President Marcos remains mum on VP Sara’s ‘exhumation’ remark

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has again begged off from commenting on Vice President Sara Duterte’s remark that she would dig up and throw the remains of his late father and namesake in the West Philippine Sea if his supporters would not stop attacking her and her family.

Reporters tried to get Marcos’ comment on the Vice President’s statement after he visited the grave of his father at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City on All Saints’ Day yesterday.

“I’d rather not,” Marcos said.

Again he was asked if his relationship with Duterte – his running mate in the 2022 elections – had reached “a point of no return.”

Marcos responded: “Let’s talk about it some other time.”

At a press conference on Oct. 18, Duterte recalled warning Marcos’ sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, that she would dig up the elder Marcos’ remains and throw them into the sea if political attacks from the current administration continued.

Duterte’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, recently dismissed the Vice President’s declaration as “an extended hyperbole.”

At the same press conference, the Vice President also accused Marcos of incompetence and lacking in leadership.

Duterte’s tirade had deepened the rift between the two powerful families ahead of midterm elections. The President and Malacañang have not responded to Duterte’s diatribe.

The President, accompanied by his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, attended a mass before the tomb of the former leader yesterday morning. First Lady Liza Marcos and Sen. Imee Marcos were not seen at the event.

In his message, Marcos urged their supporters to remember his father’s legacy and to continue loving the Filipino people and the Philippines.

 As a young child, the President said he witnessed his father’s good leadership qualities .

“Now that I am sitting as President, his words have become even more important,” Marcos said in Filipino.

“You know when we have a dead person we place there, RIP, rest in peace. Of course, that’s what we want for my father. But it’s not enough to just say rest in peace. For my father to rest in peace, we need to continue the work he started, let’s continue the transformation of the Philippines and the