FILE PHOTO: Former Sen. Leila De Lima faces her accuser, former President Rodrigo Duterte, during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Subcommittee on the Philippine War on Illegal Drugs motu proprio investigation, on Monday, October 28, 2024. (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — Leila de Lima criticized Vice President Sara Duterte for threatening to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during “a mega meltdown.”
On microblogging platform X, the former senator likewise branded Duterte’s pronouncements as part of a “political drama staged by the OVP to divert the issue from its plunder of confidential funds.”
De Lima is a staunch critic of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, the incumbent vice president’s father, and his bloody war on drugs. The former president jailed de Lima for almost seven years over drug charges – all of which, however, were eventually junked by the courts for lack of evidence.
“What to do with a VP who openly threatens murder on a sitting President and his wife in a mega meltdown?” de Lima asked Saturday.
“Under ordinary circumstances, impeachment.”
“But more than the ordinary, this is political drama staged by the OVP to divert the issue from its plunder of confidential funds,” she added.
The former senator added, “Kung magnakaw, wagas. Kapag pinapaliwanag, andaming hanash.”
(When it comes to stealing, they’re all in. When asked to explain, they become fussy.)
What to do with a VP who openly threatens murder on a sitting President and his wife in a mega meltdown? Under ordinary circumstances, impeachment. But more than the ordinary, this is political drama staged by the OVP to divert the issue from its plunder of confidential funds.… https://t.co/JX5Sg87sX3
— Leila de Lima (@AttyLeiladeLima) November 23, 2024
Nearly 1 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23, the vice president and her chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, held a press conference via Zoom, where both cried foul over an order to transfer the Office of the Vice President (OVP) undersecretary to the Correctional Institution for Women.
Lopez was initially ordered detained at the House of Representatives after being held in contempt during a hearing of a House panel that has been probing into alleged misuse of public funds with the OVP under Duterte.
READ: VP Duterte: Romualdez is the only person who wants to kill me
During the press conference, Vice President Duterte also revealed that she had already talked to a person whom she instructed to kill President Marcos Jr., his wife Liza, and cousin Speaker Martin Romualdez if she is killed.
“May kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi ko sa kanya, ‘Kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta, at si Martin Romualdez.’ No joke, no joke. Nagbilin na ako,” said Duterte, who ran in tandem with Marcos in the 2022 elections under the “UniTeam” alliance.
(I already talked to a person. I told the person, ‘If they kill me, kill Bongbong Marcos, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez.’ No joke, no joke. I’ve left instructions.)
READ: Sara Duterte’s kill remark vs Marcos is ‘active threat’ – Palace
On Saturday morning, Malacañang said Duterte’s statements is an “active threat” and that Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin has referred the matter to the Presidential Security Command “for immediate proper action.”
“Acting on the Vice President’s clear and unequivocal statement that she had contracted an assassin to kill the President if an alleged plot against her succeeds, the Executive Secretary has referred this active threat to the Presidential Security Command for immediate proper action,” the Palace said.
“Any threat to the life of the President must always be taken seriously, more so that this threat has been publicly revealed in clear and certain terms,” it added.