It is in relation to the statements made by the Vice President during a recent briefing.
At past midnight on Saturday, November 23, Vice President Sara Duterte held a press briefing from inside the custodial center of the House of Representatives in Quezon City.
Duterte accompanied her chief of staff, Atty. Zuleika Lopez, who was cited in-contempt by the Lower House’s committee on public and good governance over ‘undue interference’ while the panel investigates the Office of the Vice President’s use of confidential funds.
As per previous reports, Lopez was ordered to be transferred to the Women’s Correctional Facility in Mandaluyong City, which Duterte has vehemently opposed.
Due to her condition, Lopez was instead brought to the nearby Veterans Memorial Medical Center, where she was initially examined by doctors, before being transferred to the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City as insisted by her next-of-kin, according to VP Duterte.
During the briefing, Lopez faced the media prior to Duterte, who stood as her legal representative.
The second-in-line then launched a series of tirades against President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. and her wife, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and the congressmen led by House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
At one specific moment, Duterte told that she has spoken to an assassin with a plan to hurt the Marcoses and Romualdez, if she, herself, was killed.
“May kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi ko sa kaniya na kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta at si Martin Romualdez. No joke. Nagbilin na ako. Pag namatay ako, sabi ko, ‘wag ka tumigil hanggang hindi mo mapatay sila and then he said ‘yes.'”
This prompted the Office of the Executive Secretary headed by Sec. Lucas Bersamin to issue a statement, early Saturday morning.
“Acting on the Vice President’s clear and unequivocal statement that she had contracted an assassin to kill the President if an alleged plot against her succeeds, the Executive Secretary has referred this active threat to the Presidential Security Command for immediate proper action,” the Malacañang official said.
He added that, “Any threat to the life of the President must always be taken seriously, more so that this threat has been publicly revealed in clear and certain terms.”
For their part, the Presidential Security Command (PSC) stated that they have already “heightened and strengthened” for the President and the First Family.
“Any threat to the life of the President and the First Family, regardless of its origin — especially one made so brazenly in public — is treated with utmost seriousness. We consider this a matter of national security and shall take all necessary measures to ensure the President’s safety,” the PSC said.
Meanwhile, VP Duterte has since issued a ‘explamation,’ telling GMA News that she did not threaten the President.
“Sinabi ko, ‘Kung mamatay ako.’ Ibig sabihin in the first place, meron nang threat sa akin. But they simply do not care that I am also concerned about my security because I hear things,” the Vice President said.
She furthered that her remarks are “not actionable,” recalling that her newest tirade is the same as her previous statement that she will “throw to the West Philippine Sea” the buried body of late President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.
President Marcos and Vice President Duterte ran as a tandem during the 2022 National Elections, which they won with a wide margin against their nearest competitors, former Vice President Leni Robredo and former Senator Francis Pangilinan.
Duterte, who initially eyed the post of Secretary of National Defense, was appointed as the first Secretary of Education under the current administration.
Cracks in the walls began to appear in early 2024, after the VP’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, exchanged words with his successor, PBBM.
Later on, in June, VP Duterte quit the administration after resigning from her roles in the Department of Education and the National Task Force to End Local Communist and Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
In a previous statement, the Veep said that she is “not friends” with Marcos when she was asked described her relationship with him.