Palace sees no urgency in making a decision on Marcos burial issue

Malacañang sees no urgency in issuing a decision on the recommendations of Vice President Jejomar Binay regarding a bid to bury former President Ferdinand Marcos' remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. "While there are recommendations and opinions, and the President is studying many of these opinions and recommendations, I think he prefers to focus on other things right now," Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang said at a press briefing Thursday. "This issue can wait," he added. Carandang said President Benigno Aquino III wants to hear first all the opinions and recommendations before making a decision. "After all these years, [the Marcos burial] is still a sensitive issue. Ang daming nagbibigay ng kanilang opinion, there are human rights victims who personally tried to explain to the President why they feel he should not be given that burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani," he said. "If someone told you that they were raped and abused during that administration, and they want to make their views heard, then I think that you owe it to them to at least listen to them," Carandang said. Aquino was also informed of the preconditions the Marcoses agreed with the Ramos administration when the former dictator’s remains were allowed to return to the country in 1993. Earlier this week, Carandang met with former President Fidel Ramos to know the preconditions. He then wrote a report and submitted it to Aquino. “Ako mismo nakipagpulong kay dating Pangulong Ramos the other day just so he could tell me what happened in 1993 when Marcos’ body was allowed to return… Pinag-aaralan natin kung ano ang nangyari noong 1993 to see if there is any way that the incident could help us make a decision. So all of these have to be taken into account before the President makes the final decision," he said. He said amid the numerous opinions brought to the attention of the President Aquino, the main option would still be the recommendation of Binay that was submitted to Aquino a couple of weeks ago. "I would think that the Vice President's recommendation would be the main aspect, kumbaga that would be the template from which we would proceed," he said. "But the President wants to hear other opinions, and I think he feels he owes it to people who were victims to hear their opinions at least before he makes a decision," Carandang reiterated. "Again, it’s not something we have to decide tomorrow. This has been pending for 20-plus years, and there are many other things that we need to address right now, so it’s not something that we feel we have to decide on today," he said. — LBG/KBK, GMA News