Government mulls Libingan burial for Yorac

The government is mulling the possibility of having the late former Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) chief Haydee Yorac, a reservist of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani at Fort Bonifacio in Makati City.

"We will see her records. She was a reservist," AFP chief Gen. Generoso Senga said yesterday.

Yorac, a reserve officer of the Philippine Marine Corps with the rank of lieutenant colonel, died of ovarian cancer complications last Sept. 13 in the United States. Her friends claimed she postponed treatment of her cancer to supervise the PCGG.

In a related development, Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. has filed a resolution seeking to have Yorac buried at the Libingan for her instrumental role in the recovery of ill-gotten wealth acquired by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, his family and cronies.

He also cited that Yorac was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s version of the Nobel Prize, in 2004. The award foundation cited her "exceptional integrity and rigor, and her unwavering pursuit of the rule of law in the Philippines."

Sen. Joker Arroyo, a friend of Yorac, said he was in favor of giving her a hero’s burial.

Yorac, widely known as being incorruptible and a fearless and outspoken fighter for human rights, passed the Philippine bar in 1963 and taught law at the University of the Philippines (UP), her alma mater.

An anti-Vietnam War protester, Yorac also joined activist groups opposed to the Marcos dictatorship, providing legal aid to victims of human rights violations. In 1972, Marcos declared martial law and Yorac was detained for three months.

After a 1986 "people power" revolt ended Marcos’ 20-year rule, Yorac was appointed member of the Presidential Committee on Human Rights and the Commission on Elections (Comelec), of which she was commissioner from 1989 to 1991. She later headed the National Unification Commission, which laid the ground for peace talks with communist rebels.

In 2001, President Arroyo appointed her to the PCGG. She was credited with organizing the voluminous documents against the Marcos family and computerizing them for the first time.

Yorac served as acting Comelec chief during the Aquino administration until Christian Monsod’s appointment.

Monsod and Yorac succeeded in cleaning up the Comelec’s image as a Marcos rubber stamp and the agency enjoyed the highest credibility under their leadership.

Monsod said Yorac deserves to be interred at the Libingan because of her dedicated service to the country.

During Yorac’s watch as PCGG head, the government recovered $689 million from Marcos-linked Swiss bank accounts. Marcos, his family and friends are accused of plundering up to $10 billion.

The PCGG also secured court decisions favorable to the government over shares worth billions of pesos in San Miguel Corp., Southeast Asia’s largest food and beverage firm, and in the United Coconut Planters Bank.

However, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita expressed doubt that Yorac would be given a hero’s burial, saying that there are specific criteria that have to be followed before anyone is buried at the Libingan.

"As far as I can recall... Yorac does not fit the requirements or have stature enough for her to be buried at the Libingan," Ermita said in a telephone interview. "But we’ll still have to check the rules and see what honors we can bestow on (her) for her invaluable contribution to the people."

Ermita explained that recognized heroes, leaders of eminent stature and national artists are allowed burial in the heroes’ cemetery. He cited former Senate president and foreign affairs secretary Blas Ople and former Vice President Salvador Laurel as among those interred at the Libingan.

Ermita said Yorac was already a private citizen when she died, and that Malacañang is studying other options to recognize Yorac’s contributions to society, such as a posthumous award.

Calls to give Yorac a hero’s burial came on the heels of yet another plea from former first Lady Imelda Marcos for Mrs. Arroyo to allow her husband to be buried at the Libingan because he was a former president and a decorated soldier who saw action against invading Japanese forces during World War II.

Yorac was an extraordinary human being who served her country well and served her fellowmen with all her heart to the very end, her brother said yesterday.

Joey Yorac, in a lighthearted interview with The STAR, referred to his eldest sister as an honest, logical woman who could "read through you. Hindi mo puwedeng bolahin iyon (You can’t fool her). She always wants the truth and nothing else."

Yorac’s wake is at the Santuario de San Antonio’s Capilla del Señor in Makati City. She will be laid to rest at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City on Thursday. — With Paolo Romero, Michael Punongbayan