libingan was Marcos’ “mortal remains” and not a wax replica of him or any other artifact.

President Duterte’s mentor, former president Fidel Ramos, added his voice to those against the Libingan burial, saying yesterday that it was an “insult” to the war veterans and other soldiers buried in the heroes’ cemetery as well as living military and police personnel.

Ramos also showed a document to prove that when he allowed the return of Marcos’ remains to the Philippines, the clan had promised to bury the late dictator in his hometown of Batac in Ilocos Norte.

Lagman, in his “urgent” petition, argued: “Verily, the controversial majority decision of the Supreme Court directed the burial of the ‘mortal remains’ of the late dictator Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. However, with the inordinate haste and stealthy circumstances which shrouded the interment, there is no certainty as to what was actually buried in the LNMB.”

Lagman said the remains should be taken out of the heroes’ cemetery or LNMB because the burial last Nov.18 was “premature, void and irregular.”

The SC is set to tackle these pleadings in session today.

The other group led by former Bayan Muna party-list representative Satur Ocampo filed a petition asking the SC to penalize the Marcos family, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Department of National Defense (DND) for proceeding with the burial even as the SC ruling allowing it has not yet become final.

“Marcos Sr.’s burial at the (LNMB) was made deceitfully and dishonestly without any moral compunction... The cunning and brazen disregard and mockery by the Marcos family and the public respondents of the legal process is evident in the manner by which the burial was conducted,” they argued in their 17-page petition.

Ocampo and his group accused the respondents of violating Section 3(d) of Rule 71 of the Rules of the Court, which prohibits “any improper conduct tending, directly or indirectly, to impede, obstruct or degrade the administration of justice.”

They urged the high court to order the detention of the Marcos heirs for such offense and for the public respondents to reimburse the public funds and resources used for the burial. The respondents should also be fined, they said.

“The hasty, shady and tricky burial of the dictator Marcos Sr. at the (LNMB) despite the existence of the right, under the rules, of the petitioners to move for the reconsideration of the decision... degrades the honorable court and is contemptuous in itself,” the petition stated.

It was the first time the Marcos family was included in an SC case contesting the strongman’s burial at the Libingan.

Petitioners argued that the AFP and PNP should likewise be held liable for contempt of court.

“Public respondents were well aware of the judicial process and yet trifled with the same in shameless and utter bad faith when they obviously connived with the Marcos family in planning the lightning burial and with impunity consistent with the Marcos blueprint – with stealth and deception to jump the gun on (the SC), the nation and the world,” the petitioners said.

They stressed the SC ruling is not yet final and executory and that they have until Nov. 26 to file their motion for reconsideration as petitioners in the case.

The other petitioners aside from Ocampo were Trinidad Repuno, Bonifacio Ilagan, Angelina Bisuna, Carmencita Florentino, Rodolfo Del Rosario, Felix Dalisay and Danilo Fuente.

As various groups opposed to the burial gear up for a massive protest action on Nov.25, the business community has joined the chorus of condemnation of the surprise Libingan burial.

In a statement yesterday, the Makati Business Club (MBC) said the Marcos burial at the Libingan only “reignites an unwanted divisive factor to the nation.”

The influential business group also called the burial “deceptive” and an “unnecessary distraction to benefit one family.”

“We are deeply saddened by the surreptitious burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Burying a deposed dictator within one of the most sacred final resting places does not make him a hero,” the MBC said.

“We are shocked that the burial was undertaken in a deceptive manner, with undue haste and without respect for the process of allowing time for respondents to file their petitions to the Supreme Court ruling,” it added.

With Marcos now buried in a place reserved for Filipino heroes, it would be more difficult to impart the right lessons from a dark episode of Philippine history to future generations.

The controversy whipped up by the Libingan burial “draws our focus away from the critical and enduring need to unite and work with government on a common effort to build our economy, to increase our trade and to put poverty reduction and inclusive growth on top of our agenda to achieve a better life for all Filipinos,” the group said.

Ramos backs protests

Ramos said he would fully support protest actions against the “conspiracy” to bury Marcos at the Libingan. He said the sneaky burial violated the chain of military and police command and was an insult to the veterans, retirees and active police and military men.

“I felt very bad, especially for veterans, members of the AFP and PNP. There was a violation in the chain of command,” he said in a press conference in his Makati office.

The former president presented to the media a document he signed with the Marcos family, in which the latter agreed to bury the Marcos patriarch beside the grave of his mother in Batac.

He said after the Supreme Court lifted the restraining order on the burial, the Marcos family conspired with police and military officials to secretly bury the remains with full military honors without informing higher authorities.

The former president said the chain of command was not followed because at the time of the burial the defense secretary was reportedly still not informed about it.

Ramos said he wanted all those who planned and took part in the secret burial – including the pallbearers, the generals and the helicopter pilots – investigated.

“Those military and police who planned the burial must be investigated and booted out for disloyalty to service for failing to inform their superiors,” he said.

Ramos also hit back at Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos for blaming him for the human rights abuses during martial law.

The former president said there is no need for him to apologize as he had already atoned for his martial law sins when he joined the EDSA people power revolt in 1986 that ousted the dictator.

“We were ready to die – that’s my atonement, we laid our life at the altar of our nationhood, ready to die,” Ramos said.

He added the apology being demanded by the people was not directed at Imee but at the former first lady who has had full knowledge of many key events during martial law, including the assassination of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.

He also disputed Imee’s claim that she was just a child during martial law as she was already 18 years old and head of the Kabataang Barangay at that time,

“Imee was old enough and she knew what was happening during those years,” Ramos said.

Meanwhile, preparations for massive anti-Marcos rallies on Friday are underway, including by Filipinos living or working overseas.

“Marcos is no hero. Generations upon generations of overseas Filipinos know this, especially those who were forced to flee the country in fear of their lives during martial law,” Marra Macaspac, Migrante-Youth spokesperson, said.