Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 8) — Voting 10-5, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled with finality junking petitions against the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB).

Those who approved the ruling were Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco, Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, Samuel Martires, Jose Mendoza, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Noel Tijam, and Bienvenido Reyes.

The five who dissented were Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, and Associate Justices Marvic Leonen, Francis Jardeleza, and Alfredo Caguioa.

The Supreme Court first dismissed the petitions on November 8, 2016, after over two months of hearing oral arguments, finally allowing Marcos' burial at the Libingan by a vote of 9-5, with the same five justices opposing the ruling.

Marcos' remains were buried at the LNMB on November 18 — 27 years after his death — after being transported from the Marcos Museum and Mausoleum in Batac, his hometown in Ilocos Norte.

President Rodrigo Duterte on August 7, 2016 ordered Marcos' burial at the Heroes' Cemetery, prompting the Philippine Army to start its preparations amid pending petitions of martial law victims at the Supreme Court.

On August 23, the High Court issued a stay order to stop the preparations.

One of the junked petitions was filed by the National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL), as they disagreed with the procedural questions and the substantive issues.

NUPL president Atty. Edre Olalia said the Supreme Court ruling is "unfortunate and utterly disappointing."

"What do we tell our children and generations to come who to emulate? It does not inspire & even virtually canonizes a fascist dictator thief. But the evil that men do is remembered after their deaths. They must be exorcised in time," Olalia said.

Olalia is also the legal counsel of some of the petitioners.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said they "acknowledge the decision of the Supreme Court as the final arbiter of all legal questions."

"We hope the matter on the Ferdinand Marcos - Libingan ng Mga Bayani will finally 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," Abella added.

CNN Philippines' Anjo Alimario and Ver Marcelo contributed to this report.</s>In a 10-5 vote, the Supreme Court denies the motions for reconsideration filed by groups opposing the burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani

MANILA, Philippines – Voting 10-5, the Supreme Court (SC) en banc upheld on Tuesday, August 8, its earlier decision granting a hero's burial for the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

"The Court, voting 10-5, denied the motions for reconsideration filed by petitioners of the Court's decision dated November 8, 2016," SC Spokesman Theodore Te said in a news briefing on Tuesday. (READ: Marcos buried at Libingan ng mga Bayani)

The controversial decision last year was appealed by 7 groups, some of which were led by opposition lawmakers Albay 1st District Representative Edcel Lagman and detained Senator Leila de Lima.

Marcos was buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on November 18, 2016 or 10 days after the SC decision, despite the appeals filed by anti-Marcos groups. (READ: TIMELINE: The Marcos burial controversy)

The 5 justices who dissented the first time remain the dissenters in the new decision: Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, and Associate Justices Marvic Leonen, Francis Jardeleza, and Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa. (READ: Marcos burial: What did the dissenting SC justices say?)

Newly-appointed Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr voted in favor of the Marcos burial, joining Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta (ponente), Presbitero Velasco Jr, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, Teresita de Castro, Jose Mendoza, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Noel Tijam, and Samuel Martires.

A copy of the decision explaining the specific grounds for the dismissal of the appeals was not yet available on Tuesday.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said Malacañang acknowledges the SC decision as "the final arbiter of all legal questions."

Abella added, "We hope the matter ... will finally 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."

President Rodrigo Duterte had ordered the hero's burial for Marcos as a fulfillment of the campaign promise he made to the Marcos family and to Ilocanos. (READ: Duterte on Marcos burial: Let history judge, I followed law) – Rappler.com</s>MALACANANG has welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court to junk “with finality” a motion for reconsideration on the burial of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB).

READ: SC puts last nail on coffin against transfer of Marcos remains out of ‘Libingan’

“We acknowledge the decision of the Supreme Court as the final arbiter of all legal questions,” Palace spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

“We hope the matter on the FM Libingan ng Mga Bayani will finally 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 high court struck down the motion and a petition filed by the group of Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay to exhume Marcos’ remains.

The Supreme Court, voting 9-5 with one inhibition, had junked the petitions seeking to block the burial last year, ruling that the petitions had no merit.

Despite protests, the late strongman was buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on November 18, 2016. The public did not know of the plan and was only informed about it a couple of hours before the actual event.

President Rodrigo Duterte had stood firm on his decision to allow Marcos’ burial despite calls by some sectors for him to change his mind.

Duterte has said he was simply following the law about allowing soldiers and ex-presidents to be buried at the heroes’ cemetery.</s>THE Supreme Court (SC) has put the last nail on the coffin and finally laid to rest the issue on exhuming the body of former president Ferdinand Marcos from Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) when it denied with finality motions for reconsideration on the transfer and burial of his remains elsewhere, a Supreme Court source privy to the draft of the decision told The Manila Times.

