Sara warned Imee: I’ll dig up Marcos Sr.’s body
Vice President Sara Duterte on Friday said she had warned the family of President Marcos that she would dig up the body of their patriarch, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., and dump it into the sea if they continued to attack her, giving the public a graphic peek into the bitter feud between the two most powerful political families in the country.
“I told Senator Imee (Marcos), if you don’t stop, I will dig the grave of your father and I will throw him to the WPS (West Philippine Sea),” she told reporters in an interview. “One of these days, I will really go there and get his body.”
Duterte said she made the threat to the senator, the elder sister of the President, in a “group chat” that included other people she did not identify.
“I don’t think she responded to that, I can’t remember,” she said.
Duterte did not say when she posted the threat to her online group.
Libingan burial
She spoke about it in response to reporters’ questions about the widening rift between her and the President. The two were the formidable “Uniteam” tandem in the 2022 polls after years of what seemed to be a strong political alliance.
The dictator and the President’s namesake, died in 1989 while in exile in Hawaii where the Marcoses fled after he was ousted in the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution.
After years of hesitation to bury him at Libingan ng mga Bayani by all previous administrations, Duterte’s father, then President Rodrigo Duterte, decided in November 2016, just months after taking office, that the remains of the elder Marcos be buried there as he was a former president and a soldier.
His decision was challenged in the Supreme Court by opponents of the Marcos martial law regime and survivors of torture and other human rights violations, who argued that it was “illegal and contrary to law, public policy, morals and justice.”
Opponents also cited ex-President Duterte’s political debt to the Marcos family, which supported his campaign for the presidency.
The court, however, ruled that the remains of Marcos Sr. could stay at Libingan as he was a former president.
The way the Vice President spewed threats against Mr. Marcos was reminiscent of her father’s own threats against his critics, especially during his long-winded, vitriolic and curse-laden speeches and press briefings.
‘Megamillion’ smear job
Duterte claimed that she was the target of a “megamillion” public relations attack.
She is the subject of a highly publicized congressional inquiry into the alleged misuse of public funds, including secret funds, by the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education when she headed it.
Duterte became agitated when she brought up last week’s comments by Mr. Marcos who said that he may have been “deceived” by the Vice President regarding their friendship. It was his response to Duterte’s statement that she and the President were never really friends.
“When I heard that claim of deception, I thought I won’t answer it because, for the love of God, you’re a president now. Do you still give weight to your feelings when you’re a president? When you’re a president, your tears, fatigue and stress take a back seat to the country and its people,” she said.
Duterte followed with more jabs at Mr. Marcos, telling him: “You took time to even think about a woman’s deception? You got a lot of spare time then. Shouldn’t you prioritize hunger, fuel prices and whether people could afford … ‘noche buena’ on their tables this Christmas?”
She said that a certain “triangle” is out to discredit and taint her credibility as a public official, identifying first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos as part of that group. She refused to name the others.
Who’s more deserving?
Duterte said that once, she was so angered at the President that she imagined herself decapitating him, showing with a gesture of her hand slicing off his head. That was when Mr. Marcos refused to give his watch to one graduate, who asked for it as a graduation gift at commencement rites they both attended.
On the issue of impeachment, Duterte said that between the two of them, Mr. Marcos deserved to be impeached more than her.
“You know when I assumed office, I know I became an impeachable officer. So, I read about … what were the impeachable offenses,” said Duterte, a lawyer. “I already have a list of his five impeachable offenses. You think that would pass through the House? Of course not.” She declined to specify the offenses.
Talking about how some people faulted her for not running for president instead and leading the country after the 2022 polls, Duterte again took a swipe at Mr. Marcos.
“Is it my fault that we are on this road to hell? Is it my fault that the current leader does not know how to be a President?” she said.
Duterte admitted to “feeling used” by the Marcoses to gain the votes from Visayas and Mindanao and secure a win over Leni Robredo.
Sought for comment on Duterte’s remarks, Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cesar Chavez gave a curt reply: “No statement from the Office of the President. Thanks.”
Duterte’s attacks against Mr. Marcos come as the country gears up for midterm elections in May 2025, seen as a litmus test of the President’s popularity and a chance for him to consolidate power and groom a successor before his term ends in 2028.
‘A new low’
The open hostile stance of the Vice President is partly driven by investigations of her father’s brutal war on drugs in the House, which is led by Speaker Martin Romualdez, a cousin of the President.
The House had also eliminated Duterte’s confidential funds.
Two House members slammed her as “bastos” at “desperada” (rude and desperate).
In a joint statement, House Assistant Majority Leader Zia Alonto Adiong and 1-Rider Rep. Rodge Gutierrez said Duterte’s remarks were a “new low in public discourse” and “a direct attack on our cultural values.”
“Threatening to desecrate the dead just to shift the narrative is utterly unacceptable,” Adiong said separately.
“The Vice President must answer the allegations against her, not stoop to such shameful actions,” he said, referring to questions raised about her confidential fund spending.
“In our culture, we honor the dead. To use them as pawns in a political game is disgusting,” Adiong added.
Gutierrez said Duterte’s conduct was “pure desperation.”
“Instead of facing the allegations head-on, VP Duterte resorts to vile threats,” he said.
Baste’s reminder
Duterte has refused to attend congressional hearings to clear her name and address the accusations against her alleged misuse of public funds.
The Vice President’s younger brother, Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, had once called the Marcos family as lacking in gratitude, reminding the Marcoses that it was his father who accommodated their request for a hero’s burial for the dictator.
“Remember this … my father had your father buried at the hero’s cemetery. … That could have been considered at the very least, but you didn’t,” Baste said during a gathering of Duterte supporters in Davao.
“Mr. President, if you don’t have love, if you don’t have aspirations for your nation, resign,” he said.
The mayor later apologized to Imee Marcos for his remarks against her brother. —WITH REPORTS FROM KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING, REUTERS AND INQUIRER RESEARCH
