VP Sara: Threat vs Marcos ‘maliciously taken out of logical context’

Vice President Sara Duterte (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA)

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday said that her murder threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was “maliciously taken out of logical context.”

Duterte said this in an open letter when she questioned the pronouncement of the National Security Council (NSC) on Sunday that it considers all threats thrown at Marcos “serious and a matter of national security.”

“I would like to see a copy of the notice of meeting with proof of service, the list of attendees, photos of the meeting, and the notarized minutes of meeting where the Council, whether present or past, resolved to consider the remarks by a Vice President against a President, maliciously taken out of logical context, as a national security concern,” said Duterte.

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“In addition, please include in the agenda for the next meeting, my request to present to the Council the threats to the Vice President, the OVP institution, and its personnel,” she added.

Duterte also challenged the NSC’s definition of national security, arguing that it “pertains to the protection of our sovereignty,” which confines the function of the NSC to the formulation of policies for such.

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She also questioned why she wasn’t invited to the council meeting when she is supposed to be a member, citing Executive Order 115 (1986).

Transparency

According to the vice president, she has not received a single notice of meeting since June 30, 2022.

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She then requested the National Security Agency to submit to her the notarized minutes of all meetings conducted by the council from June 30, 2022.

“I want to review what the council has accomplished so far, in terms of policies and recommendations for national security,” Duterte said.

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“Moreover, please submit within 24 hours, an explanation in writing with legal basis why the VP is not a member of the NSC or why as member I have not been invited to the meetings, whichever is applicable,” she further demanded.

The vice president then urged NSC council members, as well as the public, to demand transparency and accountability from the NSC.

Kill Marcos

All this developed after Duterte, in a press conference, claimed that she had already instructed someone to kill Marcos, his wife Liza, and cousin House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she is ever 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.

(I already talked with 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.)

Malacañang, in a statement on Saturday, tagged this as an “active threat.”

In a press conference just hours after she revealed the conversation on the assassinations on Saturday, Duterte also clarified that the threat was merely a warning reflecting her “revenge from the grave” should she end up dead amid a supposed threat to her life.

She even likened it to her previous remarks where she threatened to exhume the body of former President and dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and dump it into the West Philippine Sea if political attacks against her would not stop.