The vice president of the Philippines appeared to threaten to have the country’s president and two other high-profile persons killed if she herself were killed, prompting responses from the president’s office and security agencies, The Guardian reported.
Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte-Carpio, 46, revealed the apparent threat at a Saturday press conference at the House of Representatives in response to a comment warning her of being in enemy territory, The Guardian reported. A House panel had detained an attorney serving as Duterte’s chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, in a detention facility on the premises of the House, after citing Lopez for contempt, according to Filipino news agency ABS-CBN News. The press conference occurred while Duterte visited an apparently tearful and distraught Lopez in detention.
‘Have talked to assassin to kill you,’ Filipino vice president issues open threat to Prez Marcos @Mohammed11Saleh brings you this report
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“I have talked to a person. I said, ‘If I get killed, go kill BBM [President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.], [First Lady] Liza Araneta and [Speaker] Martin Romualdez.’ No joke. No joke,” Duterte said in the expletive-riddled briefing, according to The Guardian. “I said, ‘Do not stop until you kill them,’ and then he said, ‘Yes.'”
Duterte’s threat was “a clear and unequivocal statement that she had contracted an assassin to kill the President if an alleged plot against her succeeds,” the Presidential Communications Office said. “[T]he Executive Secretary has referred this active threat to the Presidential Security Command [PSC] for immediate proper action.”
The PSC acknowledged receipt of the presidential directive, stating it had “heightened and strengthened its security protocols” and was “closely coordinating with law enforcement agencies to detect, deter, and defend against any and all threats to the President and the First Family.” The threat was “one made so brazenly in public” and had become “a matter of national security,” the PSC added.
Filipino Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. called for “calm and resolve” and “respect and nationalism” in “these trying times.”
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Duterte and her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, are known for hyperbolic tirades that they later would walk back or dismiss as remarks of frustration, according to ABS-CBN News. In October, Duterte threatened to exhume the remains of Bongbong Marcos’s father and former dictator Ferdinand Marcos and throw them into the sea, The Guardian reported. She also reportedly added she imagined decapitating Bongbong Marcos after he allegedly publicly humiliated a student who asked for Marcos’s watch as a graduation gift. (RELATED: Duterte’s Latest Pitch To America: Obama’s A ‘Son Of A B**ch’)
The lower chamber of the Filipino Congress cited Lopez for “undue interference” in its investigation of alleged misuse of P612.5 million (about $10.4 million) in confidential funds allocated to Duterte’s office and the Department of Education, ABS-CBN News reported.
The funds were eventually reallocated to other government agencies, including the Philippine Coast Guard amidst a dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea (also referred to as the South China Sea).
Lopez’s transfer to a correctional facility was ordered but he became ill upon receiving the orders from authorities while preparing to go to bed around 11:30 p.m. Friday night, according to ABS-CBN News. Duterte was reportedly there when the authorities reappeared and reissued the order 20 minutes later. An ambulance reportedly arrived but was denied entry as it had no clearance. Duterte alleged Speaker Romualdez placed the premises under lockdown, delaying the medical response to Lopez.
“Martin Romualdez, you will pay for this. If she dies, you will pay. This is your fault. Because you want to be president, you are coming after me,” Duterte reportedly said.
A Philippine National Police ambulance on the premises eventually transported Lopez at 3:24 a.m. to a facility for military veterans. Authorities later reportedly said Lopez had had a panic attack but was “in pretty good shape.”
Lopez told Duterte she would resign from her position, adding, “I want to go home to my mother,” according to Filipino news agency GMA Network. Duterte reportedly agreed, adding, “On that point, Martin Romualdez won. [Lopez] is resigning. She will just finish the hearings.”
Duterte reportedly fell out with Bongbong Marcos after their joint landslide victory in 2022 and ahead of the country’s 2025 midterm elections. The two dynasties appear to be locked in a power struggle.
