MANILA - Former Commission on Human Rights chair Etta Rosales is blaming President Rodrigo Duterte for providing a "friendly environment" for the Marcos family's attempts to revise history in their favor.

Rosales, a martial law torture victim, said the family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos has been trying to reach a settlement with the government on their ill-gotten wealth to erase their sins.

"They've always wanted a compromise settlement. Their motivation has always been to erase the blemish of the Marcos family, since day one yan. Ngayon, with Duterte in place, here's a guy who provides a friendly environment," she told ANC Monday.

"At this point, Duterte is very friendly, he was the one who mentioned immunity... Mr. Duterte is just thinking in terms of how he feels about this whole thing without realizing the implications of his statements," she added.

Duterte, who has stated publicly that he admired the late president, earlier floated the idea of granting immunity to the family of the late strongman for the return of their ill-gotten wealth.

This, said Rosales, along with Marcos' burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani and the commemoration of his 100th birth anniversary are all part of the Marcoses' attempt to cleanse the former dictator of his crimes.

"By celebrating it because 'he is a hero and he is in the Libingan ng mga Bayani', one of these days, this will just rub off and this is their way of trying to cleanse Marcos of the plunder and sins he committed against the people," she warned.

'A GREAT ILOCANO'

The President, however, has clarified that he is taking a neutral stand on granting Marcos immunity. "It is not my take. I cannot grant it. It is Congress," Duterte stressed.

Last week, former First Lady Imelda Marcos invited her colleagues in the House of Representatives to celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of her husband at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City.

Malacañang has also declared Marcos' 100th birth anniversary as a non-working holiday in his home province of Ilocos Norte.

"He was a president. To the Ilocanos, he was the greatest president. Why do we have to debate on that? It's one day where they can celebrate the anniversary of a great Ilocano," Duterte earlier said.