Department Justice Undersecretary Jesse Hermogenes Andres
SCREENGRAB FROM RTVM
MANILA, Philippines — Former president Rodrigo Duterte’s call to the military to “correct” the supposed “fractured governance” under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is bordering on sedition and is legally actionable, said the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday.
DOJ Undersecretary Jesse Andres made the pronouncement in response to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement.
READ: Rodrigo Duterte called out for trying to stir military vs Marcos
“I do not know where the [former] president is getting his notion, we have a strong and functioning republic. Civil governance is for civilians, and the military has no role whatsoever,” Andres told reporters in a chance interview.
“For him to invite the military to have a part in seeking remedy is bordering on sedition and is legally actionable,” he added.
According to Andres, the DOJ is already investigating Duterte’s remarks along with other similar efforts—all of which seem to encourage “something of a demonstration.”
“We do know whether this is coming from the efforts of the former president or elsewhere, but again, we will have to look at every angle,” said Andres.
Along with Duterte’s pronouncement currently under investigation, said Andres, is the threat her daughter Vice President Sara Duterte recently admitted—where she supposedly instructed an unidentified individual to kill Marcos, his wife Liza and cousin Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Andres said the DOJ is considering whether the threat and former president Duterte’s remarks are “part and parcel of a bigger plan for destabilization.”
However, he assured the public that the government is ready to address contingencies, even vouching for the Armed Forces of the Philippines as a “professional organization that is loyal to the chain of command.”
When asked how the DOJ will respond should the Dutertes brush their own statements as metaphorical or hyperbolic, Andres responded that they would then have to consider “other contemporaneous acts.”
“In legal contemplation, we have to put it in its proper context and ordinary meaning. And we have to take it in consideration of other contemporaneous acts, ano ‘yung sinasabi niyo, ano binibigkas niyo and ano ginagawa niyo,” said Andres.
He again cited Sara’s admission of a kill plot against Marcos, tagging it as “very revealing” and disputing claims that it was merely a “conditional threat.”
“There is no such thing as a conditional threat, once it is a threat, it is a threat—and it is a matter of national security because it is coming from a very influential person, the Vice President and the subject of the criminal act is the President himself, elected leader of our country,” said Andres.
“So we will not take this lightly and we will address this very seriously,” he added.