VP Sara no-show at NBI probe on death threats

INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Vice President Sara Duterte did not attend the National Bureau of Investigation’s hearing on Friday regarding her November 23 death threats against President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Duterte said she was informed late about the cancellation of a House hearing on her alleged misuse of confidential funds, which was also set for the same day.

It was the explanation she gave in a letter to NBI Director Jaime Santiago, who had waited for an hour at the NBI headquarters in Pasay City before Duterte’s legal counsel Paul Lim arrived to say she wasn’t coming.

READ: VP Sara Duterte no-show at NBI, asks for rescheduling

“Apparently the vice president learned that the House canceled her scheduled appearance also today, so she has asked for a resetting,” Santiago said later at a press conference.

The bureau rescheduled the hearing to Dec. 11 to give her time to prepare, he added.

Santiago said the bureau would also issue subpoenas to 10 to 12 more people who “asked questions or participated” in the early-morning, online press conference called by Duterte, where she made the threat.

In her cursing rant directed at the President and his allies, Duterte said she had hired a contract killer to assassinate the first couple and the House leader should a purported plot to kill her succeed.

Issued on Nov. 25, the NBI subpoena asked Duterte to appear at 9 a.m. on Friday to “shed light on the investigation” of the alleged grave threats under Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012) and possible violation of Republic Act No. 11479 (Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020).

Her ‘alibi’

On Thursday, Manila Rep. Joel Chua, chair of the House committee on good government and public accountability, said the panel canceled its hearing on Friday so that the Vice President would not have “an excuse” to miss her NBI appointment.

Zambales Rep. Jay Khonghun, a member of the committee, expressed dismay over Duterte’s nonappearance, saying the Vice President seemed to have contracted a sort of disease—“sakit sa pag-iwas”—that made her avoid not only the issue of confidential funds but also the NBI probe.

“She should just face these (issues) straight because this sets a bad precedent for ordinary people who are also being subpoenaed by the NBI. Does this mean that if you are powerful and rich, you don’t have to face these kinds of summons?” he said at a press briefing.

Khonghun, who is also the House assistant majority leader, recalled that the committee sent out the cancellation notice about its Nov. 29 hearing even before facing the media at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

‘This is not leadership’

“My guess is this is just an alibi—that she didn’t find out about the cancellation,” he said. “Honestly, I think the entire Philippines knew (early enough that) it was canceled.”

House Deputy Majority Leader and La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V said Duterte’s “defiance” of the NBI subpoena conveyed “a message that the law doesn’t apply to (her). That is not leadership; that is arrogance.”

“The Vice President’s decision to ignore the NBI is not just disrespectful; it is a direct challenge to our justice system. If the second-highest official can get away with this, what’s stopping others from doing the same? This sets a terrible example for our country,” Ortega said in a statement.

He challenged the NBI “to act firmly and without fear” and “not allow this defiance to go unpunished.”

“The Filipino people are watching. If we let this pass, we’re telling every citizen that justice depends on who you are, not on what you’ve done,” he added. INQ