Mother Marcos ‘Died at 95, Buried at 96’? Wake Goes On

BATAC, Philippines — More than three months after her death, the body of Ferdinand E. Marcos’ mother is still unburied as her son’s dwindling followers maintain a wake in hopes the government will allow him to come home.

But civic leaders say that even here in “Marcos country,” many believe the time has come to place the body of Josefa Edralin-Marcos in the marble tomb prepared for her in the family cemetery in a swamp on the eastern edge of this town.

“To be frank with you, we have not been able to set a definite date,” said Marcos’ sister, Fortuna Barba, who attends daily prayer services before the open coffin in the family home.

Whatever sympathy Marcos may have hoped to generate by his appeal to come home appears to have dissipated in the months since his mother’s death.

Filipino newspapers rarely mention the ongoing wake. In a rare exception, the Manila Chronicle recently suggested an epitaph: “Here lies Dona Josefa Marcos, died at age 95, buried at age 96.”

Under a rotation system, residents take turns attending daily prayers before the casket. But attendance has dwindled from hundreds to a few dozen each day.

“The feeling seems to be that the woman has suffered enough and should be laid to rest,” a local priest said.