AFP says no confirmed threat vs VP Duterte, but vows to give protection

Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, Spokesperson of Armed Forces of the Philippines, speaks to the members of the media during the AFP press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. INQUIRER.net file photo / ARNEL TACSON

MANILA, Philippines  — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has not received any “confirmation” or any information on the alleged threat against Vice President Sara Duterte, who earlier revealed that she tasked someone to “kill” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and two of his family members, should she be assassinated.

Despite this, Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, AFP spokesperson, assured that the military will protect Duterte “with all its troops and assets.”

READ: First impeachment complaint vs VP Sara filed at House

“As of this time, we have no confirmation on that, but as I said any po na statements that are given, we look into that,” Padilla said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

“We have specialized units to verify these things. We’ll be performing our mandate accordingly of protecting her with all of our troops and assets in terms of providing security for the Vice President,” she added.

On the other hand, AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the AFP will wait for the result of other agencies’ ongoing investigation regarding Duterte’s kill threat.

“I think there’s an ongoing investigation coming from the different [agencies], the Armed Forces of the Philippines will be cooperating and would like to wait out for any development from that part,” he said.

In an online press conference last November 23, Duterte revealed the alleged threat against her life, saying that she asked someone to kill Marcos, his wife, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez in case she ended up dead.

Due to this statement, civil society organizations filed the first impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte before the House of Representatives’ Office of the Secretary-General on Monday afternoon.

The 50-page impeachment complaint crafted was by religious leaders, sectoral representatives, and families of drug war victims and was endorsed by Akbayan party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña.

Aside from this, Duterte, along with the head of her security group Col. Raymund Lachica, is currently facing direct assault, disobedience to the persons in authority, and grave coercion complaints before the Department of Justice.

This development came after Quezon City Police District Medical and Dental Unit chief Lt. Col. Jason Villamor filed a complaint against the Duterte and Lachica for an incident during the transfer of Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief of staff Zuleika Lopez from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) to the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City.

Earlier, the national police said they obtained a video that showed Lachica physically assaulting Villamor during the transfer on November 23.

Lopez was rushed to VMMC for health issues due to a panic attack. Prior to this, she was detained at the House premises after the committee on good government and public accountability cited her for contempt last November 20 for committing undue interference in the panel’s hearing.

The committee is probing the alleged misuse of the OVP and the Department of Education’s confidential fund under Duterte’s watch. The panel ordered the release Lopez over the weekend, after her 10-day detention period.