SC bares anonymous disbarment bid vs VP over ‘exhumation’ threat
The Supreme Court on Tuesday confirmed receipt of an “anonymous” disbarment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte over her recent remarks about exhuming the remains of President Marcos’ father and namesake and having them dumped into the West Philippine Sea.
“Actually, there is a pending disbarment case for the VP, which was filed a few years ago when she was still the mayor of Davao. And just this month, the Supreme Court received an anonymous complaint regarding her statements about the late President Ferdinand Marcos,” Supreme Court spokesperson Camille Ting told reporters.
Ting was referring to Duterte’s comments in an interview on Oct. 18, where she said she had warned the Marcos family—through Sen. Imee Marcos—that she would have their father’s remains dug up from Libingan ng mga Bayani if the President and his allies would continue with their political attacks.
“I told Sen. Imee (Marcos), if you don’t stop, I will dig the grave of your father and I will throw him into the WPS (West Philippine Sea). One of these days, I will go there and get his body,” Duterte said, addressing questions about her growing rift with the President.
‘Wait and see’
The Vice President also said she “wanted to cut [the President’s] head off” after realizing their relationship had turned toxic.
When asked if the high tribunal could act motu proprio on the disbarment case against Duterte, Ting said “it’s always possible that the Supreme Court can take cognizance of anything that’s publicly known.”
“But usually, it’s by complaint, so we’ll have to wait and see what the court will do in that case,” she said, adding that the high tribunal had yet to act on the anonymous complaint.
