Burying Marcos

EDITORIAL

The decision of the Supreme Court Tuesday to allow former President

Ferdinand Marcos buried at the national heroes' cemetery, in a hugely controversial verdict, critics warned, would whitewash his crimes and divide the nation.

The judges voted with a clear majority to endorse President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to allow the burial at the "Cemetery of Heroes" in Manila, court spokesman Theodore Te told reporters.

"There is no law that prohibits the burial," Te said. Marcos ruled the country for two decades until 1986, when millions of people took to the streets in a "People Power" revolution that forced him and his family into US exile.

Marcos, his wife, Imelda, and their cronies had been accused of plundering up to $10 billion from state coffers during his rule. Widespread human rights abuses were also done to maintain his control of the country and enable his plundering, with thousands of people killed and tortured, previous Philippine governments said.

Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International in 2004 named Marcos the second most corrupt leader of all time. Marcos died in Hawaii in 1989 and his family had since tried to have him buried at the heroes' cemetery, where other presidents and celebrated military figures are interned.

The family has enjoyed a remarkable political comeback that saw his son and namesake, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, become a senator, then almost win the vice presidency this year.

However previous presidents had refused to allow the burial because of Marcos's crimes, and the preserved body had been kept in a glass casket at his home in the northern province of Ilocos Norte.

The family's fortunes changed with the election of Duterte, a longtime ally of the Marcos family, as president in May this year. He said Marcos deserved to be buried at the heroes' cemetery based simply on the fact he had been a president and a veteran of World War II.

Duterte also said he owed loyalty to the family because his father served in the Marcos government and the family had helped to fund his election campaign.

Immediately celebrating the verdict, Bongbong Marcos said the nation of 100 million people would now be able to put past controversies behind it.

"It is in our belief a very important step for the healing process in the political arena of our country," Marcos told CNN Philippines.

"I think this will be the beginning of bringing the country together and uniting the country." But the immediate reaction from Marcos critics signaled otherwise.

"The decision intends to effectively wipe the Marcos slate clean and negate the sacrifices of the thousands of brave souls who fought and suffered under the brutal Marcos dictatorship," Sen. Risa Hontiveros said.

Marcos's war record is one of contentious issues of the debate about whether he should be buried at the Heroes' Cemetery.

Marcos claimed to have been a decorated World War II hero leading a guerrilla force against Japanese occupiers. But historians have largely discredited those claims.

Following the SC decision allowing the burial of Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani, the coming days will determine whether upheavals would further divide the country.