The Department of Justice will study if Vice President Sara Duterte violated any laws with her remark about exhuming the remains of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and dumping it in the sea.

“There are many issues involved here — it desecrates the memory of a person, disturbs the peaceful state he should be in after death, and there are several moral principles that may have been breached,” said Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla.

“We are examining the legal aspects, we’re conducting a study,” he added.

Remulla described Duterte’s remark, made during a recent press briefing, as “very disturbing” and inappropriate for someone of her rank, stating that the comments were unbecoming of the country’s second highest official.

“For someone of her rank, the remarks were very disturbing and unbecoming. They do not reflect well on the dignity of her office. The office must be treated as sacred in many ways, and speaking in that manner is inappropriate,” Remulla said.

In a rant during her press conference, Duterte threatened to exhume the late dictator’s remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani and throw it in the West Philippine Sea if the Marcos family didn’t stop criticizing her.

The Vice President said she made the threat to Senator Imee Marcos, the late president’s daughter, during a group chat.

“If you don’t stop, I will dig up your father’s grave and throw him into the WPS,” she said she told the senator.