At the en banc deliberations on Tuesday, majority of the magistrates dismissed the petitions filed by Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay; Loretta Ann Pargas-Rosales, former human rights chairman; former Sen. Heherson Alvarez; Zaira Patricia Baniaga; Algamar Latiph; and Sen. Leila De Lima.

Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta is the ponente on the case.

Also, the indirect contempt filed by the petitioners against the Marcos family and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for allowing the burial despite the pending appeals were dismissed by the high court.

“Wherefore, the motions for reconsideration as well as the motion/petition to exhume Marcos’ remains at the LNMB are denied with finality. The petition for indirect contempt in G.R. No. 228186 and G.R. No. 228245 are dismissed for lack of merit,” said the source, quoting from the draft ponencia of Peralta.

Three new Supreme Court justices, all appointees of Preident Rodrigo Duterte, participated and voted on the case — Samuel Martires, Noel Tijam and Andres Reyes Jr.

This Tuesday also marks the last day for Associate Justice Jose Catral Mendoza to participate in the last en banc session of the high court before his retirement on August 13 as he turns 70.

The entire nation was caught by surprise when the remains of Marcos were flown from Ilocos Norte to the LNMB for his burial despite the fact that the high tribunal ruling on November 8, 2016 was not final and still the subject of a motion for reconsideration that was within the mandatory 15-day period to appeal the high court’s decision.

In his petition, Lagman said:

* the Marcos’ burial at the LNMB would not lead to closure;

* AFP Regulations G 161-375 dated September 11, 2002 issued by the Department of National Defense was not effective and enforceable, and consequently, it could not be the basis for the interment of Marcos in the LNMB;

* there were laws and Supreme Court decisions which militated against and effectively prohibited the Marcos burial in the LNMB;

* the message of the EDSA people power revolution was clear and resounding: Marcos was ousted for being a despot, plunderer and violator of human rights;

* when the totality of Marcos as a man would be weighed in the balance, whatever achievements he did for the country were completely nullified by his cardinal sins against the nation, for which he was not entitled to be buried in the LNMB;

* the Marcos family had waived his burial in the LNMB 24 years ago;

* the petitions did not involve a political question, which is an almost extinct invocation;

* respondents committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction;

* petitioners have legal personality to file cases, did not violate the “hierarchy of courts” doctrine, and did not have to exhaust administrative remedies;

* Marcos did not deserve the honor of being interred in the LNMB even as a former president and soldier per se.

In the separate petitions filed before the Supreme Court en banc, Martial Law activists, led by former Bayan Muna Reps. Satur Ocampo and Neri Colmenares, asked to to cite in contempt the Marcos family and some military officials for the unannounced burial despite the non-attainment of finality of the case before the high court.

Respondents to the case are Rear Admiral Ernesto Enriquez, Deputy Chief of Staff for Reservist and Retiree Affairs; Armed Forces of the Philippines chief General Ricardo Visaya; Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana; and the heirs of the late strongman, represented by his spouse, Ilocos Norte Representative Imelda Marcos and children Imee, Ferdinand Jr., and Irene.</s>SC rules with finality in favor of FM burial

The Supreme Court declared final yesterday its November 8, 2016 decision that allowed the burial of President Ferdinand E. Marcos at the Li-bingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City.

During its full court session, the SC denied all the motions to reconsider the decision, including the plea for the exhumation of Marcos’ remains at the LNMB.



A copy of the SC’s resolution that denied the motions was not immediately available.

In its November 8 decision, the SC ruled that President Duterte “committed no grave abuse of discretion in ordering that the remains of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos be buried in the LNMB because this was done in the exercise of his mandate under Article 7, Section 17 of the 1987 Constitution to ensure the faithful execution of all laws and there is no law that prohibits the burial of the Marcos remains at the LNMB.”

With the ruling, the SC dismissed the seven consolidated petitions and lifted the status quo ante order it issued on August 23, 2016. The decision was written by Justice Diosdado M. Peralta.

Ten days after the issuance of the decision, the Marcos family transferred the remains of President Marcos to the LNMB considering that the SQAO had been lifted and there was no restraining order issued as a result of the filing of the motions for reconsideration.

SC spokesman Theodore O. Te at that time said “even if there is a 15-day period (to file motions for reconsideration from receipt of the copy of the decision), there was no order restraining the act,” the transfer of the remains from Marcos’ hometown in Batac City, Ilocos Norte to the LNMB.

The seven petitions against the Marcos burial at the LNMB were filed by the groups of Saturnino Ocampo, Rep. Edcel Lagman, Loreta Ann Rosales, Heherson Alvarez, Zaira Patrician Baniaga, Algamar Latiph, and Sen. Leila M. de Lima.

Almost all the petitions claimed that LNMB burial of Marcos is “illegal and contrary to law, public policy, morals, and justice” as it would violate Republic Act No. 289 and RA 10368, the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act.
The Supreme Court of the Philippines has junked all petitions against the burial of former President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, re-affirming its earlier ruling on 8 November 2016.