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Bongbong says father’s hero’s burial still in planning stage


Former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Saturday clarified that the burial of his father, late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr., at the Libingan ng mga Bayani is still in the planning stage.

"Still in the planning stage...planning palang," Marcos said in a text message to GMA News Online, without elaborating.

A Philippine Star report quoted Marcos as saying that President Rodrigo Duterte had given the go- signal to bury the late president at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

The report added that the Marcoses had already started preparations for the hero's burial.

It also reported that Marcos has been coordinating with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and that the former senator had learned that the late president will be given a 21-gun salute.

The report also said that the burial will happen on September 18, a week after the 99th birth anniversary of Marcos Sr.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, meanwhile, said he still has "no update" on the matter, when asked to confirm the former senator's claim.

Since his death in 1989, the late dictator's interment at the heroes' cemetery has been opposed due to abuses and human rights violations committed during his 20-year reign.

Duterte announced in May that the older Marcos should be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani because he had served as a soldier and denying the late president a place in the cemetery has divided the country.

Various groups expressed opposition of the President's pronouncement.

In May, the group called Campaign against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang asked Duterte to reconsider his position.

In June, victims of human rights violations under martial law and their families initiated a protest called "Bawat Bato" at the Libingan ng mga Bayani and laid stones at the grave site supposedly set aside for the late strongman. —ALG, GMA News

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