HOLY LIGHT. Members of the St. Alfonso’s Theological and Mission Institute light candles during the anti-Marcos rally in Davao City on Nov. 25 . (Medel V. Hernani/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Weeks after the government’s Freedom of Information portal was launched, an anti-Marcos group said it would invoke FOI to request the pertinent documents that approved the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Heroes’ Cemetery.
The FOI portal, which was launched last Nov. 25 allows the public to request documents from the government. For the time being, the public could only access limited information from the following agencies: Budget and Finance, Health, Information and Communications Technology, Justice, Transportation, Police, among others.
Mags Maglana, spokesperson of Konsyensya Dabaw told DavaoToday in an interview Monday, that they want to see the request letter of the Marcoses to President Rodrigo Duterte and the military’s order that allowed the burial to push through even with the standing 15 days for the petitioners to file a motion for reconsideration.
“We want to ascertain that all the dealings were above board,” Maglana said. Should in case the documents are not available, Maglana said that they would ask for an explanation.
It can be recalled that earlier on, Duterte said there was a request coming from the Marcoses to bury their father at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, implying that such such order did not come from the President.
“If that was a request, we will request for that letter,” Maglana said. Apart from the letter of request from the Marcoses, the group would also seek the documents from both the National Police and the Armed Forces.
“What were their bases on going ahead? They really went behind the law. Is the President okay with allowing some of his officials to make a move without his knowledge?” Maglana asked.
Maglana said the government must be transparent to the public in the wake of the Marcos burial issue since it involves the public.
“People will not trust the government given that anything controversial could happen if there will be no documents to support this,” she said. (davaotoday.com)
