THE Supreme Court (SC) affirmed Tuesday with finality its November 2016 decision allowing the burial late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB).
In a 10-5 vote, the SC en banc dismissed the pleadings filed by anti-Marcos groups led by Albay Representative Edcel Lagman and former Bayan Muna party-list representative Satur Ocampo.
Both the motion for reconsideration and the motion to exhume Marcos' remains that were transferred to the cemetery last November 18, filed respectively by the groups opposing the plan to transfer the body of the late president at the LNMB, have been dismissed by the high court.
Those who voted to junk the petitions were Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco, Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Diosdado Perlata, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano Del Castillo, Jose Mendoza and Estrella Perlas-Bernabe.
Newly appointed Associate Justices Samuel Martires, Noel Tijam and Andres Reyes also joined the majority.
Dissenters were Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, Marvic Leonen, Francis Jardaleza and Benjamin Caguioa.
Lagman, in his motion, said the SC should order the exhumation of Marcos' remains as the burial was "premature, precipitate and irregular."
It can be recalled that the Marcos family, including Ilocos Norte Governor Imee and former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., surprised the nation when they transferred the remains of their father secretly from Batac, Ilocos Norte to the LNMB on November 18.
On November 8, the SC voting 9-5-1 dismissed all seven petitions challenging President Rodrigo Duterte's move to allow Marcos to be interred at the heroes' cemetery.
The high court said that the President did not gravely abuse his discretion but exercised his mandate under the 1987 Constitution.
The SC also said that Marcos could be interred at the LNMB as he is a former president, legislator, secretary of national defense, a military man and a medal of valor awardee.
Malacanang said it hoped that the final ruling of the SC on the issue of Marcos' burial at the LNMB would put the issue to rest.
In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella welcomed the high court's ruling to junk the motions to reconsider the burial of Marcos at the heroes' cemetery.
Abella said it is about time that the Filipino people focus on "working for a comfortable life for all, law and order, and lasting peace."
"We acknowledge the decision of the Supreme Court as the final arbiter of all legal questions," Abella said.
"We hope the matter on the FM Libingan ng mga Bayani will be laid to rest, and that the country will move forward as one united nation working for a comfortable life for all, law and order, and lasting peace," he added.
The National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL), which represented the petitioners led by Ocampo, said the SC's decision is "unfortunate and disappointing."
"Unfortunate and disappointing. What do we tell our children and generations to come who to emulate?," NUPL President Edre Olalia in a text message said.
"It does not inspire and even virtually canonizes a fascist dictator thief but the evil that men do is remembered after their deaths," he added.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said they will continue to fight against the Marcoses' return in MalacaƱang.
"Despite the legal setbacks before the SC, the fight against the Marcos restoration continues," the group said. "What is important now is the struggle to uphold the judgment of history."
The militant group said they will continue to speak about the atrocities that happened during the Marcos regime to educate the young people.
"The education campaign on Martial Law and the Marcos dictatorship continues. Calls to hold the Marcoses accountable continue. The younger generation must know the truth about the Marcos dictatorship," Bayan said.
Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989. His remains have since been kept in an air-conditioned crypt in the Marcos Museum when the body was brought back to the Philippines in 1993. (SunStar Philippines)