FILE PHOTO: Senator Imee Marcos (left) and Vice President Sara Duterte (right). | Photo from Senate PRIB and the official Facebook page of Inday Sara Duterte
MANILA, Philippines — Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. on Monday said that if he was Sen. Imee Marcos, he would no longer meet with Vice President Sara Duterte who earlier threatened to exhume the remains of the senator’s father, former president Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. amid the political spat between the Dutertes and Marcoses.
“At ‘yon man lang sabihin mo na huhukayin mo ‘yong tatay at itatapon mo sa West Philippine Sea, ako po isang nasaktan bilang anak. Kung ako po si Senator Imee Marcos, sinabi sa tatay ko ‘yon, palagay ko hindi na po kami pwedeng magkita at mag-usap sa panahon na ‘yon,” Gonzales said.
(For one to say that the remains of one’s father would be exhumed and thrown to the West Philippine Sea, as a son, I was hurt. If I were Senator Imee Marcos, if that was said of my father, I think we can no longer meet and talk starting that moment.)
“Sabihin ko ibang klase na ito, ibang usapan na ito (I would say, this is a different kind of insult),” he added.
According to Vice President Duterte, she told Sen. Marcos about this threat to exhume Marcos Sr.’s body.
“I don’t know. But once, I actually told Sen. Imee. I told her, if you don’t stop, I will dig up your father, I will throw him into the West Philippine Sea,” Duterte said.
“One of these days, I would go there, get your father’s body, and throw it to the West Philippine Sea,” she added.
According to Gonzales, he only hears these kinds of banter during drinking sessions, and not during press briefings.
“So sana po walang ganyang usapan, at ‘yong ganyang naririnig kong mga salita, pag umiinom sa kanto, sa barangay, pag lasing na, biruan lang ‘yon. Pero wala pong ganyan,” he said.
(I hope we do not have such talks, because these words, I only hear them during drinking sessions across the street, in the barangay, when people are drunk and joking. But not in press briefings.)
INQUIRER.net has sought the side of Senator Marcos, but he has not replied as of posting time.
Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez meanwhile said that while there may be critics of the Marcoses, it is undeniable that Marcos Sr. contributed something for the country.
“You know, we may turn the world upside down, our former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., really did a lot for the country. Even if we say that he was accused of being a dictator, and that he was ousted from office, at the end of the day, we have to accept that he made a lot of things for the Filipino people,” he said.