Row after Marcos gets hero’s grave

PHILIPPINES: Activists have demanded that the remains of the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos be removed from the Heroes’ Cemetery where they were hastily buried last week, 30 years after he was driven into exile in a peaceful uprising.

Lawyers representing former victims of his regime lodged a series of petitions with the Supreme Court demanding the exhumation of the coffin.

Since the unexpected interment on Friday, conducted with full military honours, rumours have circulated that the coffin was empty or contained a wax effigy of the dictator.

‘‘How can a plunderer and despot and violator of human rights be given that honour of being buried in the memorial of good men?’’ Edcel Lagman, a congressman whose brother ‘‘disappeared’’ under Marcos’s regime, said.

‘‘The burial showed that the Marcoses have not changed. They are used to deceiving and abusing our country.’’

Bonifacio Ilagan, another activist, said: ‘‘The implication of the burial is the revival of the Marcosian ideology, that we need one strong person to rule and he cannot be questioned because he has all the best intentions.’’

The reburial of Marcos was an election promise of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Marcos died in Hawaii in 1989. After declaring martial law in 1972, he ruled by decree until 1986, killing, imprisoning and torturing opponents and looting an estimated US$10 billion (NZ$14.13b) in state funds.

With the passing of time, some have come to regard him with affection and in May his son was narrowly defeated for the vicepresidency. - The Times

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Students and anti-Marcos activists take to the streets of Manila to protest the hero’s burial accorded to former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos on November 18.

PHOTO: REUTERS Former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, seated at right, and her children look on near the flag-draped coffin of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos during burial rites at the heroes’ cemetery in Manila.