MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Sara Duterte responded to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.’s statement — that if an incumbent president can be openly targeted for assassination, what more ordinary citizens – by claiming that the Marcoses were behind the assassination of former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.
During an ambush interview on Monday, Duterte was asked about Marcos’ assurance that he would fight the vice president’s threats against him, the first lady and House Speaker Martin Romuldez.
Duterte, in an online briefing over the weekend, said she has already contacted a hitman to assassinate Marcos, House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez, and First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos if and when she gets killed.
“Oo, ‘di ba pumalag nga ang buong bayan nang pinatay ng pamilya nila si Benigno Aquino (Didn’t the people fight back when they plotted the assassination of Benigno Aquino?),” Duterte told reporters on the sidelines of the House committee on good government and public accountability hearing.
The Marcoses and the Aquinos are known political rivals, with former senator Aquino criticizing the regime of the President’s father and namesake, Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.
After being incarcerated, the Marcos Sr. administration allowed former senator Aquino to leave for the United States, so that he could seek urgent medical attention.
Aquino, however, was shot dead on August 21, 1983 upon arrival at the Manila International Airport that now bears his name.
Willing to face NBI
Duterte was also asked about the National Bureau of Investigation’s plan to subpoena her, to which she responded by saying that she sees no problem with that.
“I would gladly answer ‘yoong gusto nilang mga tanong na ipasagot, pero dapat sumagot din sila sa mga tanong ko sa kanila. Mag-uusap na lang kami do’n kapag nand’yan na ‘yong subpoena,” she noted.
(I would gladly answer their questions, but they too should respond to my questions. We will talk once the subpoena arrives.)
House drama
Duterte’s outburst came after she went to the House premises on Thursday night to visit her detained chief-of-staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez.
The Office of the Vice President (OVP) official was detained after she was cited for contempt by the same House committee.
After leaving Lopez at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, Duterte went to her brother’s office, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte.
When the House committee decided to transfer Lopez to the Correctional Institute for Women, Duterte hurled expletives at Romualdez and the Marcos couple and issued her assassination threat.
Lopez was ordered detained at the House after being cited for contempt by the House panel, which has been probing alleged irregularity in OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) usage of confidential funds.
Lopez was ordered detained at the House premises for five days or until Monday. However, the contempt order issued against her was extended for five more days, under the motion of ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro.
It was also Castro who moved to hold Lopez in contempt due to the OVP official’s letter to the Commission on Audit (COA), where she asked the agency to refrain from giving the House its audit observations on the confidential funds (CF) expenses of the OVP.
Castro believes that Lopez and the OVP were ordering COA, which would have prevented the House from scrutinizing the OVP’s transactions using public money.
The motion for a contempt citation against Lopez was duly seconded and approved by the panel chairperson, Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua.