The burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos is still under debate due to legal battles between Marcos loyalists and anti-Marcos supporters. Since he died on September 28, 1989, his body still did not had any proper burial rites, which is still currently being settled by his family to the government. However, the Marcos family will take a very long step towards reaching this situation as their wishes to bury the former president has been hampered by their critics.
President Ferdinand Marcos remains are set to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani or Hero's Cemetery in Manila, Philippines. President Rodrigo Duterte is in favor of burying the former leader of the Philippines because he was after all, a leader of the country for several years. Duterte is firm to follow the wishes of President Ferdinand Marcos to the Hero's Cemetery where other former leaders of the Philippines are currently buried. President Rodrigo Duterte indicated that the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos should not be influenced by emotions. The burial should be based on the law that has bee written in the constitution.
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| Former President Ferdinand Marcos on the left and the Libingan ng mga Bayani on the right |
When former President Ferdinand Marcos was on his dying stage in 1989, he requested the government to let his remains buried in the Hero's cemetery. Marcos also wanted that his body shall be returned back to the Philippines after his death. He pledged 90% of his total wealth to the Filipino people in exchange for his request. It was during Cory Aquino's term as the President of the Philippines when Marcos died. She then denied his request to bury his remains, citing numerous legal issues related to the Martial Law regime.
The Aquino family is regarded as the nemesis of the Marcos family due to the political rivalry between the former President Ferdinand Marcos versus former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. The climax of rivalry between the Aquinos and Marcoses erupted when Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated in Manila International Airport, which is now renamed under his name. The airport is now known as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which is the main gateway of the Philippines. When the Aquino's took over as the head of state, Cory Aquino rejected all requests by the Marcoses and filed numerous lawsuits, counting to at least several thousands of cases.
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11 Facts about former President Ferdinand Marcos
Why Marcos should be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani?
Ferdinand Marcos was after all, a former president of the Philippines. He served at least 20 years, keeping the Philippines a well-disciplined country in Asia. However, there were numerous political rivals that took the Marcos leadership in peril due to politicking and unstable governance. But still, Ferdinand was one of the greatest presidents in the Philippines according to some supporters who are still loyal to the Marcoses until this day.
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During his term as a president, the Philippine economy grew rapidly in the first 5 years of Marcos leadership. The peso equalized with the US dollar, which was a significant achievement during his term as the president. The production of local products in the Philippines made the country as the top producers of agricultural products such as rice, banana, mangoes, and coffee. This made the Philippines as one of the most prosperous countries in Asia during his presidency.
Although former president has a debatable issue as a former army, he was still regarded as a former army personnel. He was a former army reservist under the jurisdiction of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and served during the Second World War when the Japanese forces invaded the Philippines. During the occupation of the Japanese, all Filipino and American soldiers including Marcos surrendered to Japan.
Why Marcos should not be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani?
The most reliable reason is when Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law On September 21, 1971 under the Proclamation number 1081. He made himself both as the Prime Minister as well as the President of the Philippines at the same time. During Martial Law, the Philippines started to suffer from the Dark Ages because Marcos leadership as the head of state started losing his legitimacy to his constituents.
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Numerous human rights issues were reported and documented by government agencies during that time that were not solved. Examples are the police brutality, which was one of the major concerns by means of torturing the victims while they were detained. Abducting innocent civilians were widespread during the Martial Law. Some abducted individuals were never found until this day, which made the families disappointed with the the application of Martial Law.
The influence of Aquino family and leadership is still widespread across the country. Aquinos definitely does not want Ferdinand Marcos' remains to be buried, citing numerous legal pleas that will give a full force to stop any means to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. The outgoing president was Benigno Aquino III, which is the son of the former Senator who was assassinated at the Manila International Airport that is now called as Ninoy Aquino International Airport. They believe that Marcos family is behind Benigno Aquino Jr.'s assassination.
The question is, does former president Ferdinand Marcos deserve to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani?
