Burial of Ferdinand Marcos

Preserved body of Ferdinand Marcos displayed for several years before burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani

After Ferdinand Marcos died in 1989, his family attempted to bring his remains from Hawaii to the Philippines but the administration President Corazon Aquino imposed a ban against the entry of Marcos' remains into the country. This was lifted on October 9, 1991 by Aquino on the condition that Marcos' burial would not be used for political purposes and on the condition that the body of Marcos be flown directly to Laoag. Aquino's executive secretary Franklin Drilon said that a "hero's burial" would be allowed if held in Marcos' home province instead of Manila. Imelda Marcos, the wife of Ferdinand Marcos opposed the move saying that the dying wish of her husband was to be buried in Manila.[11] In January 1992, the Philippine government stated that it may not oppose the burial of Marcos anywhere in Metro Manila provided that Marcos' body was flown into the country after the 1992 Philippine election in May. The Marcos family opposed the condition and was waiting for a ruling of the Supreme Court at that time regarding their petition to bury Ferdinand Marcos as soon as possible.[12]

The transfer of Marcos' body would not be done until the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos. It was during Ramos' term that a memorandum of agreement was made between the government and the Marcos family in 1992.[13] There were four conditions agreed by both parties and these were:[13][14]

1. The remains of Ferdinand Marcos were to be flown directly from the US state of Hawaii to the province of Ilocos Norte.
2. Military honors for someone with the rank of major were to be given to Marcos. This was the last rank to be held by Marcos during his service with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
3. No parade displaying Marcos' body was to be held in Metro Manila.
4. Marcos' body was not to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani but in Ilocos Norte.

The body of Ferdinand Marcos was stored in a refrigerated crypt at the Ferdinand E. Marcos Presidential Center in Batac, Ilocos Norte until 2016.

According to Rafael Alunan III, former Interior Secretary and one of the signatories of the agreement, the third clause was agreed upon due to "wounds [that] were still fresh in the minds of many people" and to avoid potential instability. He also said that the former President Marcos wanted to be buried beside his mother in Batac, Ilocos Norte.[14] Also according to Alunan, after the signing of the agreement, Imelda Marcos crossed out the burial clause and wrote in that Marcos was to be "temporarily interred" instead of being buried in Ilocos Norte. Alunan said that the terms of agreement could not be changed after it was signed but Mrs. Marcos insisted and came up with a new agreement paper with the changed clause. The revised paper was not signed by the government.[13]

It was on September 7, 1993 that the body of Ferdinand Marcos was flown into the Philippines. From Hawaii the body was flown to Guam then to Laoag in Ilocos Norte. The body of Marcos was not buried but was instead preserved in a refrigerated crypt hosted inside the Ferdinand E. Marcos Presidential Center.[14] In Honolulu, Hawaii, Marcos' body was also stored in a refrigerated crypt.[12]

Ramos' successor Joseph Estrada attempted to organize a burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Then President-elect Estrada had negotiations with Marcos' wife Imelda who initially also demanded state honors for the burial but later agreed to a burial without state honors. It was determined that Marcos would be buried on July 11, 1998. The planned burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani still received opposition even after state honors were not to be included in the planned burial. Former President Corazon Aquino was among those who opposed the move. Estrada remained firm on his decision until[15] July 1998 when Estrada decided against the plan amidst public opposition saying that it would be better if the Marcos family agreed that Ferdinand Marcos be buried in Batac to put an end to "bitter differences" and give rest to "various emotions and sentiments that flared up".[16]

In April 2011, then President Benigno Aquino III tasked then Vice President Jejomar Binay to study whether to bury Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani or not. The Office of the Vice President received 3,000 responses from various political parties, sectors, organizations, and members of the public on the issue. Binay recommended the burial of Marcos in his hometown of Batac with full military honors. Aquino did not act on the recommendation.[17]

Rodrigo Duterte supported the burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, even before he assumed presidency and expressed this stance at his presidential campaign in the 2016 elections. Duterte has expressed that a burial of Marcos at the site would commence the "healing" of the Philippines and pointed out Marcos' idealism and vision for the country through his projects which "stood the test of time" and that Marcos' dictatorship "remains to be debated". Duterte previously stated that Marcos could have been the best president if not for the abuses during the Martial law period under Marcos' watch.[18] At the Visayas leg of the PiliPinas Debates 2016, Duterte and fellow candidate Jejomar Binay expressed their support for a Marcos burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.[19]

