In the Philippines, one of the political issues that just refuses to die is where to officially bury the late President Ferdinand Marcos, who died in Hawaii in 1989 and whose embalmed body has been on display in a glass coffin in Batac, Ilocos Norte since 1993.
Earlier this week, incoming President Rodrigo Duterte told reporters, “I will allow Marcos’ burial in Libingan Ng Mga Bayani, not because he was a hero but because he was a Filipino soldier.”
This has fueled debates anew.
Surviving martial law victims, as well as the families of those who were killed during that dark era, have asserted that Marcos does not deserve the honor. Moreover, there are persistent allegations that Marcos faked his war records.
Duterte has remarked, though, that it is high time to put the issue to rest, as it has divided the nation for so long.
A GMA News Online report quoted Duterte as saying, “Iyang issue ni Marcos diyan sa Libingan Ng Mga Bayani has long created a division amongst our people. Almost all of the Ilokanos, naghihinakit talaga. Lahat. Halos lahat, mga Ilokano, galit kung bakit ganoon ang ginawa sa kanya (That issue of Marcos and the Libingan ng mga Bayani has long created a division amongst our people. Almost all Ilokanos are hurt by it. Almost all of them are enraged by what has been done to him).”
Marcos died of lung, kidney, and liver complications while he was in exile in Hawaii on September 28, 1989. At that time, he, his family, and some of their allies were exiled following the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986.
Following his death Marcos’ body was kept in a refrigerated, glass-topped coffin inside a private air-conditioned crypt in a Japanese Buddhist temple, on the island of Oahu.
Then, in September 1993, Marcos’ remains were finally taken to the Philippines.
His family demanded that he be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (National Heroes’ Cemetery).
Through all the administrations that reigned since 1993, no resolution has been reached about his burial.
All this time, his remains have been interred at the Marcos Museum and Mausoleum in Batac City, Ilocos Norte. There, his embalmed body is displayed in the glass-encased coffin.
If Duterte’s plans push through, Marcos could finally be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani this year.
However, something tells us that if the burial comes to pass, complications will follow. Because that seems to be what happens here: If you put something in the ground, something comes up to take its place.
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