Marcos burial to end controversy

Marcos burial to end controversy

MANILA (DPA): President Joseph Estrada urged the family of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos yesterday to carry on with plans to bury the former chief executive in his hometown in the northern Philippines, scrapping a controversial interment at a heroes cemetery.

Estrada, who has been criticized for sanctioning the burial of Marcos at the Heroes Cemetery in Manila, said an interment in Batac, Ilocos Norte province, will finally resolve the controversy which bitterly divided the nation.

"We will not only be able to bury former President Marcos, but also the conflict," Estrada, 61, said. "I hope nobody will oppose this plan (burial at Batac)."

If the former first lady Imelda Marcos and her children decide to bury the late dictator in Batac, where his remains are kept in a refrigerated crypt, Estrada said his "critics would be deprived of an issue to use against (my) administration". vehicles having antitheft equipment and tougher police measures.