Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña (left), former president Rodrigo Duterte (Facebook, Malacan̈ang photo)

Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña shot down lawyer Salvador Panelo's theory that former president Rodrigo Duterte's eventual death would catapult a relative to the presidency.

"A mass murderer’s death does not make a president—lalo na kung ang iniwang pamana ay dugo, pagtataksil, at kawalan ng pananagutan (especially if what the legacy he left was drenched in blood, betrayal, and lack of accountability)," Cendaña said Thursday, March 27.

Cendaña saw Panelo's remarks as another attempt at likening Duterte to democracy icon the late senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., whose assassination in 1983 led to Cory Aquino's ascension to Malacañang in four years later.

Ninoy and Cory's son, Benigno "Noynoy" S. Aquino III then famously became president as well in 2010, less than a year after his mother's death from colon cancer.

Cendaña said the Duterte camp should making such comparisons. 

He also called it "absurd notion that his (Duterte) supposed death could secure his daughter’s place in Malacañang". Sara Duterte, the impeached vice president, is the ex-president's eldest daughter.

Pundits believe that Vice President Duterte will vie for the Palace seat in 2028.

"Hindi lang sila masyadong advance mag-isip, delusional pa (Not only are they thinking too advanced in the future; they are also delusional)," the Akbayan solon said.

"If the Duterte camp believes their brand of leadership-by-body-count will be rewarded with political sainthood, they are sorely mistaken. No amount of historical cosplay will turn a dynasty of executioners and traitors into democracy’s torchbearers," he added.

"Instead of indulging in twisted fantasies about Duterte’s death as a political strategy, his camp should face the reality that justice is coming—cold, impartial, and unshaken," added Cendaña. 

The elder Duterte is being detained and tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands for crimes against humanity.