Philippines VP skips hearing over 'threat' against Marcos

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte on Friday failed to heed a subpoena over statements where she publicly claimed to have told someone to assassinate President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. if she herself were to be killed.

The alliance between Duterte and Marcos has been increasingly strained, with an election due in May 2025.

National Bureau of Investigation director Jaime Santiago insisted Duterte is 'not immune from prosecution' after she did not attend a hearingImage: Eloisa Lopez/REUTERS

What did Sara Duterte say?

During an online news conference on Sunday, Duterte claimed that she had instructed an assassin to kill Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and his cousin, House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez, if alleged threats against her life were acted on.

"If I die, don't stop until you have killed them," she said. "No joke."

Hours after Duterte's speech, the presidential palace said it was treating the comments as an "active threat."

Duterte later denied that her statement constituted a death threat, arguing that she had merely expressed her "consternation" towards Marcos. Duterte resigned from the Marcos cabinet in June while remaining vice president.

Duterte's lawyer said on Friday that the vice president was busy attending "office matters requiring her urgent attention."

National Bureau of Investigation director Jaime Santiago said that the meeting with investigators had been delayed to December 11 and insisted the politician was "not immune from prosecution."

Cracks have emerged in the alliance between Marcos and DuterteImage: Kyodo/picture alliance

Marcos dismisses 'storm in a teacup'

The Philippines' president said that the issue was not relevant to ordinary citizens.

"It's a storm in a teacup," Marcos said at a press conference.

"This is not important. This will not make any difference to even one single Filipino life, so, why waste time on it?" he said of a potential impeachment hearing against Duterte.

Lawmaker France Castro was quoted by national broadcaster ABS-CBN News as saying that representatives in the lower house were planning to file an impeachment complaint against Duterte for betrayal of public trust, bribery and other crimes.

Duterte and Marcos won in a landslide in the 2022 election.

The pair had a falling out over several issues, including over whether to strengthen ties with Beijing or Washington.

The two politicians have also been at odds over her an anti-drug campaign launched by her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, which left thousands dead.

sdi/zc (AP, AFP, Reuters)