Calling it an act on the boundary of human dignity, Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong slammed attempts to link First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos to the death of Rustan's retail empire heir Paolo Tantoco, particularly through a fake stateside police report.

“Medyo nasa boundary na po ‘yan ng human dignity. Ang aking palagay, baka wala na po silang maitapon o ma-criticize. Kung criticism lang po, wala naman pong problema sa atin ‘yan," Adiong said in a press conference Wednesday, July 16.

(That’s already treading the boundary of human dignity. In my view, maybe they’ve run out of things to throw or criticize. If it’s just criticism, we have no issue with that.)

A fabricated report purportedly from police authorities in Beverly Hills, California, has circulated online, falsely linking the First Lady to the death of Tantoco. The latter allegedly died from the effects of cocaine.

The alleged involvement of Araneta-Marcos is being especially being pushed by anti-administration personalities online.

“Alam mo, the pain and the trauma [of] losing a loved one is more than enough for the family to handle. So ang aking posisyon diyan is hindi biro. Dapat tayo una makisimpatya sa namatayan at dapat tayo muna maging makatao (You know, the pain and trauma of losing a loved one is more than enough for the family to handle. That’s why my position on this matter is no joke. We must first offer genuine sympathy to the bereaved and remember to act with humanity). And we have to respect the privacy of the bereaved family,” Adiong said.

The House "Young Guns" bloc stalwart warned that the use of fake information to push political narratives undermines not only the truth but also basic human values.

“I don’t think it should be used to sensationalize the issue in order to gain some political score. Hindi ito usaping pampubliko. Ito ay usapin na pribado (This isn't a public issue. It's a private one),” Adiong pointed out.

The Mindanaoan further expressed his disdain for such below-the-belt tactics.

“Ito ‘yung fight po natin na dapat nating sugpuin, ‘yung ganitong klaseng smear campaign na (This is the fight that we must put an end to, these kind of smear campaign that) even using the death of a very private person to again smear our perceived political opponents,” he added.

Adiong said the deliberate weaponization of a person’s death to target others politically reveals desperation, not legitimate criticism.

"This is about attacking reputation and using the death of a certain individual to gain political score, which to me is unacceptable. Dapat muna respetuhin po natin ‘yung pamilya ng namatayan at maging makatao po tayo (We must first respect the family of the deceased and act with compassion),” he said.