MANILA,
Nov. 12 (PNA) --- The Philippine Army has more than sufficient troops to secure
the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, its
spokesperson, Col. Benjamin Hao, has said.
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-sq.-meter plot former presidents are
allotted in the LNMB's 5,000-sq. meter 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.
