Thank you, ABS-CBN, GMA, Sunstar, & Malaya for picking up my story that Imelda Marcos already waived a hero’s burial for Ferdinand Marcos
I am so very, very glad the major Philippine news media companies have picked up my stories on this. Here’s what they published.
This one’s from Sunstar:
Aquino to consider Ramos’ views on Marcos burial
Monday, June 13, 2011
PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III will be considering the opinion of former President Fidel Ramos regarding the disputed burial of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
The President is taking a long time to decide on the matter because he is studying all sides of the issue including Ramos’ view, Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said.
Earlier, Ramos revealed that the Marcos family failed to fulfill one of the three preconditions he had set in exchange for bringing the late strongman’s remains back to the Philippines from Hawaii where he died after being exiled.
The three preconditions include “direct transport of the body to Ilocos without passing Manila; military honors for an army major; and the immediate burial of the body”.
Ramos said the first two preconditions were met but the last was not fulfilled since Marcos was never been buried.
“We will certainly inform the President about former President Ramos’ statement so that he could include it in his assessment,” Lacierda said.
“The statement of former President Ramos will be part of the deliberative process of the President on the issue,” he added.
Aside from Ramos’s view, the Palace official said President Aquino is also considering the sentiments of the human rights victims during Marcos time.
“There have been other people who have also mentioned their sentiments on that matter so the president is looking at all the angles on this Marcos burial…Sentiments have also been raised by human rights victims through intermediaries,” Lacierda said.
He said he is not aware of any communication between the Marcos family and the President regarding the matter.
Ilocos Norte Representative Imelda Marcos was spotted in Malacanang last Sunday attending the Independence Day vin d’ honneur but Lacierda refused to comment whether the former First Lady was able to talk to Aquino.
He meanwhile noted that the preference of the Marcos family regarding the burial has already reached Malacanang. As a result, further consultation with them is no longer necessary.
The Marcos family earlier supported the recommendation of Vice President Jejomar Binay that late dictator be buried with full military honors in his hometown in Ilocos Norte.
Aquino inhibited himself from making a decision regarding the matter to avoid bias since his father Ninoy Aquino was a known political rival of the late dictator.
Binay submitted his recommendation to the President two weeks ago, but Aquino has yet to decide whether to fully adopt the proposal.
The proposal for Marcos burial at the heroes cemetery was revived after the late Defense Secretary and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Angelo Reyes was buried there after committing suicide in February after it was reported that he received P50 million in “send-off” money.
Various sectors in the country ever since have differing opinions regarding the late dictator’s burial.
Since 1993, Marcos’s remains still lies inside a glass box in an air-conditioned crypt in the family’s ancestral home in Batac, Ilocos Norte Province. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)
This is from ABS-CBN:
Palace taking sweet time to decide on Marcos burial
By Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News
Posted at 06/13/2011 3:17 PM |MANILA, Philippines – Why is it taking long for President Benigno Aquino III to decide on former President Ferdinand Marcos’ burial?
In a press conference, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the President is studying all sides of the issue, including sentiments of human rights victims.
“There have been other people who have also mentioned their sentiments on that matter so the president is looking at all the angles on this Marcos burial…Sentiments have also been raised by human rights victims [through intermediaries],” Lacierda said.
He said there is no need for the President to consult the Marcoses since their preferences have already been known.
“The recommendations have been made and we know the preferences of the Marcoses. So it is something that we don’t need to consult them with,” Lacierda said.
Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos was in Malacanang Sunday to attend the Independence Day Vin d’ honneur. Lacierda was not sure if the former First Lady was able to interact with President Aquino.
Asked if President Aquino would also consider the opinion of former President Fidel Ramos, Lacierda said the Palace may do so “for the record… as part of the deliberative process ni Pangulong Aquino.”
Vice-President Jejomar Binay earlier recommended that former president Ferdinand Marcos be buried with military honors in Ilocos Norte.
From GMA News:
Lacierda: PNoy need not consult with Marcoses on hero’s burial issue
AMITA O. LEGASPI, GMA News
06/13/2011 | 04:10 PMPresident Benigno Aquino III need not consult with the Marcos family before deciding on whether he will allow the burial of former strongman Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, his spokesperson said Monday.
At a press briefing in Malacañang, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the President is still studying the recommendations of Vice President Jejomar Binay whom he tasked to study the controversial proposal to bury Marcos at the Libingan ng Bayani.
