Team DailyPedia
BATAC CITY, Ilocos Norte. More than a month before the scheduled burial of the late president Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on September 18, his solid bronze casket imported from the United States has arrived in his hometown of Batac City, Ilocos Norte.
Dr. Frank Malabed, a mortician, has started to prepare the former dictator’s frozen remains that have been kept inside an air-conditioned crypt inside the Marcos mausoleum since 1993. The casket, the cost of which is being kept secret, was picked by former First Lady Imelda Marcos.
President Rodrigo Duterte said he is allowing the burial of Marcos in the heroes’ cemetery as he was a soldier and a former president.
“I will allow the burial of Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. As a matter of fact, I voted for him during his first term,” Duterte said.
Strong allies disagree
Duterte’s known supporters Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III have expressed their opposition to the president’s decision to have Marcos buried along with the country’s heroes and former presidents.
“Well, you know, I see the point of the President that if it’s completely legal issue, he’s entitled to it. But the name of the cemetery is Cemetery for Heroes, and we do not consider him [a hero.] He had heroic moments during his life. But we do not consider it totality heroic because of the things that happened in martial law,” Cayetano said.
Meanwhile, Pimentel said he will respect whatever decision Duterte makes but stressed that he would not allow Marcos to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Speaking to reporters, Pimental said: “If I were president, I would not allow it. I don’t consider him a hero. Ayun lang, di ako president. We will respect the decision of the President,
