Philippine bows to SC order, dictator Marcos gets hero’s burial

Former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos was given a hero’s burial with military honours on Friday, a deeply controversial move three decades after he was ousted in a ‘People Power’ revolution.

The ceremony began with a 21-gun salute as soldiers in parade dress and ceremonial rifles stood to attention at the ‘Cemetery of Heroes’ in Manila, after his body was secretly flown to the venue in an apparent effort to avoid protests.

The Supreme Court said last week that Marcos, who ruled the nation for two decades until millions of people took to the streets in the 1986 military-backed uprising, could be buried at the heroes’ cemetery.

The decision, endorsing a recommendation from controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, outraged many opponents of the Marcos regime, who said it would whitewash the dictator’s many crimes.

The surprise move by the Marcos family and the government to bury him so quickly after the Supreme Court verdict, with appeals still to be heard, caused further outrage.

Barry Gutierrez, counsel for the anti-Marcos court petitioners, said the burial was illegal because of the outstanding appeals. “It’s not really surprising that this is happening. Marcos flouted the law when he was alive, and even at his burial, he is still breaking the law,” said Gutierrez.

Police only announced that Marcos’ body had been flown to the cemetery shortly before the ceremony began, leaving opponents, who had been planning rallies, flat-footed. “We are shocked and angered,” he said. 

Thousands of riot police and soldiers guarded the perimeter of the cemetery, but there were no protesters.

Journalists who rushed to the cemetery were barred from entering. However reporters were able to view the ceremony with long camera lenses from outside.

Marcos ruled the Philippines for two decades until forced into US exile by the ‘People Power’ revolution, a largely peaceful event that inspired democracy movements throughout Asia and around the world. 

Marcos, his infamously flamboyant wife Imelda, and their cronies plundered up to USD 10 billion from state coffers during his rule, according to government investigators and historians. 

The dictator also oversaw widespread human rights abuses to maintain his control of the country and enable his plundering, with thousands of people killed and tortured, previous Philippine governments said.