Legal implications of VP's Marcos Sr. threat to be studied — DOJ

A legal study will be conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to assess whether Vice President Sara Duterte violated any laws with her remarks about exhuming former President Ferdinand Marcos’ remains and dumping them at sea.

This was according to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, who said the comments could be seen as disrespecting the memory of the deceased, disturbing the peace of the former dictator’s final resting place, and potentially breaching moral principles.

“There are many approaches there, but it desecrates the memory of a person, it desecrates the peaceful state that he must be in, having already perished, and it disturbs the body. And there are many other moral principles that are being violated, and we’re looking at the legal aspects also. We’re conducting a study,” Remulla said.

The remarks of Duterte during a recent press briefing were described by Remulla as “very disturbing” and inappropriate for someone of her rank, calling the statement unbecoming for the country’s second-highest official.

“Very disturbing. For a person of her rank, the second highest official of the land, the remarks are unbecoming, I think. And it does not augur well for the dignity of the office. So we have to treat the office as sacred, I mean, in many ways. And to speak that way is unbecoming. is sacred in many ways. And to speak that way is unbecoming,” Remulla said.

It arose after Duterte reportedly threatened to dig up the remains of the late dictator and throw them into the West Philippine Sea if the Marcos family continued to criticize her.

The vice president disclosed that she had made the threat to Senator Imee Marcos, the president’s sister, during a group chat. He said in the recent interview, “If you don’t stop, I will dig up your father’s grave and throw him into the WPS.”