FVR says Marcos family owes the country an apology

Former President Fidel V. Ramos has added his voice to those who expressed disappointment over the Supreme Court decision allowing the burial of the late President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

In an exclusive interview by GMA News' Sandra Aguinaldo, excerpts of which were shown on "24 Oras" on Friday, Ramos also said the Marcos family owes the public an apology over the abuses committed during the Martial Law years.

"Address [the apology] to all the descendants of the victims, whether or not there is an investigation, to show sincere desire to discard, reject and eliminate already all the dictatorial tendencies and happenings during that period," Ramos said.

On the Supreme Court decision, Ramos cited the part where the tribunal said it disagrees with the petitioners' claim that Marcos was "dishonorably discharged" through the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution.

"Kung kakalimutan 'yun o iismolin o binabalewala 'yan (EDSA People Power Revolution), para mong binabalewala 'yung paghihirap, pagsisikap, kontribusyon ng mga sundalo at mga pulis kagaya namin," he said.

Ramos, a former military official, was one of the key players in the 1986 uprising that saw the end of Marcos' decades-old regime that is widely considered as marked by corruption and human rights abuses.

He also said the Marcos family should also return to the public coffers their ill gotten wealth, Ramos said, adding that during his term as president, the government was able to recover the Swiss deposits of the Marcoses.

Ramos said the Marcos family could use the money to do humanitarian deeds.

"Pero baka may iba pa na kontrolado ng pamilya, eh di ayun ang maging subject ng panggagalingan ng philanthropic or humanitarian support, pero kusangloob na donation or compassionate contribution," he said.

Marcos' widow, Imelda, is the incumbent representative of Ilocos Norte's second district in Congress while his daughter, Imee, is the current governor of the province. Marcos' son, Bongbong, is a former senator who lost the vice presidential race in the May 2016 elections.

Meanwhile, Ramos said the victory of Republican candidate Donald Trump in the recently concluded US presidential elections also caught him by surprise, although he believes this might bode well for US relations with the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte. —KBK, GMA News