VP insists she made no ‘assassination’ threat vs Marcos
Vice President Sara Duterte maintained that she did not issue a threat to assassinate President Marcos, as she faced the media for the first time after being impeached on Wednesday by the House of Representatives.
The impeachment complaint, endorsed by more than 200 House members, cited as one of the grounds her Nov. 23, 2024 online press conference in which she spoke of having contacted a man to have President Marcos, his wife Liza Aranera-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed.
The complaint considered this statement as one of her acts allegedly intended to destabilize the Marcos administration.
“I did not make an assassination threat to the President. Sila lang nagsasabi niyan (They are the only ones saying that),” she told reporters at a press conference at the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) central office in Mandaluyong City on Friday.
“They are the only ones saying there’s an assassination, that there’s an assassin, a gunman. I did not say that,” she stressed, when asked if she had any regrets about the statements she made.
In the Nov. 23, 2024 press conference, the matter came up after one of her supporters asked her about the security measures she was taking against “Operation Romanov,” a supposed plot to kill members of the Duterte family.
‘No joke, no joke’
“Yes, don’t worry, ma’am, about my security because I have already spoken to someone,” the Vice President then replied in Filipino
“I told this person: If ever I get killed, kill BBM (the President’s initials), Liza Araneta and Martin Romualdez. No joke, no joke. I already gave instructions (Nagbilin na ako), ma’am: ‘Once I get killed, don’t stop, OK, until you have killed them.’ And then he said yes,” Duterte said.
But in an interview with reporters hours later, she clarified her statements by saying:
“Why would I have him (the President) killed If not for revenge from the grave? There is no reason for me to kill him. What’s my benefit from that? And also with Liza, what’s my benefit from that? None. Maybe if I will be inheriting ill-gotten wealth, but that’s not the case.”
‘I will not answer’
When she faced reporters at the OVP on Friday, however, Duterte refused to answer at least five of the questions that were asked.
“I do not want to answer that question,” she said at one point. “I will not answer that question.”
The questions were about President Marcos’ statement insisting he had nothing to do with her impeachment; the possibility of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, joining her defense team; her thoughts about the country already turning Orwellian; and whether she believed her impeachment was oiled by big money.
In a prepared statement read to open the press conference, Duterte said: “Despite all my statements about the planned impeachment over the past months, all I can say at this point is, ‘God save the Philippines.’”
She also thanked her supporters who “continue to love me” and had been “praying” for her.
According to Duterte, she had yet to finish reading the entire impeachment complaint but that her lawyers—whom she declined to name—would brief her Friday afternoon.
She also eventually addressed one of the questions she earlier refused to answer—the one about her father possibly joining her legal team.
“He can be part of the defense team, but because of his age and because of rigorous preparations in an impeachment case, maybe I would advise him not to lead … He is already 80 years old this year,” Duterte said.
