The late President Ferdinand Marcos will be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani as planned to allow the country to move on, Malacañang said yesterday.
But if the Supreme Court blocks the burial of Marcos at the heroes’ cemetery, Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella assured that the Palace would abide by its ruling.
“It seems that everything is starting to move according to arrangements so unless somebody, unless there is a TRO or anything like that, it will proceed as planned,” Abella said in a Palace news conference.
“The President believes the nation ought to move on. That is where he stands,” he added.
For now, Abella said no date has still been finalized for the burial of Marcos. He was also unaware about how much the government will spend for the ceremony.
When asked if the government will consider postponing the burial pending the resolution of complaints, Abella assured that the President will abide by the SC ruling.
“The process is ongoing. Nobody is rushing anything. It’s just people need to respond as appropriate as possible,” he said.
Asked if the President considered the burial of Marcos in his home province of Ilocos Norte, Abella said he was also unaware about the matter. He noted that it was a previous administration, not the present one, that forged an agreement with the Marcos family on the burial of the former leader in his hometown.
The President earlier said Marcos deserves to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani because he was a former president and a soldier. He said he would be violating the law if he does not allow such funeral rite for Marcos.
(GENALYN D. KABILING)