MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The remains of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos will be buried at Manila’s Heroes’ Cemetery without state honors, an aide of presidential front-runner Joseph Estrada said Thursday.
“What is important is to end this chapter in our history,” Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, Estrada’s executive secretary-designate, said in a radio interview.
Marcos’ widow, Imelda, has kept her husband’s body inside an air-conditioned crypt at the Marcos mansion to pressure the government to bury him at the Heroes’ Cemetery.
Many oppose Marcos’ burial there because he allegedly committed human rights violations and improperly amassed a fortune before his ouster in 1986. He died in exile three years later.
Although votes in the nation’s May 11 election are still being counted, Estrada already is putting his government. His secretary-designate gave no date for the burial.