Misor guv supports Duterte’s burial plan for Marcos

By LITO RULONA
Correspondent

MISAMIS Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano yesterday expressed his support for President Duterte’s plan to allow the remains of the late strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Emano said this a day after the Supreme Court issued a 20-day status quo ante order against the Marcos burial moves. The SC also rescheduled the oral arguments on the six consolidated cases opposing the burial at the Heroes’ Cemetery.

Emano said there was nothing wrong with the decision of Duterte to allow the burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani given that Marcos was a former military officer and President.

“Pabor kaayo ko sa move ni President Digong. I am positive that Supreme Court will lift the TRO when the time comes,” Emano said.

Former governor Antonio Calingin said SC ruling would ease the pressure on both parties.

“For the petitioners, it’s a temporary victory and it would give them more time to ventilate the issues,” said Calingin.

But Calingin said burying Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani won’t necessarily make a hero out of Marcos. He said the planned burial would only give “credit where it is due as a former soldier… and former commander-in-chief.”

Calingin said former President Corazon Aquino’s Labrador was given full military honors when it was buried in the cemetery. “Why not Marcos, a former President of the Republic, a human being and a Filipino?” he asked.

Former councilor Ramon Tabor said, “It took decades with several Presidents to put this issue to eternal rest yet only now President Digong made a decisive move. From what I learned, there were already agreements made with the family and the government that the burial be in Ilocos and was even confirmed by President Fidel Ramos and former Vice President Jejomar Binay. These agreements were resorted to because of the sentiments of martial law victims which sadly has been revived now.”

Tabor said previous agreements should be respected “but then the issue still lingers on the back of my mind. Political or justiciable?”

On Tuesday, the SC ruled there would be no burial of the late dictatorat the Libingan ng mga Bayani in the next 20 days.

Theodore Te, spokesperson of the Supreme Court, said the six cases have been consolidated into one and that the status quo ante order is for 20 days or until Sept. 12.

The High Court also granted the request of the PIO to allow for the livestreaming of the oral arguments on Aug. 31 starting at 10 am.

Te said the status quo ante order “brings us back to the prevailing situation before a certain event” or in this case,  before the issuance of the Aug. 7 memorandum of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on the Marcos burial at the LNMB.

The Lorenzana memo directed Gen. Ricardo Visaya, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, to “undertake the necessary planning and preparations to facilitate the coordination of all agencies concerned specially the provisions for ceremonial and security arrangements” for the burial of the remains of the former President at the LNMB in compliance to the verbal order of Duterte on July 11 “to implement his election campaign promise.”

The Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, which has supervision and administration over the LNMB, was tasked by Lorenzana to designate a person who would oversee the preparations for the Marcos burial at a date chosen by the Marcos family.

Lorenzana directed Visaya to coordinate with the Marcos family on the date of interment and the transport of the remains from Ilocos Norte to the LNMB, and to submit to his office the Implementing Plan “as soon as possible.”

The memorandum was issued on the same day Duterte told a past midnight press conference  in Davao City that the Marcos family can bury the remains of the former President at the LNMB on Sept. 11, his 99th birth anniversary, if they so wish.

The late President Marcos was a lawyer who was elected congressman and later senator. He was Senate President before he was elected to a four-year term in 1965, was reelected in 1969 for a term that was set to end in 1973 but declared martial law on Sept. 21, 1972 and ruled as a dictator until he was ousted by People Power on Feb. 25, 1986.

In a six-paragraph statement issued on Tuesday, the Davao City-based Konsyensya Dabaw welcomed the Supreme Court order as “an opportunity to fully articulate opposition to the plan before the highest judicial body and seek appropriate action, and is in keeping with the democratic traditions of the country.”

Composed of  a mixed group of Dabawenyos opposed to the Marcos burial at the LNMB, including Duterte supporters who do not agree with him on this issue, Konsyensya Dabaw reiterated its appeal to the President who served as Davao City mayor for 22 years, “to consult with the Martial Law victims-survivors and their families” as he promised during the campaign.

It noted that while Duterte has recently said that conducting a plebiscite on the issue is ruled out because it will entail a  huge expense, “at the very least he should fulfill the intention to consult with the victims-survivors, a key aspect of the aforesaid campaign commitment.”

“Such a move would further demonstrate the claim that the Duterte administration is one that listens and has tunay na malasakit,” it said.

It also urged Dabawenyos to use the 20-day window to “discern more about the issue instead of just waiting for the SC decision” and called on schools to conduct fora and discussions “to broaden the discourse beyond the soldier and former president status of Marcos, Sr., and to also connect it to the history of the Davao region.” (with carolyn o. arguillas of mindanews)