Malacañang emphasized that "utang na loob" or gratitude should not be a reason for President Marcos to disregard the law.

This developed after Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte said Marcos surrendered his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) despite the latter allowing the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr. to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in 2016.

In a press briefing on Monday, March 17, Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro pointed out that the Marcos family had already expressed appreciation for Duterte's decision to allow the burial, which faced heavy backlash almost a decade ago.

"As early as 2016, dati pa po senador ang Pangulo ngayon. Nagpasalamat na po ang Pangulo 2016 pa po sa Supreme Court na nagbigay ng decision na dapat ilibing ang kanyang ama sa Libingan ng mga Bayani (As early as 2016, when the President was still a senator, he had already thanked the Supreme Court for its decision allowing the burial of his father at the Libingan ng mga Bayani)," she said.

"Noon pa po sila nagpasalamat at sinabi nga nila forever silang tatanaw ng utang na loob sa napakagandang gesture ng dating pangulong Duterte (They have long thanked him and they would forever be indebted for former president Duterte’s kind gesture)," she added.

However, Castro said that gratitude should not interfere with the implementation of the law.

"Pero ang pagtanaw po ng utang na loob ay hindi dapat madiskaril at hindi dapat mag-traydor sa batas at sa hustisya (But gratitude should not derail or betray the law and justice)," she said.

According to Castro, Duterte's decision to approve the burial of the late Marcos was legally grounded. She cited Republic Act No. 289, Presidential Proclamation No. 208, and an Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) regulation, which all allow a former commander-in-chief to be buried at the Heroes' Cemetery.

"Lahat naman ito ay may basehan noong isinagawa ni dating pangulong Duterte (All of these had legal basis when former President Duterte carried them out)," she said.

The Palace official then compared this legal basis to the ongoing issue surrounding Duterte's surrender to the ICC.

"Ang papapaaresto naman po o pagsu-surrender kay dating pangulong Duterte sa ICC ay meron din pong kaugnayan ng batas at meron po tayong sinusunod na commitment para sa Interpol (The arrest or surrender of former president Duterte to the ICC is also related to the law, and we have commitments to Interpol)," she said.

"Hindi po dapat na dahil lang kaibigan o dahil naging kasama, hindi na po tutuparin ang batas at tatraydorin na po ang Konstitusyon dahil lamang sa utang na loob (Just because someone is a friend or former ally does not mean the law should not be followed or the Constitution should be betrayed out of gratitude)," she added.

Castro then raised a question about Duterte's past actions while he was still president.

"Ang pagtanaw ng utang na loob, ito po ba yung ginamit kaya ng dating pangulong Duterte noong i-appoint nya ang isang Chinese national na si Michael Yang bilang kanyang economic advisor (Is gratitude the same reason why former president Duterte appointed a Chinese national, Michael Yang, as his economic adviser)?," she said.

"Hindi po ba to pagtataksil? Dahil isang Chinese national ang in-appoint bilang economic advisor. Dahil din po ba ito sa utang na loob? Tanong lang po 'yan (Is this not an act of betrayal? Because a Chinese national is appointed as economic adviser. Is it because of gratitude? That is just a question)," she added.