Philippine Daily Inquirer / 01:20 AM August 14, 2016
The 1992 agreement between the Ramos administration and the Marcos family providing for, among other things, the burial of President Ferdinand Marcos in Ilocos Norte province, remains binding, former Interior Secretary Rafael Alunan III said on Saturday.
Alunan is one of the signatories to the agreement.
The agreement could be invoked by opponents of the planned transfer of Marcos’ body to a grave at Libingan ng mga Bayani, although Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (Selda), a group of survivors of martial law abuses, said it would ask the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter this week.
Alunan was tasked in 1992 by then President Fidel V. Ramos to “represent the government” in discussions with the Marcos family, led by former first lady Imelda Marcos and represented by former Rep. Roquito Ablan, of conditions for the return of the dictator’s remains to the Philippines from Hawaii.
Toppled from power in a popular uprising in 1986, Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989. President Corazon Aquino refused to allow the return of his body to the Philippines.
In a press conference with Ramos at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City yesterday, Alunan gave reporters a rundown of the conditions set by the government for the return of Marcos’ body.
Four conditions
The conditions were:
The body would be flown straight from Hawaii to Ilocos Norte province.
Marcos would be given honors befitting a major, his last rank in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Marcos’ body would not be paraded in Metro Manila. “At that time,” Alunan explained, “the wounds were still fresh in the minds of many people, and we could not afford bloodshed and instability [on] our watch.”
There would be no burial at Libingan ng mga Bayani. Alunan noted that Marcos had wanted to be buried beside the grave of his mother in Batac, Ilocos Norte.
“So those were the conditions, and we signed an agreement. I think the agreement is still in the archives of Malacañang, so if you wish to get a copy of the agreement that was signed between me and Congressman Ablan, please go ahead and secure a copy from Malacañang,” Alunan said.
The Marcos family flew the dictator’s body home on Sept. 7, 1993. From Hawaii, the body was flown to Guam then to Laoag, in Ilocos Norte.
Deal remains binding
Then Vice President Joseph Estrada, representing the government, was at Laoag International Airport to see the body.
But the Marcos family never buried the body, preserving it instead in a refrigerated crypt housed in a mausoleum beside the dictator’s ancestral home in Batac.
Asked if the agreement remained binding, Alunan said: “I would imagine so, because I was acting for and on behalf of the President of the Republic and the government.”
He added: “I would think that because the agreement is still in force, then both sides should honor it.”
The agreement was “never abrogated,” said Alunan, now senior adviser to Ramos, who has been appointed by President Duterte as special envoy to China.
“If President Duterte thinks otherwise, then that’s his prerogative. The Office of the President is very powerful,” Alunan said.
Asked if he or Ramos would ask the Marcos family to comply with the agreement, Alunan replied: “We’re civilians [now]. We are [no longer] in government.”
Ramos, saying Alunan was speaking with authorization from him, added: “That’s for the Duterte administration. We did our job during our time.”
The 1992 agreement, particularly the fourth condition, could be invoked by opponents of the burial of Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani.
President Duterte, a friend of the Marcos family, has said he will allow the burial of the dictator in the heroes’ cemetery.
Mr. Duterte has said Marcos deserves to be buried at Libingan because he was a soldier and a president, regardless of any misdeeds.
No definite date has been set for the burial, but the Marcos family is expected to do it sometime next month.
The plan has sparked outrage among survivors of martial law atrocities and human rights advocates.
No comments:
Post a Comment