Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos receives flowers from residents and local officials on her 61st birthday.

MANILA - Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos turned 61 on Saturday without making any birthday wish, saying the Supreme Court has already given her the only thing she could ask for: a ruling allowing the burial of her father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LBNM).

“Naibigay na ng Supreme Court ang hatol na ilibing na ang ating Apo Lakay, Apo Presidente Marcos, sa Libingan ng mga Bayani. Sa wakas, magagampanan ko na rin ang aking katungkulan bilang eldest, bilang panganay,” the governor said when asked what her birthday wish was.

(The Supreme Court has already issued a ruling for our Apo Lakay, Apo President Marcos to be interred at the Heroes' Cemetery. Finally, I can now fulfill my duty as his eldest child.)



The younger Marcos spent her birthday distributing relief aid to the victims of the October onslaught of Super Typhoon "Lawin" in the towns of Dingras, Pagudpud and Laoag in Ilocos Norte.

She also attended Mass at St. William’s Cathedral in Laoag City, ate with residents in a boodle fight, and received flowers, cakes and gifts from the townspeople and local officials.

Marcos thanked her fellow Ilocanos for their unwavering loyalty to her family which she said helped them in the legal battle for her father's burial at the LBNM.

A final schedule for the burial has yet to be set.

“I think balak ng lahat na wala namang nais magkaroon ng mabonggang at marangyang funeral, gawin na as soon as possible, ano man ‘yun, depende na sa AFP, sila naman ang nakakaintindi ng kaayusan at kung papaano,” Marcos said.

(I think no one is planning for an extravagant funeral. We just want it done as soon as possible but it will depend on the AFP since they understand the protocol.)

Prior to the funeral, the Marcos family may hold a wake for their patriarch for nine days, the governor said, although she is not sure whether this could be held in three churches in Ilocos Norte.

Voting 9-5 with one inhibition, the SC junked Tuesday seven consolidated petitions that sought to block the Duterte administration's green signal for transferring the remains of Marcos to the LBNM from a mausoleum in Ilocos Norte.

Petitioners are set to file a motion for reconsideration asking the high court to reverse its ruling.

-- Report from Grace Alba, ABS-CBN News