A Philippine court has approved Ferdinand Marcos' remains being moved to
the country's national Heroes' Cemetery in a controversial verdict that will
elevate the legacy of the late dictator. Marcos killed, jailed and tortured
more than 100,000 people and plundered US$10 billion ($12.9 billion) in state
funds before he was toppled in a 1986 popular revolt, historians say.
Marcos also
lied about having received medals, including the Distinguished Service Cross,
during World War II, according to the National Historical Commission of the
Philippines.
The verdict
delivered on Tuesday in the Philippine Supreme Court is a victory for
newly-elected president Rodrigo Duterte, who has fashioned himself as
Marcos-like strongman since being swept into power in May.
Nine judges
voted in favour and five against the re-burial in a verdict that is likely to
further widen a divide between Filipinos who pine for Marcos'
authoritarian-style rule and those alarmed by human rights abuses under Mr
Duterte, whose crackdown on drugs has left thousands dead.
The court
heard heated exchanges as victims of the brutal Marcos years and human rights
activists argued against the move.
Mr Duterte
has openly admired Marcos and is a close friend of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who
narrowly lost a bid to become vice-president at the May elections.
"He was
a great president and he was a hero. He had the idealism, the vision for this
country," Mr Duterte told reporters in September, referring to Marcos'
rule from 1969 until millions of protesters took to the streets in 1986 to force
him to flee the country with his family and top cronies.
Debate over
the re-burial forced a national reckoning over a contentious period of
Philippine history.
Mr Duterte's
reversal of a ban by previous presidents and his appeasing of the still powerful
and rich Marcos clan prompted anti-Marcos protests on Manila's streets over
recent weeks.
Protesters
stood outside the court on Tuesday behind banners that read "Marcos is no
hero".
Hundreds of
pro-Marcos supporters were also there, arguing the former president deserved a
heroes' burial not only as a former president but also a supposed decorated war
hero and leader of a guerrilla unit that fought Japan's occupying troops during
the war.
But the
National Historical Commission opposed moving the "eternally
embalmed" body that has been on display in a mausoleum in Marcos' northern
home town of Batac City, saying his war record was "fraught with myths,
factual inconsistencies and lies".
The
commission accused Marcos of lying about how he served in a guerrilla unit and
how he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel by 1947. Some research even
indicated that he collaborated with the Japanese.
The US
military, which holds all official World War II records related to the
Philippines during the last war, has backed the commission's findings,
including conclusions over Marcos' bogus medals.
Marcos'
86-year-old wife Imelda, who is best known for leaving behind more than 1000
pars of shoes in 1986, has been pushing for her husband's remains to be moved
to the Heroes' Cemetery since she accompanied the body back from exile in 1993,
four years after his death.
Mrs Marcos
was re-elected unopposed as a district congress woman in May and her daughter
Imee is the governor of the family's home province of Ilocos Norte.
Around
49,000 bodies are buried on 256-acre cemetery on military land, including late
presidents, artists, scientists, dignitaries, military and police chiefs. SMH
Lindsay Murdoch
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