AFP: Tight security at Libingan merely to preserve facility's 'solemnity'

From the Philippine News Agency (Nov 21): AFP: Tight security at Libingan merely to preserve facility's 'solemnity'

Tight security will be implemented at the 103-hectare "Libingan Ng Mga Bayani" (LNMB), a military facility in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City to preserve the facility's "solemnity".

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public affairs office chief Col. Edgard Arevalo made this statement when asked about reports that relatives of soldiers buried at the Libingan are having difficulty entering the area due to heavy security.

"I have no exact information on that yet but what we can tell you is that the LNMB is a sacred place which must be respected and revered (as it is the final resting place of some of our heroes). It's not a public place, it is part and parcel of the reservation of the AFP and it's a military facility (which means no one can enter) without prior coordination with personnel tasked to man and secure it," he said in Filipino.

Arevalo also declined to comment on whether the beefing up of the security at the Libingan is due to the burial of the remains of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos there.

Marcos remains lie at the cemetery's 5,000 square meter Presidential Section, along with former presidents Carlos P. Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal and Elpidio Quirino.

The AFP has beefed up security in the cemetery amid protests following the sudden burial of Marcos.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=942086