Imelda wants hero's burial for FM

BATAC CITY ,Philippines  — Former first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos yesterday expressed regret that although millions of Filipinos want an honorable burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani for her late husband, the current administration thinks otherwise.

President Aquino has decided to heed Vice President Jejomar Binay’s recommendation to just have the late dictator interred in Ilocos Norte with full military honors.

“Millions of Filipinos want an honorable burial,” Mrs. Marcos told The STAR, referring to the family’s desire to give the former President Ferdinand Marcos a hero’s burial.

“But no hurry. I know the spirit of my late husband is with the Creator and at peace with the truth. I don’t know why despite their overwhelming expression for an honorable burial, the administration refuses to take heed,” she said during her 82nd birthday’s celebration at the Marcos ancestral house here.

“If a man like Marcos, a most decorated soldier, is denied a hero’s burial, I don’t know who else (will be denied),” Mrs. Marcos said.

Asked if she has immediate plans to inter the late president’s remains in Ilocos Norte, the former first lady said she has yet to confer with her children.

Mrs. Marcos, now Ilocos Norte’s second district representative, said that her husband’s burial has become a divisive issue.

“While some sectors, including the administration, are opposing an LMB interment, other Filipinos, including more than 200 congressmen prefer Marcos to be given a hero’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani,” she said.

At least 219 members of the House of Representatives had signed Resolution 1135 last March seeking the government’s approval for the late president’s interment at the Libingan.

Research firm StrattPOLLS Inc. also came out recently with the result of their poll showing that 71.6 percent of residents in the National Capital Region are in favor of the proposal.

“Many people in the Bicol region, Cebu, Negros, Mindanao, Leyte, in the north, everywhere in the country are calling and asking that the late president be buried in their areas,” Rep. Marcos said, adding that many Filipinos are thankful for what her husband did for the country as a former leader and war hero.

“Even the Muslims are calling up,” she said, citing the expression of gratitude shown by some Muslim sectors to the Marcoses for the Tripoli Agreement that was forged during the late strongman’s regime.

Despite her disappointment over the Aquino administration’s decision, Mrs. Marcos still expressed her wish that the President succeeds in his ongoing crusade against graft and corruption.

“I’m praying for his success,” she said.

The former first lady’s birthday celebration was attended by some 2,000 supporter-members of the Friends of Imelda Romualdez Marcos (FIRM), led by Art Lachica, who came from Cagayan, Apayao and Isabela.

After the 8 a.m. Mass at the Batac Cathedral, Mrs.

Marcos and children Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, Irene Marcos Araneta and Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. laid a wreath before the remains of her late husband at the Marcos mausoleum.

Also present at the occasion were Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia, Ilocos Norte Rep. Rudy Fariñas, former Rep. Roque Ablan Jr. and the celebrant’s famous Marcos-era allies called “Blue Ladies,” led by Lulu Tinio.

Expected to join the guests at the celebration that was to culminate in a dinner were Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis Singson and other officials from the northern provinces.