3 senators favor hero’s burial for Marcos

Citing military tradition, three senators who graduated from the Philippine Military Academy on Monday said they are in favor for the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani. Speaking at a forum on Monday, Senators Panfilo Lacson and Antonio Trillanes IV said that while they are not setting aside the allegations of abuse hurled against Marcos, the late dictator has the right to be buried at the famous cemetery as a soldier who fought for the country during World War II. “[Si] former President Marcos, sumama siya sa Death March. We are honoring our veterans. For that reason alone di niyan ma-undo kung anong allegations after. Hindi ko rin tini-trivialize ang naapektuhan ng Martial Law, pero may ganyang traditions kailangan natin i-honor," said Trillanes, a former Navy officer. For his part, Lacson, a former national police chief, said: “Sa atin [kung ang] military tradition ay susundin, may karapatan siya mailibing sa Libingan ng Mga Bayani." In a separate interview with GMA News Online on Monday, Sen. Gregorio Honasan, a former military colonel, said he agreed with Trillanes and Lacson. "Former soldier siya (Marcos) and he was always viewed as a war hero, nothing could have prevented that (burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani)," he said. He admitted that there are no clear rules on who should be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, but that tradition dictates that soldiers, regardless of rank, should be buried there. Honasan likewise said that the public should not immediately dismiss the idea of Marcos being buried there just because of human rights violations during his term. "Hindi pa naman napatunayan beyond reasonable doubt that he is culpable for the crimes that he was supposed to have committed. It would have been a good opportunity to pave the way for meaningful reconciliation," he said. Trillanes is a member of PMA Class 1995 while Lacson and Honasan are products of PMA Class 1971. Earlier, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile also said that the late strongman deserved to be buried at the cemetery reserved for heroes not as a former President but as a soldier who fought for his country. "You cannot deny the fact that he saw the muzzle of the guns of the Japanese in Bataan. He went through the Death March and when he was released he went underground just like the rest of us and fought the Japanese through the end of the war. He was a member of the United States Armed Forces of Northern Luzon. This generation of Filipinos fought a foreign power that invaded us and I think that all of them are entitled to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani regardless of medals or no medals," he said. "He, as a soldier who fought that war, is entitled to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. I am not denigrating the people who are denying him that right. I don’t think that they have ever seen the muzzle of a foreign enemy and confronted that muzzle of that gun in a combat. He fought a war for the country, for the Filipino people," he added. 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. Sorsogon Rep. Salvador Escudero III, who served as agriculture minister during the Marcos regime, had earlier filed House Resolution 1135 urging President Benigno Aquino III to allow Marcos to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Aquino had left to Vice President Jejomar Binay the task of recommending whether Marcos should be buried at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani. Binay, citing results of his consultations, had recommended that Marcos be buried in his home province of Ilocos Norte but with honors. Marcos was ousted in 1986 following a revolt that installed Corazon Aquino – Aquino’s mother – in Malacañang. He died in exile in Hawaii on September 28, 1989. Curiously, both Enrile and Honasan were instrumental in the downfall of Marcos. Enrile was the then-Defense minister who withdrew his support to Marcos while Honasan was one of the young colonels who led the mutiny. - KBK, GMA News