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The lady has spoken.
In a rare sit-down interview, Ilocos Norte Representative and former First Lady Imelda Marcos expressed disappointment with President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III because of reports that he would not allow a hero's burial for former president Ferdinand Marcos.
"Can you imagine, a man like Ferdinand, a man with 32 [World War II] medals, and yet he [Aquino] does not honor the awards given by our allies?" Imelda told Yahoo! Southeast Asia.
"Takot na takot ako. (I am so afraid.) I am afraid of him [Aquino] especially on things like that…when people do not make good decisions," she added.
Imelda said it would be a great "injustice to the dead" if the Aquino administration would continue to deprive the former president an honorable burial.
The Marcos family had long wanted to bury their patriarch in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, a resting place for former presidents, secretaries of the national defense, military officers, and soldiers killed in action.
Marcos, who declared martial law and ruled the country for two decades, died in Hawaii on September 28, 1989 due to kidney failure. His body was brought back to the Philippines on 1993, almost a decade after he was ousted via the popular 1986 revolt.
His embalmed corpse is still in a mausoleum in Batac, Ilocos Norte as the family awaits permit for a hero's burial.
Aquino, whose father Ninoy was Marcos's staunchest critic, was quoted as saying in reports that a hero's burial will not take place "during my watch."
Earlier, Aquino maintained a hands off stance on the burial issue and, instead, tasked Vice President Jejomar Binay to decide on the matter. Binay then recommended that former president be buried with full military honors in the Marcos family's hometown.
But the late strongman's widow said even Binay's proposal might not be enough. "When you show honor, there should be no limit," she said. "I was a little disappointed because he went on a long trail of expensive survey and 70 percent approved an honorable burial."
In any case, the widow is merely waiting for "divine guidance." She quipped, "There's always an answer, a divine plan. What the Lord awaits for him is not [just] an honorable burial but a sacred burial."
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