VICE PRESIDENT Sara Duterte clarified that her violent words during a Zoom press conference on Saturday, Nov. 23, on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez were not a threat.
She said there was no reason for her to harm the President as she also faced a threat to her own life.
On Monday, Duterte said her words were “maliciously taken out of logical context.
“There is no reason for me to do that. What benefit would that bring me? If I were to kill Liza, what would I gain from that? Nothing. It would be different if I were the heir to ill-gotten wealth, but I’m not,” Duterte said during an interview with the media.
“So what’s the benefit for me if they’re gone from this world? Why would they say there’s a threat? And as for my threats, they don’t care,” she added.
Duterte also clarified that the phrase “kung mamatay ako (If I die) was due to the fact that, from the start, she received death threats as the vice president.
It can be recalled that the vice president made this statement during a press conference on Saturday, following her visit to her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, who had previously been cited for contempt.
“Don’t worry about my safety. I have talked to a person and I said, if I get killed, go kill BBM [Marcos], [First Lady] Liza Araneta, and [Speaker] Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke,” she said during a Zoom press conference on Saturday.
“I said, do not stop until you kill them and he said yes.”
The vice president made a response while she was accompanying her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, inside the Batasanga Pambansa where the latter was detained following the contempt citation from the House panel.
On Monday, Nov. 25, Mr. Marcos Jr. issued a response to Duterte’s statements.
“Such criminal attempts should not be tolerated. I will resist them,” Marcos stated firmly in a video released by the Office of the President on Monday.
“This drama wouldn’t have escalated if legitimate questions in the Senate and the House of Representatives had been answered,” he added.
VP Sara’s response to the NSC statement
Meanwhile, Duterte released an open letter questioning the National Security Council (NSC), which considered her words “serious and a matter of national security.”
“I would like to see a copy of the notice of the meeting with proof of service, the list of attendees, photos of the meeting, and the notarized minutes of the meeting where the Council, whether present or past, resolved to consider the remarks by a Vice President against a President, maliciously taken out of logical context, as a national security concern,” said Duterte.
“In addition, please include in the agenda for the next meeting my request to present to the Council the threats to the Vice President, the OVP institution, and its personnel,” she added.
Duterte also challenged the NSC’s definition of national security, arguing that it “pertains to the protection of our sovereignty,” which confines the function of the NSC to the formulation of policies for such.
She also questioned why she wasn’t invited to the council meeting when she was supposed to be a member, citing Executive Order 115 (1986).
According to the vice president, she has not received a single notice of meeting since June 30, 2022.
She then requested the National Security Agency to submit to her the notarized minutes of all meetings conducted by the council from June 30, 2022.
“I want to review what the council has accomplished so far, in terms of policies and recommendations for national security,” Duterte said.
“Moreover, please submit within 24 hours, an explanation in writing with legal basis why the VP is not a member of the NSC or why as a member I have not been invited to the meetings, whichever is applicable,” she further demanded.
The vice president then urged NSC council members, as well as the public, to demand transparency and accountability from the NSC.
Screenshot photo of Rhoda Grace B Saron