Binay submitted his recommendations to Aquino last week, but Malacañang has kept the content of the report under wraps.
“I think the recommendation has been made and we know the preference of the Marcoses so it is something that we don’t need to consult them with,” Lacierda said.
Aquino is the son of the late President Corazon Aquino, who succeeded Marcos following the People Power uprising in 1986 that ended Marcos’ decades-old reign.
Lacierda said he is not privy if there is any discussion between the Marcos family and the administration.
“If you’re asking me if the President has communicated with the Marcos family, I’m not aware of any communications between the President and the Marcos family,” he said.
Asked what is taking Aquino so long to decide, Lacierda said the President “is looking at all the angles in this Marcos burial” as there were other people who have expressed their sentiments on the issue.
He said they will be informing the President of the three preconditions the Marcos family reportedly agreed to follow before the remains of the former dictator was allowed to return to the country, as mentioned by former President Fidel Ramos.
The supposed preconditions were the remains will go straight to Ilocos without passing Manila, that there will be a military honors for an army major, and that the body will be buried immediately.
“We will certainly inform the President na may ganung statement si dating Pangulong Ramos. Siguro magiging kasama ito sa kanyang assessment but wala pa po tayong decision tungkol dun sa bagay na yan,” said Lacierda.
He said they would just ask Ramos to state for the record his statement “as part of the deliberative process.”
Aquino earlier this year decided to inhibit himself from deciding on the issue of Marcos’ burial. He said he will let “somebody who has less personal attachment [to] decide on it.”
In his campaign last year, Aquino frequently mentioned how he and his family suffered during Martial Law under Marcos, including body searches on his mother when she visited her detained husband, the late former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr.
Aquino Jr. was a senator who belonged to the opposition during Marcos’ term. He was assassinated at the Manila International Airport on August 21, 1983. The airport was later renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in his honor.
Those allowed to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani are military personnel who died in line of duty or were honorably discharged, Filipino veterans, former presidents, government dignitaries, statesmen and national artists.
The remains of widows of former Philippine presidents, the secretaries of national defense and chiefs of staff are also authorized to be interred in the same plot where their husbands are buried. – KBK, GMA News
And this is from Malaya:
Now Aquino will ask FVR
about Marcos ‘pre-conditions’BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
Malacañang yesterday said it would look into the preconditions that had been agreed upon in 1993 concerning the burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Palace will study the pronouncements of former President Fidel Ramos that at least three preconditions were set before Marcos’ body was allowed to be brought back to the country.
Lacierda said President Aquino would be informed about the conditions which could be considered when he decides on the move to bury Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
He said the preconditions reportedly include the direct transport of Marcos’ body to his hometown in Batac in Ilocos Norte without passing Manila, the accordance of military honors for an army major – the rank that he reportedly held during World War II – and the immediate burial of the body.
The immediate burial did not take place because Marcos’ body was placed in a refrigerated crypt after its return in 1993. Marcos died in September 1989 while in exile in Hawaii.
Vice President Jejomar Binay has submitted his recommendations to Aquino who has yet to decide on the issue.
In his recommendations, Binay said Marcos should be given full military honors but his body should be buried in Batac instead of the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Lacierda said Aquino has been taking so long in deciding because he is looking at all the angles of the issue.
“There have been other people who have also mentioned their sentiments on the matter,” he said.
Burial at the Libingan for Marcos has split the people almost right down the middle, according to opinion surveys.
_____________________________
My stories on the Marcos burial issue:
Fidel Ramos phoned me to shed light on his role in Ferdinand Marcos’ non-burial
Marcoses broke promise to bury FM’s body at once in Ilocos – Fidel Ramos
Fool military honors for Ferdinand Marcos? Yes, oh yes!
Part 1 – Eminent Filipino war historian slams Marcos burial as a “hero”
Part 2 – Marcos’ Medal of Valor ‘highly suspicious’, says Filipino war historian
net says
here’s my salute to you ma’am, good again as always!
raissa says
Thank you.
isellnuts says
Pnoy state of mind doesn’t fit to be sitting in the presidential table. No more, no less. I just wish he can leave the malacanang sooner than 2016.
raissa says
Your comment seems to be off topic.
victor says
Heck with the Full Military Honor Burial , he was an ROTC Cadet deserving an Ordinary Burial.
paoloa says
Ok, then, so can we bury Macoy with the (dis)honors that he richly deserves, a tyrant’s burial? (nearest compost pit or septic tank comes to mind)