The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday did not act on motions to exhume the remains of late former President Ferdinand E. Marcos buried at the LibinganngmgaBayani (LNMB) last Friday and to cite in contempt government officials who allowed the interment.

SC spokesman Theodore O. Te said the motions were included in the agenda during yesterday’s full court session, but the High Court justices decided to reset the deliberation next week.

According to reports, two SC justices –Diosdado M. Peralta and Estela B. PerlasBernabe – are on wellness leave.

Justice Peralta was the writer of the SC decision issued on Nov. 8 that allowed the burial of Marcos at the LNMB. Eight other justices, including Bernabe, joined in the decision.

Rescheduled for deliberation next week were the motions filed by Albay Rep. EdcelLagman to exhume the remains of Marcos, and that filed by former Bayan Muna Rep. SaturninoOcampoto cite in contempt officials of the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), including the Marcos heirs.

Lagman also asked the SC to order a forensic examination of the exhumed remains to determine with certainty if the “mortal remains” of Marcos were actually interred at the LNMB.

Lagman and Ocampo, both petitioners in the seven consolidated cases that were dismissed by the SC, said the Nov. 8 decision has not attained finality.

Several days after the issuance of the Nov. 8 decision, Lagman and Ocampo also asked the SC to re-issue the status quo ante order (SQAO) to stop the Marcos burial.

Their motions have not been acted upon by the SC. Legal quarters said the motions have become moot and academic with the burial held last Friday.

Earlier, Solicitor General Jose Calida had said the government cannot be cited for contempt of court by allowing the Marcos burial at the LNMB.

“No contempt because the government, through the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines did not violate any order of the Supreme Court,”Calida said.

“The petition for contempt has no legal basis because there was no more legal obstacle for the burial when the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions and lifted the status quo ante order in its decision last Nov. 8,” he said.

At the same time, Calida opposed the exhumation of the remains of the former President at the LNMB.“That is unChristian. I don’t think the SC will allow that,” he said.

No law

Meanwhile, Lagman pointed out that the main legal anchor of the SC’s decision to allow the burial of Marcos at the LNMB won’t hold ground.

“AFP Regulations G 161-375 dated Sept. 11, 2002 issued by the Department of National Defense, which was the principal basis of the SC’s majority decision that the late dictator is entitled to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani as a former President and soldier, is not even legally effective,” Lagman said.

According to the lawmaker, the supposed regulation is neither registered nor filed before the Office of the National Administrative Registrar (ONAR) of the University of the Philippines (UP) Law Complex.

Lagman, a former House Minority Leader, showed House reporters during a press conference Tuesday his copy of a certification stating this observation from ONAR dated Nov. 21, 2016.

“Since said AFP Regulation governing burials at the LNMB is not filed with the ONAR, no rights, privileges and obligations have accrued from said issuance or regulations.

“Consequently, there is no law or issuance which qualifies Marcos to be interred in the LNMB,” Lagman said, stressing that the supposed AFP directive “has no efficacy.”

Under the Administrative Code of 1987, it is indicated that “every agency shall file with the University of the Philippines Law Center three (3) certified true copies of every rule adopted by it”.

“Prevailing jurisprudence underscores the absence of efficacy of administrative rules not registered with the ONAR,” Lagman noted.

The LNMB was established in May 1947 as a republic memorial cemetery for the soldiers who perished in World War II.

100 cops guard LNMB

At the LNMB in Taguig, at least 100 policemen are currently deployed there everyday as tension is still high over the surprise burial of Marcos.

Senior Supt. Tomas Apolinario, director of the Southern Police District (SPD), said the move is to ensure peace and order in the area not only against anti-Marcos groups but also to the pro-Marcos groups visiting the tomb of the ousted dictator.

“It’s a sacred place so the LNMB management, they want to see that the entry of those who want to visit is organized because a lot of people are going there,” said Apolinario in a press briefing at Camp Crame.

The official justified the deployment, saying it is all for the assistance of hundreds of people who go to the LNMB on a daily basis.At one point since the November 18 burial, he said some 3,000 people went to the LNMB which means additional deployment to assist their entry and exit.

Thousands of people held lightning rallies to condemn the surprise Marcos burial on Nov. 18. They argued that the former president is not fit to be buried to the LNMB. (With reports from Ellson A. Quismorio and Aaron B. Recuenco)

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Rey G. Panaligan

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