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Rights victims ask SC to stop hero's burial for Marcos

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/nation/07/2/ferdinand-marcos-sr.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Ferdinand Marcos. Wikipedia</div></figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - Victims of torture and illegal detention during martial law on Monday asked the Supreme Court to stop the planned burial of the late dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery).The petitioners trooped to the SC as President Rodrigo Duterte remained firm in his decision to allow Marcos&#x27; burial at the heroes&#x27; cemetery in Taguig.The petitioners, who include representatives from the leftist group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (Selda), said burying Marcos at the heroes&#x27; cemetery would violate the law and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) regulations.They cited AFP Regulations G 161-373, which states that &#x27;&#x27;those who have been dishonorably discharged from service, or personnel convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude, do not qualify for interment.&quot;They also argued that Republic Act 289 provides that the purpose of the construction of the heroes&#x27; cemetery is “to perpetuate the memory of all Presidents of the Philippines, national heroes and patriots for the inspiration and emulation of this generation and of generations still unborn.&quot;The petitioners said Marcos&#x27; abusive leadership and questionable military record therefore make him unfit for interment at the heroes&#x27; cemetery.&#x27;&#x27;The interment of the remains of Marcos at the LNMB [Libingan ng mga Bayani] with the honors that supposedly befit only Filipino Heroes with overall unblemished integrity and dignity is contrary to the Constitution,&#x27;&#x27; they said.The respondents to the petition are Rear Admiral Ernesto C. Enriquez of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Ricardo Visaya, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, and heirs of the late president.Marcos’ refrigerated remains are kept at the family’s ancestral home in Ilocos Norte province. His body was flown back to the Philippines in 1993, four years after he died in exile in Hawaii.Since Marcos&#x27; ouster in 1986, the government has struggled to recover $10 million in ill-gotten wealth and an arduous process to verify the claims of some 75,000 victims and their relatives will not be finished until 2018.The Marcos family agreed in 1993, before they were allowed to return to the Philippines, to bury the former leader in Ilocos Norte and not in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, said former interior secretary Rafael Alunan.Alunan, who negotiated with the Marcoses on behalf of then President Fidel Ramos, said a signed copy of the agreement is available in the Malacanang archives.&#x27;&#x27;To abandon the agreement, reboot the entire process, exhume his remains and allow his burial at LNMB is to relive the terror and horrors of his victims who have, until now, not been given justice. While his victims will be forgotten, Marcos will be remembered as a president given a hero’s burial in violation of the law and even their contractual commitment with the Philippine government,” the petitioners said. &#x27;&#x27;This will not achieve the purpose of closure espoused or accepted by others. While Marcos rests in peace in LNMB, his victims who continue to cry out for justice, can never rest in peace…The tyrant, dictator, and puppet must stay where he is. Let us just let sleeping dogs lie.&quot;

MANILA - Victims of torture and illegal detention during martial law on Monday asked the Supreme Court to stop the planned burial of the late dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery).

MANILA - Victims of torture and illegal detention during martial law on Monday asked the Supreme Court to stop the planned burial of the late dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery).