Lacierda: PNoy need not consult with Marcoses on hero's burial issue

President 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