Sandro hits Sara: She ‘crossed line’

Sandro Marcos —Lyn Rillon

MANILA, Philippines — Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos, the eldest son of President Marcos, on Tuesday scored Vice President Sara Duterte for “crossing the line” with her comments about wanting to behead his father and exhume and then throw the remains of his grandfather and his father’s namesake, former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., into the sea.

The young Marcos said he had “held [my] tongue” out of respect for the Vice President despite castigating his family, but said he had drawn the line at her “bizarre temper tantrum” and “abhorrent comments.”

READ: VP Duterte says she daydreamed ‘cutting off’ Marcos’ head

He was referring to Duterte’s two-hour press conference on Friday last week, where she admitted to having daydreamed once about cutting off Marcos’ head and to threatening the President’s older sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, that she would dig up and dispose of the patriarch’s body in the West Philippine Sea if “they don’t stop” the political attacks against her.

READ: Solons blast Sara for threat to throw Marcos Sr.’s remains in WPS

Marcos Sr., who fled the country in 1986 after his ouster during the Edsa People Power Revolution, died in exile in Hawaii in 1989. His preserved remains were flown back to the country in 1993 and stayed in a family mausoleum in Batac City, Ilocos Norte, which was opened for public viewing. He was finally interred at Libingan ng mga Bayani in 2016 on the approval of Duterte’s father, then President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Going ballistic was perhaps the self-therapy she prescribed for herself. But she crossed the line, leaving the civic and civil space in which disagreements can be rationally argued,” Representative Marcos said.

“Let this be an opportune time to remind ourselves that we mustn’t take our mental health for granted and that above all else I sincerely hope she is OK,” he added.

Duterte faces allegations of mismanaging hundreds of millions of pesos in confidential and intelligence funds allocated to both the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, where she served as secretary for two years until her resignation in July this year.

She has repeatedly refused to attend congressional hearings to clear her name, while also openly disavowing Marcos and especially his cousin, Speaker Martin Romualdez, whom she accused of controlling the national budget.

Father’s advice

Sandro, who is also House senior deputy majority leader, said his father advised him to refrain from making a statement.

“However, one must draw the line at some point and it’s frankly long overdue,” he said.

“Forget that the objects of her derision are dear to me, but I would also be remiss in my responsibility as an llocano representative if I didn’t voice out my disdain at the abhorrent comments she so carelessly uttered. I can ascertain that my emotions are shared not only by my kakailian (province mates) in the north but across the country,” Sandro said.

He said he still wished Duterte success, hoping that she “find the peace of mind and mental clarity that seems to be eluding her.”

Meanwhile, Senate President Francis Escudero believed the Vice President’s criticism of the Marcoses had no impact at all on the economy and on the stability and security of the government.

“But if ever there would be any effect, it would be to herself and her office, just like the commentaries we heard in relation to the press conference she had recently,” Escudero said at a briefing on Monday.

“The President and the Vice President are not actually bickering. The Vice President was talking against the President and the President was not answering back. The President did not engage in an argument with her. It was only her (Duterte) … in a sense it’s just one-sided,” he added.

Several government officials, including lawmakers, have expressed disappointment over Duterte’s “deeply alarming” remarks, with others saying she should seek a “psychological assessment.”

Escudero had said Duterte’s conduct was “unbecoming” of the second highest official of the land and this portrayed her in a bad light.

Asked if Duterte’s conduct should determine her fitness, especially since she is the country’s Vice President, Escudero said: “There is no such provision in our Constitution. If you will examine fitness in relation to the health of a government official, only the President was mentioned, not the Vice President.”

“And if you also remember, the provision in our Constitution says that majority of the President’s Cabinet may write Congress and say that the President is not fit, health-wise. But there is no same provision in relation to the Vice President. So that is a gap or gray area with regard to our procedure and existing law,” he said.

While the Senate leader understood where the Vice President was coming from, Escudero said Duterte should have been more circumspect in her statements issued in a public setting. —with a report from Tina G. Santos