On August 7, 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte gave the order to bury former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani saying that Marcos was qualified to be buried at the cemetery due to being a "former president and a soldier". Duterte said he was open to demonstrations against the burial plan but insisted that the former president was qualified to be buried at the cemetery. He also added that the burial date may be moved to September 11 which was the birthday of the deceased president.[20]

Amidst criticism that Marcos did not deserve to be buried at the cemetery, Duterte said that burying Marcos at the site did not equate to Marcos being a "hero in the true sense of the word". He pointed out that former soldiers and presidents are allowed to be buried at the cemetery and that he would be violating the law if he did not push through with the burial and added that the previous administrations should have passed a law to bar Marcos from being buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Duterte said he doesn't care about the dispute regarding the authenticity of Marcos' war medals and the non-appearance of Marcos' alleged World War II service in United States records.[21]

Saturnino C. Ocampo, et al. v. Rear Admiral Ernesto C. Enriquez, et al
Court	Supreme Court of the Philippines
Full case name	List (7) Saturnino C. Ocampo, et al. v. Rear Admiral Ernesto C. Enriquez, et al. Rep. Edcel C. Lagman, Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND), et al. v. Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea, et al. Loretta Ann Pargas-Rosales, et al. v. Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea, et al. Heherson T. Alvarez, et al. v. Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea, et al. Zaira Patricia B. Baniaga, et al. v. Secretary of National Defense, et al. Algamar A. Latiph v. Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, et al. Senator Leila M. De Lima v. Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea, et al.
Decided	November 8, 2016 (2016-11-08)
Citation(s)	G.R. No. 225973 G.R. No. 225984 G.R. No. 226097 G.R. No. 226116 G.R. No. 226117 G.R. No. 226120 G.R. No. 226294
Questions presented
Constitutional validity of the interment of the remains of President Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani
Court membership
Judges sitting	Maria Lourdes Sereno, Antonio Carpio, Presbitero Velasco, Teresita de Castro, Arturo Brion, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, Jose P. Perez, Jose C. Mendoza, Bienvenido Reyes Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Marvic Leonen, Francis Jardeleza and Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa
Case opinions
Decision by	Justices Diosdado Peralta
Concurrence	Brion, Velasco Jr, Peralta, Bersamin, Del Castillo, Perez, De Castro, Mendoza and Perlas-Bernabe
Dissent	Chief Justice Sereno and Justices Carpio, Leonen, Jardeleza and Caguioa

Marcos was originally scheduled to be buried on September 13 then October 18 after the oral arguments on petitions to stop the burial.[22][23] Eventually, on November 8, the Supreme Court of the Philippines allowed Marcos to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani with the votes of 9–5, with one abstention[24][25] dismissing the status quo ante imposed to block attempts to bury Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

The concurring judges said that the Supreme Court cannot decide on the matter since it is a political question which was deemed not justiciable. They argue that President Duterte did not abuse his discretion when he allowed the burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. It was noted that the petitioners failed to specify a specific law that was allegedly violated by proceeding the burial.[26]

The majority of the judges disagreed with the dissenting opinion that Marcos is disqualified to be buried at the said site due to Marcos' ouster following the People Power Revolution, which the dissenters consider as an act of Marcos being dishonorably discharged. It was noted that while Marcos was also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the position is not a military position and the particular clause in the 1987 Constitution which gave the designation to Marcos only enshrines the principle of supremacy of civilian authority over the military. It was concluded that Marcos could not be prosecuted before the court martial therefore he could not be "dishonorably discharged, reverted or separated" under the AFP Regulations G 161–1375. Marcos ouster through the People Power Revolution is judged to be extra-constitutional and direct sovereign act of the people which was concluded to be outside the scope of the court. Marcos was also found not to have convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude and court cases cited by the petitioners abroad were decided to have no bearing due to the cases being civil in nature.[26]

It was added that it's up to the people to decide on the matter. The concurring judges also clarified that the court is exercising judicial restraint on an issue they say is "truly political in nature" and that the resulting stigma of Ferdinand Marcos' martial law regime will "not be forgotten by the Filipino people" and Marcos' burial at the cemetery "will not rewrite history".[26]

Protesters opposing the burial of Marcos.

