‘I did not make an assassination threat to the President’ 鈥� VP Sara Duterte
Vice President Sara Duterte raises a point during her participation at a Nov. 26 hearing by the House committee on good government and public accountability. (Photo from HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES)
MANILA, Philippines — “I did not make an assassination threat to the President. Sila lang ang may sabi nyan.”
Vice President Sara Duterte denied making a personal threat to the life of President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr.
In a press conference on Friday, Duterte was asked to disclose if she has ever regretted making such a remark which allegedly threatened Marcos’ life.
Included in the Articles of Impeachment filed against Duterte was the alleged assassination threat she made against the country’s chief executive.
Article continues after this advertisement“I did not make an assassination threat to the president. Sila lang nagsasabi nyan. Sila lang nagsasabi na may assassin, may gunman. I did not say that,” she pointed out.
Article continues after this advertisementThe vice president held a strongly-worded press conference on November 23 wherein she claimed to be a victim of an assassination plot.
In the same forum, she said she had told a person to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she would be assassinated first.
“’Wag kang mag alala, Ma’am,’ sa security ko kasi may kinausap na ako na tao,” she uttered.
(Don’t worry, Ma’am, to my security because I already spoke with someone.)
“Sinabi ko sa kanya [na] kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta at si Martin Romualdez,” she told reporters.
(I told him [that] if I would get killed, you kill BBM, Liza Araneta and Martin Romualdez.)
“No joke, no joke. Nagbilin na ako. Pag namatay ako — sabi ko, ‘Huwag kang tumigil ha? Hanggang hindi mo mapatay sila and he said ‘yes,’” she recalled.
(No joke, no joke. I gave my orders. If I die — I said, ‘Don’t stop okay? Until you have killed them,’ and he said ‘yes.’)
Apart from this, Duterte also named herself as the designated survivor when she confirmed that she would not be attending Marcos’ third State of the Nation Address on July 22.
A “designated survivor” is a term for a US government official chosen to stay at a secure location during events where top leaders are gathered.
This supposedly ensures continuity of government in case a catastrophic event kills or incapacitates the president, vice president and other top officials.
She later on clarified that the remark was “neither a joke nor a bomb threat” but she refused to clarify what she meant.
