MANILA, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The spokesman of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday that the burial of the remains of ousted President Ferdinand Marcos will take place within the year.
Asked if there is a date set already for the interment, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said, "The best we can say is it will be within the year."
In an interview with local media on Thursday, Imee Marcos, the eldest daughter of Ferdinand Marcos, said that her family wants a "simple soldier's burial" for her father. "He's a simple, rather austere man," she added.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Marcos' remains can be interred in the heroes' cemetery, saying there is no law that bars Marcos from being buried in the cemetery reserved for former presidents and soldiers. Marcos was also a soldier before he became president.
Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling, Duterte reiterated that he simply "followed the law."
Marcos's embalmed body is currently on display in his home city of Batac in Ilocos Norte province north of Manila.
Marcos was elected in 1965 and he declared martial law in 1972.
Millions of Filipinos took to the streets in February 1986, deposing Marcos and his wife, Imelda. The Marcoses was forced to flee to Hawaii where the elder Marcos died in 1989. His body was brought back to the Philippines in 1993.
The Marcos family has long lobbied for an honorable burial in the heroes' cemetery. But the anti-Marcos and human rights groups had vehemently opposed the plan, saying the disgraced leader does not deserve a military honor and a plot in the hallowed ground.
