Former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno warned those who are accusing Kris Aquino of stealing jewelries of Imelda Marcos without proof that they could face a criminal case.
The warning came after some social media users resurfaced an old graphic that contained this online rumor about Aquino.
“Criminal case na po ang maaaring harapin niyo sa pagbibintang na ginamit ni Kris Aquino ang alahas ni Imelda na ayon sa Supreme Court ay galing sa nakaw na yaman. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas at PCGG na po ang nagsabing imposible ito,” Sereno wrote in a Facebook post.
The veteran lawyer added that her team will be collecting screenshots of comments and posts about such allegations from then on.
Copies of these, including profile details of those who posted them, will be sent to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) for possible legal actions, according to Sereno.
“Dati po ay dinadaan lang natin sa paliwanag na walang basehan ang akusasyon nila kay Kris Aquino, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, at sa PCGG. Ngunit hindi po tumitigil ang ganitong mga masasamang bintang at krimen po iyan,” Sereno said.
“Kaya’t iipunin na po namin ang mga screenshots ng ganitong mga comments at ipadadala sa kinauukulan. Nasosobrahan na po ang pagiging kriminal ng mga gawain niyo,” she added.
Sereno also asked others to report to them any similar online claims on Aquino.
“Yung mga may resibo ng ganitong comments, paki-forward po by pm sa akin, and I will forward. Gawin po natin itong activity laban sa iresponsableng paggamit ng salita. Salamat po,” she said.
The claims
The graphic in question was first shared in January 2019. It, however, circulated again this week.
It made the following unproven claims—late Sen. Ninoy Aquino sold the Sabah Island (now part of Malaysia), late former President Cory Aquino sold the Philippine Airlines, late former President Benigno Aquino III sold the Scarborough Shoal and the youngest Aquino stole the former first lady’s jewelries.
Some Twitter users managed to make a copy of this post and shared it on the micro-blogging platform.
“Paki report kay justice Sereno or kay Ms. Kris Aquino,” one Twitter user said.
“Sinisiraan nila si Kris Aquino. Kaya may warning si CJ Sereno,” another user wrote.
The rumor of the Queen of All Media wearing Marcos’ sequestered jewelries has been ongoing for years.
In 2016, Aquino denied that the necklaces she wore in public appearances back then were from Marcos.
The former presidential sister insisted that she bought them herself.
“I wanted everyone to just see it and to put the issue to rest,” Aquino said.
The PCGG has yet to recover all of the missing $10 billion of siphoned state funds of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr..
American lawyer Robert Swift who won the first class suit for victims of Martial Law previously warned that some of these money will show up in the 2022 elections.
“I’m confident that some of the money that was acquired by Ferdinand Marcos and hidden is going to find its way in the 2022 elections in the Philippines,” he said in the video The Mystery of a Dictator’s Missing $10 Billion Fortune.
READ: Marcos hidden wealth may show up for 2022, says US litigator