Editorial – Of closures and ‘flip-flopping’

PRESIDENT Noynoy Aquino said with finality last Wednesday that he would not sanction a hero’s burial for the late former President Ferdinand Marcos.
The President, whose father, senator Ninoy Aquino, was jailed and then assassinated during martial law, told foreign correspondents that to bury the late dictator at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Makati City would mean disrespect for Filipinos buried there for their great contributions to the country.
He said the victims of the late dictator’s regime have not been accorded an apology, the compensation bill is still pending; and that it would be the height of injustice to render any honors to the person who was “the direct mastermind of all their suffering.”
Most people who experienced life under martial rule agree with President Noynoy’s decision. But the question remains: does his stand put closure to this thorny issue which evaded resolution during the presidencies of Cory Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Arroyo? More pointedly, will other Presidents in the future agree with President Noynoy and not allow Marcos’s remains to be laid to rest in the hallowed burial grounds reserved only for authentic heroes?
Given that Filipinos are notorious for their short memory, and the balimbing mentality of many of them, we have our doubts. Even the Supreme Court is  now under fire from all quarters for recalling a supposedly “final” decision earlier reinstating 1,400 flight attendants and stewards of Philippine Airlines. Of course, this is not the first time the high tribunal had “flip-flopped” on a vital issue. Many city mayors say the high court’s somersaulting on the legal dispute over the creation of 16 new cities was even more controversial.
One wonders how the last bulwark of Philippine democracy would behave if the question of whether Marcos should be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani is brought before it for a legal verdict?