‘Yellows’ should have banned Marcos from Libingan ng mga Bayani—Duterte

Past Aquino administrations should have passed a law banning the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday night.

Duterte indicated that without such a law, he would have no basis in denying the dead president his burial at the heroes' cemetery.

"Sana ginawang nilang batas, because of his despotic regime, Marcos should not be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani," Duterte said in a late night news conference at the Presidential Guest House in Panacan, Davao City.

Without such a law, Duterte asked, "What will be the basis in denying the burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani?"

The late former Corazon Aquino was installed via the 1986 People Power Revolution that ended the Marcos dictatorship.

Her son Benigno Aquino III, meanwhile, was president from 2010 to 2016. His father Benigno Aquino Jr., a staunch Marcos opponent, was slain in 1983 upon his return from exile to the Philippines, sparking widespread protests against the dictatorship.

"Alam mo kasi kung ginusto nila ang they were already in power that time, mga yellow, dapat nagpasa sila ng batas na hindi pwedeng ilibing si Marcos when the guy was already in Guam in exile, they should have passed a law prohibiting marcos if ever comes home dead to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani," Duterte said.

"That's a generic title because not everybody there is a hero. Yung iba nag-retire... but it does not mean that he really is a hero in the true sense of the word. Hindi naman lahat diyan medal of valor," he added.

Duterte said he was sworn to implement the country's laws and not follow the political preferences of certain groups. —NB/JST, GMA News