By Rey Panaligan and MB Online

The spokesman of the Supreme Court said there is no order prohibiting the burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos on Friday, November 18.

“There is no order prohibiting it because the status quo ante order (SQAO) has been lifted,” Te said in a text message to ABS-CBN News, referring to the November 8 decision by the Supreme Court.

By a vote of 9-5-1, the court ruled that President Rodrigo Duterte “acted within the bounds of law and jurisprudence” and “notwithstanding the call of human rights advocates, the Court must uphold what is legal and just; and that is not to deny Marcos his rightful place at the LNMB.”

The ruling did not explicitly state that it is immediately executory, hence the petitioners in the seven cases dismissed by the court have 15 days from receipt of the official copy of the decision to file their motions for reconsideration.

But Te said that “even if there is a 15-day period (to file motions for reconsideration), there was no order restraining the act.”

During last Tuesday’s full court session, the high court did not act on two motions that sought to reissue the SQAO as well as on the alternative plea to advise the military and the defense department, which the president tasked for funeral arrangements, to defer the burial pending finality of the SC decision.

The surprise burial held Friday noon has sparked both negative and positive reactions from the people.

In a press briefing in Peru, where President Duterte will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the president has allowed any form of mass action “as long as it is peaceful and in accordance with the law.”

Abella said Duterte has been informed of the surprise burial as soon as he arrived at the Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima.