Boholanos overwhelmingly expressed their approval to bury the remains of the late President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Amid the ruckus created by groups opposed to the burial of the remains of the late Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani and the scheduled Supreme Court oral arguments on August 24, 2016 on the issue, majority of Boholanos heaped praises on the late president for the numerous projects that accordingly benefited the province.
Boholanos gave Marcos during the 1965 and 1971 presidential elections huge majority votes and openly supported his martial law regime.
The question, raised over DYRD “Inyong Alagad” on Wednesday was “In your opinion, should Marcos be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani?”.
Those who responded in favor of a burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani stressed that a closure should be done on the divisive issue that will be resolved by the simple reason that all presidents should be buried at the heroes cemetery.
Those who were in favor cited the accomplishments of Marcos during his 21 years in power that would diminish the “14 dark years of martial rule”.
Martial law was declared by Marcos on September 23, 1972 and was lifted on January 17, 1981.
Marcos ruled the country from December 30, 1965 to February 25, 1986 and his military service record states that he was a major (active) and colonel (inactive).
Marcos was booted out of the country on February 25, 1986 by a “people’s power revolution”. and went into exile in Hawaii.
But a lone dissenter argued that the documented human rights violations and the plunder of the national coffers that marked martial law has overshadowed the alleged accomplishments of Marcos.
September 18, 2016 is the scheduled burial as announced by the Marcos family. President Duterte, fulfilling his campaign promise to allow the burial of the remains of the former president at the Libingan ng mg Bayani “as a former president and soldier”.
Marcos, the 10th president of the Philippines died in exile on September 28, 1989 at the age of 72 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. After his death his remains were kept in a refrigerated glass-topped coffin in a refrigerated crypt for four years in Hawaii.
His remains was finally flown to the Philippines on September 7, 1993 during the term of President Fidel Ramos and is now in a refrigerated crypt in a mausoleum beside the the president’s ancestral home in Batac, Ilocos Norte.
Marcos burial plot will be placed next to that of President Carlos P. Garcia. (Chito M. Visarra)