THE Philippine Army has more than sufficient troops to secure the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, spokesperson Col. Benjamin Hao said on Saturday.
When asked whether the Army has increased security in the heroes’ cemetery in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling allowing the interment of former president Ferdinand E. Marcos at the LNMB, Hao said they have more than enough troops, though he did not cite exact figures.
Militant groups have threatened to conduct lightning protest actions at the LNMB should the former president be interred there.
As this develops, Hao said no final date has been set yet for Marcos’ burial in the cemetery.
“[As the designated protocol officer], I coordinated with the Marcos family and I asked them whether they have any concern we need to address, [and for the moment], they said they have none and they are still waiting for the final coordination on the date [of the former president’s burial],” he said in Filipino.
Hao earlier said the Army is ready to provide Marcos with military honors befitting his rank as former president.
“We will provide former president Marcos military honors befitting a president of our country. He will be given arrival honors by Army brigade-sized honor guards when his remains enter the LNMB,” he said. “He will also be given a 21-gun salute.”
The Army spokesperson said the former president’s casket will be carried by pallbearers, consisting of active-duty senior sergeants and generals, to his final resting place at the cemetery.
An earlier directive said the Army is required to provide a vigil, a bugler, a drummer, a firing party, a military host, pallbearers, an escort and transportation, and arrival and departure honors.
Hao earlier said representatives of the Marcos family have begun cleaning and making initial digs at the regulation 100-square meter plot former presidents are allotted in the LNMB’s 5,000-sq. m. Presidential Section.
The remains of three presidents, Carlos P. Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal and Elpidio Quirino, have been interred in the heroes’ cemetery.
Hao said the Presidential Section still has room for 46 more.