MANILA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- A senior Philippine government official said Monday that a previous agreement, supposedly signed between the Philippine government and the family of former President Ferdinand Marcos about the location of his burial, does not bind President Rodrigo Duterte who has the discretion and authority to amend or modify certain arrangements made before him.
Salvador Panelo, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel, said he has not yet seen the said agreement which supposedly stated that the body of Marcos would be allowed to return to the country provided that it is not buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, Heroes' Cemetery.
Filipinos who were tortured, jailed, raped, illegally arrested and whose relatives disappeared when Philippine former President Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial law in 1972 asked the Supreme Court on Monday to stop the government's plan to bury him in the heroes' cemetery.
"For one, assuming there is an agreement, it does not bind the President because that was entered into by previous presidents," he said of the reported agreement signed between the Marcoses and the government under then President Fidel Ramos.
He added that based on his understanding of former interior secretary and ally of Ramos, Rafael Alunan III, the agreement and conditions stated were made based on the circumstances then.
Panelo said the circumstances at present may already be different from the conditions now.
He cited for instance that Duterte, with the overwhelming support from the public during the May 2016 elections, has the authority to make decisions and arrangements that he sees fit and applicable to the present time like allowing the burial to finally put an end to the issue and allow the country to finally move forward.
Panelo said Duterte, having promised during the campaign that he would allow the burial of Marcos if he becomes president, is also just making true his earlier campaign promise.
He said voters are well aware of Duterte's stand even before he became president and still voted for him which means that the public is giving him the authority to fulfil his promise.
Panelo added that the burial of Marcos, apart from being allowed under the law, does not change the fact that the state at one time had recognized that there were human rights violation under the Marcos presidency and is in fact in the process of indemnifying the victims.
Under the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Regulation 161-375, those who may be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani include soldiers, veterans and former presidents, among others.
Malacanang earlier said there is no date set yet as to when the burial would occur but said that Marcos would be accorded honors fit for a president.
The former president died in 1989 in Hawaii or three years after he was booted out of power and forced to leave the country following the Edsa People Power Revolution of 1986.
His body had been flown back in 1993 and had been in state in his hometown of Batac in Ilocos Norte in northern part of the country since then.
