Philippine Vice President Accused of Plotting President's Assassination

Photo: Aaron Favila Associated Press Vice President Sara Duterte told a news conference Saturday that she was facing assassination threats, and that she had ordered a member of her security team to kill the president if the plot went through.

Agence France-Presse in Manila

Published at 10:02

• Asia

The Philippine Justice Department on Monday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the country’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena.

Duterte is being called to account after a news conference over the weekend in which she said she had ordered that President Ferdinand Marcos be killed if she herself were to be assassinated.

“The government is taking steps to protect our legally elected president,” Justice Undersecretary Jesse Andres said at a news conference on Monday. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president, as announced by the mastermind by his own admission, will now have legal consequences.” »

Speaking to reporters an hour later, Sara Duterte said she planned to respond to the subpoena.

“I will gladly answer the questions they want to ask, but they should also answer my questions,” she said. “We will just talk, when I get the subpoena.”

In his first public comment on the case, President Marcos vowed to “defend himself” against a threat he called “worrisome.”

Impeachment proceedings coming soon?

The Marcos-Duterte alliance, which took power in 2022, has collapsed spectacularly as next year’s midterm general elections approach.

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A few months ago, former President Rodrigo Duterte, Sara Duterte’s father, accused Mr. Marcos of being a “drug addict,” while the latter claimed the next day that his predecessor’s health was failing due to prolonged use of fentanyl, an opioid. Neither has provided evidence for their allegations.

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Sara Duterte, who could be the subject of impeachment proceedings, declared Saturday during a press conference peppered with insults that she was the subject of assassination threats, and that she had ordered a member of her security team to kill the president if this plot succeeded.

In addition to President Marcos, she demanded that if she “gets killed,” the first lady, Liza Araneta-Marcos, and the president’s cousin Martin Romualdez, speaker of the House of Representatives, also be assassinated.

A few hours later Saturday, the presidential palace’s communications office said it had transmitted “this active threat to the presidential security command for immediate action.”

“This kind of criminal attempt must not go unchallenged,” President Ferdinand Marcos said Monday. “As a democratic country, we must uphold the law.”

“The vice president is not immune from prosecution. “She may be subject to any criminal or administrative investigation,” Jesse Andres said, adding that the subpoena was being issued.

He said a manhunt was underway for the alleged “assassin” hired by Ms. Duterte.

Investigation and chief of staff in prison

Sara Duterte, 46, the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte (2016-2022), was President Marcos’ running mate during their triumphant 2022 presidential election. Constitutionally, she remains his successor if he is unable to complete his six-year term.

But she is currently under investigation by the House of Representatives, chaired by Martin Romualdez.

According to observers, Mr Romualdez and Ms Duterte are expected to run for president in 2028.

Sara Duterte’s press conference on Saturday came shortly after House officials threatened to transfer her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez — currently under contempt arrest — from the lower house’s detention center to a correctional facility.

Ms. Lopez has been in detention since Wednesday, when she was summoned for alleged interference in an investigation into Ms. Duterte’s finances.

The Marcos-Duterte feud escalated in June, prompting Sara Duterte to resign as education minister.