Push Admin

DND issues memo on Marcos burial at heroes' cemetery

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/nation/8/7/080716-libingan.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Libingan ng mga Bayani</div></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - (UPDATED) The Department of National Defense (DND) on Sunday issued a formal memorandum instructing the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to plan and prepare the interment of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.</p><p>In a memorandum dated August 7, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana ordered AFP Chief of Staff General Ricardo Visaya to &quot;undertake the necessary planning and preparations to facilitate&quot; the interment of the late dictator at the heroes&#x27; cemetery.</p><p>(WATCH: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/video/focus/08/06/16/watch-duterte-september-burial-of-marcos-up-to-bongbong" target="_blank"><strong>Duterte: September burial of Marcos up to Bongbong</strong></a>)</p><p>According to Lorenzana, the memorandum was pursuant to President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s verbal order to implement his election promise to inter Marcos&#x27;s remains at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani.</p><p>The Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) was designated as the overseer and focal agency for the transfer of remains.</p><p>Meanwhile, defeated vice presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos said arrangements are being made for a <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/06/16/marcos-ililibing-sa-libingan-sa-sept-18-philstar" target="_blank">September 18</a> burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. </p><div><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/nation/8/7/080716-memo.jpg"/></div><p>Duterte&#x27;s decision to have the remains of the late strongman interred at the heroes&#x27; cemetery was met with criticism.</p><p>However, the President was quick to <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/06/16/duterte-rejects-criticism-of-heros-burial-for-marcos" target="_blank">dispel</a> his critics. </p><p>“I will allow the burial of Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani,” Duterte said, adding that as a former president and soldier, Marcos was entitled to it.</p><p>“As a matter of fact, I voted for him during his first term,” he said.</p><p>“Kung ayaw ng ibang Pilipino fine. Mag-demonstrate, go ahead. You can use the streets, one month. [If other Filipinos oppose it, fine. Hold demonstrations, go ahead. You can use the streets for a month],” Duterte said.</p><p>Marcos&#x27; remains have been kept in a refrigerated crypt in his home province of Ilocos Norte since the family&#x27;s return from exile in Hawaii in the early 1990s.</p>

<p>Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Sunday issued a formal memorandum instructing the AFP to plan and prepare the interment of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.</p>

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Sunday issued a formal memorandum instructing the AFP to plan and prepare the interment of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.