The Chief Justice said that the burial disregards both international and domestic laws in regards to giving justice to victims of human rights abuses during Marcos' term. The Philippine government was noted to have an obligation to provide compensations to the victims, both monetary and non-monetary, the latter of which includes symbolic reparation. The burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani was deemed by the dissenters as contrary to symbolic reparation entitled to the victims. By allowing the burial, President Duterte was "encouraging impunity". Marcos was described as "a dictator forced out of office and into exile after causing twenty years of political, economic, and social havoc in the country".[26]

The argue that Marcos' ouster following the People Power Revolution disqualified him from being buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani even if the claim of him being awarded the Medal of Valor is indisputable since he was deposed by the "sovereign action of the people" which was described as "the strongest form of dishonorable discharge from office".[26]

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno, in her dissent, affirmed that the Court must take cognizance of the issues presented in order to preserve the Constitution as well as the judiciary's own prerogatives under the Constitution. She maintained that the President acted with grave abuse of discretion in ordering the interment at LNMB because it violated domestic law and international law in relation to the obligations to do justice for human rights victims. After a review of the applicable international agreements and protocols, the Chief Justice pointed out that the Philippines is bound to affirmatively protect the rights of the human rights victims under martial law by providing effective reparations, which would include monetary compensation as well as non-monetary remedies (such as symbolic reparation). The Chief Justice pointed out that the interment of the Marcos remains at LNMB would be the antithesis of symbolic reparation. She also pointed out that the interment would run counter to the duty to combat impunity as well as to preserve memory—all of which are international commitments that the Philippines is bound to observe.

Following the Supreme Court decision, preparations for the burial were commenced. Ilocos Norte Governor and daughter of Ferdinand Marcos, Imee Marcos says that the burial will be done with "simple rites like an ordinary soldier", and insisted that the event will not be a state funeral but a "funeral for a soldier" which she says her father wished for. She also added that the family is willing to airlift the former President's remains from Batac to Fort Bonifacio.[27]

Santa Monica Church in Sarrat, the Immaculate Conception Church in Batac, and the Saint Agustine Church in Paoay were earlier prepared for the wake for former President Marcos before the burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.[27]

Marcos's tomb shown with a cauldron

The Philippine National Police were informed on the night of November 17, 2016 that the burial will take place the day after.[28] The police confirmed the scheduled burial in the morning of November 18.[29] The November 18 burial was scheduled to take place at noon.[28]

The remains of Ferdinand Marcos was airlifted from Ilocos Norte at 9:00 a.m. (UTC+8) and was brought to the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Fort Bonifacio in Metro Manila.[29] Marcos was then buried in his grave at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in a burial ceremony closed to the public. Marcos' wife Imelda Marcos and his children were in attendance, as well as the late president's only living sibling at the time, Fortuna Marcos-Barba.[30] About a hundred were in attendance including personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and reportedly PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa. Military honors were given including a 21-gun salute during the rites.[31]

There was no public announcement of the burial plan, and the public only became aware of the plan shortly before the burial. The Marcos family requested the government to conduct the burial in private, and confidentially. A budget was allocated by the government on the burial and the exceeding budget reportedly will be shouldered by the Marcoses. No exact figures regarding the budget allocated for the burial rites were disclosed.[31]

Ferdinand Marcos was buried in a marble finished tomb with a cauldron that has a flame burning inside.[31]

2013–2017 Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, a protégé of late Manila Archbishop Jamie Sin during EDSA 1986, said through text to Rappler, on the same day, that he is saddened with the decision and "the burial is an insult to the EDSA spirit".[33] Villegas also stated that he backed the anti-Marcos protests,[34] making him much hated by many Filipinos for his actions, with people claiming that the church should not interfere with state issues.

Unlike Villegas, then-Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, who was still the sitting Lipa Archbishop, called on Filipinos for prayers and forgiveness for the Marcos family, encouraging pro and anti-Marcos groups to pray for Marcos' soul, while condemning groups calling for exhumation with the words "give the dead peace, respect Marcos' body".[35][36]

Manila Archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle remained silent on the burial and instead chose to offer prayers for the Marcos family and the Filipinos.[37] The late Leopoldo S. Tumulak of the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines echoed the same sentiments of Arguelles.

A poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) in March 2011 showed that opinion is split.[32][38] The same trend appears in a follow up poll by SWS in February 2016. However validated voters instead of just anyone who is 18 years and above as done in the 2011 poll, where queried for the 2016 poll.[8]

An initiative called Bawat Bato (lit. 'For each stone') was launched, urging those who oppose the plan to dump stones with names of victims of abuses during the Martial Law era of Ferdinand Marcos or a personal message at the proposed site of the burial of Marcos within the Libingan ng mga Bayani.[39]