PNP report linking party list to Marcos ‘kill plot’ hit

MANILA, Philippines — Party-list group Kabataan on Saturday accused the Philippine National Police of alleged political bias for implicating the group in the purported plot to assassinate presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pending a verified investigation.

In a statement, Kabataan denounced Police Brig. Gen. Robert Rodriguez of the PNP’s Anti-Crime Group (ACG) for supposedly using its ongoing investigation to “attack and defame” the youth party list.

“Mentioning Kabataan tells more about the political bias and imminent meddling of the PNP in the upcoming May 9 elections, as has been done by the PNP in past elections, to benefit political blocs that are afraid of critical and active youth,” it said.

The group issued the statement to belie PNP-ACG’s theory that linked them to the Tiktok user who allegedly issued threatening messages against Marcos.

The PNP-ACG said a Tiktok user by the name @ljluna7 is a “public account that supports the Kabataan party list account with 133 followers.”

Rodriguez, however, did not say how Kabataan could be linked to the assassination plot against the presidential candidate.

The group clarified that it does not wish death upon Marcos.

“On the contrary, we would very much like to see him, along with all other corrupt officials who exploited the nation, to be alive to face accountability for their crimes,” they said.

According to Kabataan, the so-called plot seems to be “a ploy to divert public attention away from the important issues hounding Marcos’ presidential run [which include] possible disqualification for not paying tax, reported quarantine violation, interview absences and their family’s atrocities and ill-gotten wealth, which they cover up, among others.”

“The only plot that Kabataan is involved in is to win another seat in Congress for a true representation of the youth in the 2022 elections,” it added.

Kabataan deplored how PNP-ACG supposedly came to a quick conclusion, even as the investigation has yet to make progress.

“This comes at a time when online disinformation is prevalent, and Red-tagging and other dangerous threats against the youth are coming from their [PNP’s] own ranks,” it said.

READ: PNP to validate ‘kill threat’ vs Marcos Jr., says chief