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Agence France-Presse

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday vowed to push through with the burial of deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the national “Heroes’ Cemetery” despite threats of protests.
Even though the Marcos years were marked by widespread corruption and rights abuses, Duterte said that as a former president and soldier, the late dictator was qualified to be buried in the special cemetery.
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“I will allow him to be buried there. He is qualified to be buried there. If other Filipinos don’t like it, fine,” he said in a pre-dawn speech to soldiers and reporters.
The daily newspaper, The Philippine Star, quoted Marcos’s son, Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, as saying his father would be buried there on September 18.

I will allow him to be buried there. He is qualified to be buried there. If other Filipinos don’t like it, fine
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte
He said that the date was agreed upon during the family’s meeting Duterte at the presidential palace last week.
The report quoted Marcos Jr. as saying the Marcos family had started preparations for the interment rites that include a 21-gun salute.
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Marcos Jr. said that he and his elder sister, Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos, have been coordinating with the military, which administers the heroes’ cemetery.
Marcos’ family have kept his preserved body on display after he died in exile in 1989 following a popular revolt three years earlier, demanding that it be buried with full honours in the Heroes’ Cemetery.

Marcos was elected president in 1965 and declared martial law in 1972, allowing him to rule as a dictator while he, his family and allies enriched themselves through massive corruption as his troops brutally stamped out dissent.
But Duterte, who has styled himself as an anti-corruption crusader, defended Marcos, noting that his father had served in the Marcos cabinet and he himself had even voted for Marcos before.
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“I will allow the burial of President Marcos at the (Heroes’ Cemetery) not because he is a hero but because he was a Filipino soldier. Period,” Duterte told a news conference in May.
Duterte has previously said that he won the May 9 elections partly with the support of the Marcos family who remain influential in their bailiwick in the northern Philippines.

The Marcos family has made a remarkable political comeback since the death of their patriarch.
The Marcos widow, Imelda, is a congresswoman representing the family’s northern provincial stronghold, while Ferdinand Marcos Jnr narrowly lost election as vice-president in May.
But Rafaela David, spokeswoman of activist group Akbayan Youth, said the organisation would step up its protests against the burial.
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“This is the Filipino people saying we do not recognise Marcos as a hero. We have a lot of people who have experience with martial law and are trying to get their stories across... so more people get to know the truth about the Marcos legacy,” she said.
Additional reporting by Xinhua


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Rodrigo Duterte

Philippine leader rejects protests as he pushes on with 'hero' burial for Marcos

Imelda Marcos kisses the glass coffin of her husband, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos. Marcos died in Hawaii in 1989. His body, which was brought back to the Philippines in 1993, is now on display inside a glass box in an air-conditioned crypt in the family’s ancestral home in Laoag, north of Manila. File photo: AP

A worker cleans the surroundings of the Heroes Cemetery during National Heroes Day on Sunday Aug. 28, 2005. The country commemorates the Known and Unknown heroes of the Philippines today. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

epa05397377 Outgoing Senator Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Junior (C) looks on during a press conference after filing an electoral protest at the Supreme Court in Manila, Philippines, 29 June 2016. Senator Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Junior filed an electoral protest over alleged manipulation of the unofficial vote count during the 09 May elections. EPA/MARK R. CRISTINO

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks in between military officials, at the wake of a soldier killed in an encounter with communist rebels at a military Camp Panacan in Davao city, in southern Philippines August 7, 2016. REUTERS/Lean Daval Jr

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Local news report says deposed dictator will be buried at Philippines Heroes’ Cemetery on September 18 with military honours almost 27 years after his death


Philippine leader rejects protests as he pushes on with 'hero' burial for Marcos

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Local news report says deposed dictator will be buried at Philippines Heroes’ Cemetery on September 18 with military honours almost 27 years after his death

Local news report says deposed dictator will be buried at Philippines Heroes’ Cemetery on September 18 with military honours almost 27 years after his death