SC defers action on burial petitions

Separate protests are being set as the Supreme Court ( SC) has again deferred action on the pleadings of martial law victims after its decision earlier this month allowing the burial of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Critics of the burial are seeking a united front even as rallies will be conducted on different dates to protest the surprise interment last Friday.

SC spokesman Theodore Te bared the justices tackled during session yesterday the petition for contempt

and urgent motion for exhumation of Marcos’ reported remains but decided to reset their deliberations to next Tuesday.

He did not give a reason for the deferment, but an insider said that the member-in- charge of the case, Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, who also penned the ruling on the burial, was on wellness leave.

Last Monday, the group of petitioners led by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman asked the SC in an urgent motion to order the government to exhume Marcos’ remains at the heroes’ cemetery as a penalty for the “premature, void and irregular” interment carried out by the Marcos family, Armed Forces of the Philippines ( AFP) and Depa r tme n t of National Defense (DND) before they could file an appeal.

Lagman’s group also urged the high court to order examination of the remains exhumed from the tomb in order to determine with certainty that the “mortal remains” of the buried Marcos were not any artifact or wax replica.

Another group of petitioners led by former Bayan Muna partylist representative Satur Ocampo also filed a petition seeking to cite the Marcos heirs and government officials in contempt of court for proceeding with the burial even if the SC ruling has not yet become final.

It was the second time the high court deferred action on pleadings of petitioners in this case.

When the SC handed down the ruling allowing the burial, Lagman and Ocampo filed urgent motions seeking to temporarily suspend the Marcos burial until the decision became final.

They asked the high court to re-issue the status quo ante order, which was lifted in the SC decision, in order not to render moot the motion for reconsideration of the court decision that they intended to file.

In the high court’s session last Nov. 15, the justices also decided to reset deliberations on the motions due to absence of four justices.

With lack of action from the SC, the burial of Marcos proceeded last Nov. 18.

Solicitor General Jose Calida has defended the government for proceeding with the burial, saying the SC decision was immediately executory.

Calida said the DND and AFP could not be cited for contempt because they did not violate any order of the SC in proceeding with the burial on the date set by the heirs of Marcos.

Calida stressed that the lifting of the status quo ante order gave the DND and AFP the go- signal for the implementation of President Duterte’s order for Marcos’ burial at LNMB.

The top government lawyer also dismissed the other petition of martial law victims seeking to exhume the Marcos remains. “That is unchristian. I don’t think the SC will allow that,” Calida said.

Calida added the plan of petitioners to appeal the ruling of the high court would be a long shot, considering the clear margin in the 9- 5 voting of the justices on the case. –