Burial of Ferdinand Marcos

Burial of Ferdinand Marcos

The grave of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, taken in 2018
Date	November 18, 2016 (2016-11-18) July 11, 1998 (1998-07-11) (cancelled)
Location	Libingan ng mga Bayani, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines
Type	Burial
Burial	Ferdinand Marcos

This article is part of a series about Ferdinand Marcos
Early life Military career Stonehill scandal Prime Minister Presidency Cult of personality Economy Monopolies Cronies Coco Levy Fund scam Gintong Alay Timeline Communist insurgency Moro conflict First term 1965 election 1st Inauguration balance of payments crisis Second term 1969 election campaign 2nd Inauguration First Quarter Storm Plaza Miranda bombing Vietnam War Martial law Proclamation No. 1081 Human rights abuses Torture Rolex 12 Escalante Massacre Chico River Dam Project Masagana 99 Bataan Nuclear Power Plant Journalism Resistance Religious Indigenous Workers Protest art Protest music Third and fourth terms 1981 election and referendum 3rd inauguration Assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr. 1986 election 4th inauguration People Power Revolution Family Mariano (father) Pacifico (brother) Imelda (wife) Bongbong (son) Imee (daughter) Irene (daughter) Aimee (daughter) Unexplained wealth Overseas landholdings Marcos mansions Marcos jewels Tallano gold conspiracy theory Legacy Burial Historical distortion Bust Solid North Marcos Japanese ODA scandal Operation Big Bird Marcos in film Related "Conjugal dictatorship" Edifice complex
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The burial of Ferdinand Marcos, a former Philippine President who ruled as a dictator for 21 years,^[1][2][3][4] took place on November 18, 2016, at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (lit. 'Cemetery of (the) Heroes') in Fort Andres Bonifacio, Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines.^[5] Marcos had been elected the 10th President of the Philippines in 1965, but declared Martial Law in 1972 before his final constitutionally allowed term was over, holding on to power until his overthrow by the People Power Revolution in 1986.

The burial of Marcos, who died in 1989, at the Libingan ng mga Bayani has been a controversial issue as objectors, including victims of human rights violations during the dictator's brutal period of rule and participants of the People Power Revolution, have opposed attempts to bury Marcos citing the rampant corruption and cronyism of his administration; its practice of silencing dissent through arrests, disappearances, and torture by the police and military; and his family's infamous kleptocracy amounting to an estimated US$10 billion worth of stolen money that had earned Ferdinand and his wife Imelda.^[6][7][8][9] Opinion on his burial was split: 50% of the 1,800 respondents of a survey conducted by SWS in February 2016 said Marcos "was worthy to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani" while the other half rejected a hero's burial.^[10]

There were conflicting claims on where the deceased Marcos wished to be buried. Former Interior Secretary Rafael Alunan III, one of the signatories of an agreement to move Marcos' body from Hawaii to the Philippines during the term of then-President Fidel V. Ramos, said that Marcos wished to be buried beside his mother Josefa in his hometown in Batac, Ilocos Norte, while his wife Imelda Marcos said that his wish was to be buried in Manila insisting that he should be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Former presidents Corazon Aquino, who had ousted Marcos during the People Power Revolution, and Fidel V. Ramos had opposed moves to bury Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani during their respective terms, while former president Joseph Estrada attempted to bury Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani but later canceled the burial. President Benigno Aquino III, Corazon Aquino's son, decided not to allow the body of Marcos to be buried at the cemetery.^[11] His successor Rodrigo Duterte, during the campaign period and debates as well as when he had won the presidential election, repeatedly asserted his plans for the burial of the remains, claiming that the act was in accordance with the existing laws of the Philippines and insisting that the burial would be an instrument for the beginning of "nation-wide healing". The plan was met with criticism due to its perceived historical revisionism. After it was delayed on September 13, 2016, then again on October 18 that same year, the Supreme Court permitted, on November 8, Ferdinand Marcos' burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.^[12] The burial of Marcos, with military honors, was conducted in a private ceremony on November 18, 2016^[13] and resulted in nationwide protests by groups, sectors, and personalities opposing the burial of Marcos at the state cemetery.^[14]