The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday issued a status quo ante order (SQAO) that stopped the government for 20 days or until September 12 from proceeding with the burial of the late former President Ferdinand E. Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) in Taguig City.

In a press briefing, Spokesman Theodore O. Te said the SC, in a full court session, reset to August 31 the oral argument scheduled today (Aug. 24) on the six consolidated petitions against the burial.

The Status Quo Ante refers to “the state of affairs that preceded the onset of a controversy.” On the issue involving Marcos’ burial at the LNMB, the state of affairs before the controversy is that his remains lie in Batac, Ilocos Norte.

The SQAO was issued to Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea, Rear Admiral Ernesto C. Enriquez (in his capacity as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Reservist and Retiree Affairs, Armed Forces of the Philippines), the Grave Services Unit (Philippine Army), General Ricardo R. Visaya (in his capacity as the Chief of Staff, AFP), Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, and Philippine Veterans Affairs Office Administrator Lt. Gen. Ernesto G. Carolina (ret.) who are the respondents in the six petitions.

Te said the SC granted his office’s request to live stream the audio of the oral argument “subject to the usual conditions and restrictions imposed.”

The six petitions against the LNMB burial of Marcos were filed by the groups of Saturnino C. Ocampo and members of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detention at Aresto (SELDA); Rep. Edcel Lagman and the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND); former human rights commissioner Loretta Ann P. Rosales and members of the Coalition Against Marcos Burial; former Senator Heherson T. Alvarez and former government officials and members of the academe and the entertainment industry; and separate petitions of the groups of Zaira Patricia Baniaga and Algamar A. Latiph.

Earlier, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), representing the respondents, had asked the SC to dismiss the petitions.

On top of other procedural and substantive arguments contained in its comment, the OSG said the challenge against the decision of President Duterte to bury the remains of Marcos at the LNMB is a political question that cannot be resolved by the SC.

It said the petitioners’ arguments “readily reveal the political, and, hence, non-justiciable nature of the petitions.”

“In essence, petitioners assail the wisdom behind President Duterte’s decision to inter the remains of a former President at the LNMB, made pursuant to the Constitution, laws, rules, and regulations,” the OSG said.

It pointed out that the “term political question connotes a question of policy. It refers to those questions which, under the Constitution, are to be decided by the people in their sovereign capacity, or in regard to which full discretionary authority has been delegated to the Legislature or Executive branch of the government. It is concerned with issues dependent upon the wisdom, not legality, of a particular measure.”

“Such is the nature of the question for determination in the present case. Here, this Honorable Court is called upon to decide the wisdom behind the decision of the incumbent President to inter the remains of former President Marcos in the LNMB,” it said.

“In the exercise of his powers under the Constitution and the Administrative Code, President Duterte, in his wisdom, deems it appropriate to inter the remains of former President Marcos in a parcel of land of the public domain devoted for the purpose of being a military shrine…,” it stressed.

“It should likewise be emphasized that President Duterte’s order to allow former President Marcos’ interment at the LNMB is based on his determination that it shall promote national healing and forgiveness, and redound to the benefit of the Filipino people. Surely, this is an exercise of his executive prerogative beyond the ambit of judicial review,” the OSG pointed out.

In their comment, the Marcos heirs supported the government’s justifications in the interment of the late former President at the LNMB.

They told the SC the petitioners in the cases failed to point out clear and unmistakable rights or grave injury that they would suffer as a result of the interment.

“Allegations of violations of human rights personally experienced by petitioners and of others, in general, after declaration of martial law on Sept. 21, 1972, are denied. Apart from being irrelevant to the issue at hand, the allegations may not be assumed as facts but needs to be established with competent evidence,” they stressed.

They also said that the “allegations of the arrest and torture of many people, among whom are allegedly the petitioners, and their arrest and torture imputed to the President may not be assumed.”

They joined the OSG in asking the SC to dismiss the petitions for lack of merit.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Rey G. Panaligan

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]