National Bureau of Investigation chief Jaime Santiago says the subpoena will allow the Vice President to explain her side and to formally relay her own security concerns
MANILA, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday, November 26, served a subpoena to Vice President Sara Duterte in connection to the death threats she had made against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The NBI team arrived at the Office of the Vice President in Mandaluyong headquarters past noon. The subpoena was later received by OVP staff.
In the subpoena, Duterte was requested to appear before the NBI on Friday, November 29, to explain her side.
NBI Director Jaime Santiago said in an interview on DZBB’s Saksi sa Dobol B on Tuesday morning that the subpoena will allow Duterte not only to air her side but also to convey her security concerns.
Asked about Duterte’s claim that she made the threat against Marcos to highlight her own security concerns, Santiago said: “Alam ‘nyo actually isa yan sa pakay namin kung bakit namin sinusubpoena ang Pangalawang Pangulo. At para masabi niya rin formally ang sinasabi niya na tangka sa kanyang buhay. Kasi wala naman kaming formal na reklamo na natatanggap sa kanya.”
(You know, one of the reasons why we are going to subpoena the Vice President is for her to formally narrate the threat to her life that she had been talking about. Because we have yet to receive a formal complaint from her.)
Double standard?
Santiago also addressed questions about the “double standard” in handling Duterte’s death threat against Marcos as compared to the case of 25-year-old teacher Ronnel Mas who was arrested without a warrant and swiftly charged over his social media post about a P50-million reward to anyone who will kill President Rodrigo Duterte.
In May 2020, Mas was charged with inciting to sedition related to cybercrime, and violation of Republic Act No. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Stanfards for Public Officials and Employees over the online post. The charges were dismissed a month later.
“‘Yan po ang isang bagay na naturingan, ‘yung pahayag na papatayin ang Pangulo, galing sa bibig ng Pangalawang Pangulo. Siya po ay very powerful, very influential woman. Out of respect, binibigyan natin siya ng pagkakataon, due process, na maipaliwanag niya ang kanyang side. Out of respect na lang po kaya dinadaan namin lahat sa due process,” Santiago said.
(That was one thing that was pinpointed, the statement on killing the President which came directly from the mouth of the Vice President. She is a very powerful, very influential woman. Out of respect, we are giving her a chance, due process, to explain her side. This is out of respect, that’s why we are coursing everything through due process.)
The NBI chief said that their evidence against Duterte include the video clip of the Vice President’s Saturday press conference. He said they will submit all the evidence to the Department of Justice (DOJ) which will determine if a case would be filed.
In a virtual press conference on Saturday, November 23, a visibly enraged Duterte said she had arranged the assassination of the Marcos couple and Romualdez, and stated twice that she was not joking. She backtracked on her statement days later, claiming that what she said had been “maliciously taken out of logical context.”
The government, however, is taking the matter seriously. In a news briefing in Malacañang on Monday, Justice Undersecretary Jesse Andres said, “The premeditated plot to assassinate the President as declared by the self-confessed mastermind will now face legal consequences and we are tapping our law enforcement agents to investigate on the whereabouts and identity of this person or persons who may be plotting against the President.”
Marcos said in a statement on Monday, November 26, that he will not ignore any threats to his life and called on his erstwhile ally not to resort to “distractions” to “change the story,” referring to the investigation into her alleged fund misuse at the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, when she led that agency.
It was the first time for Marcos to openly chastise Duterte, who has been attacking him since their parted ways in June, following her resignation from his Cabinet.
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The Vice President’s Saturday online rampage was triggered by the order of the House committee on good government to transfer her House-detained chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, to the women’s correctional in Mandaluyong City. The House panel later allowed Lopez to be confined at the state-run Veterans Medical Memorial Center, following her anxiety attack, but also extended her detention by five days.
The House panel had earlier cited Lopez in contempt on because of her evasive answers and “undue interference” in the House hearing on Duterte’s alleged fund misuse, and ordered her detention at the House.
Duterte: Case has ‘no flesh’
In a statement posted on her Facebook page while the NBI team was preparing to serve her subpoena, Duterte again belied allegations that she was plotting to assassinate Marcos and said that the government’s “insistence that the President’s life is under active threat is ominous.”
“There is absolutely no flesh on the bone, and despite the absence of a reliable investigation, authorities were quick to consider this a national security concern,” she said.
Duterte claimed that in contrast, there was “inaction” when she “expressed in previous months threats to my person and continuing threats to the life of OVP personnel.” – Rappler.com
