House of Representatives prosecution spokesperson and Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong on Sunday said Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s online video on Nov. 23, 2024 went beyond an ordinary threat because she described arranging for someone to carry out killings.
Duterte is facing an impeachment charge over the remarks she made during an online press briefing, where she said she had contracted someone to kill President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez if she herself were killed.
In a radio interview over dzRH, Adiong said Duterte’s own words suggested more than an angry outburst.
“Hindi na pagbabanta ’yon. Ano na po ’yan? Meron na pong (That is no longer a threat. What is that? There is already a) capability. Because the understanding has already been made. The request has already been made and, as a response to that request, the hitman agreed … to carry out the order,” Adiong said.
He said the prosecution’s position is based on Duterte’s description of an alleged arrangement with another person, rather than on a simple expression of anger.
“Hindi lang po ito pagbabanta na, sabihin natin ‘pag galit ‘yung isang tao, naririnig naman po natin normally, ‘Patay ka sa akin,’ ‘Suntukin kita,’ ‘Papatayin kita,’ sabihin natin na ganoon (This is not only a threat that, let’s say when a certain person is angry, we normally hear, ‘you’re dead to me,’ ‘I will punch you,’ ‘I will kill you,’ let’s say it’s like that),” he said.
It’s different this time, referring to what the Vice President said that she had talked to someone, which means there was an agreement and an understanding, he added.
Adiong said Duterte went on to describe an alleged instruction to carry out the killings if anything happened to her.
“Ibig sabihin ‘meron na akong nakausap at sinabi ko sa kanya, may mangyari sa akin, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza at Martin Romualdez. Huwag kang titigil hangga’t hindi mo sila mapatay (Meaning to say, ‘I already talked to someone and I told him/her, something happened to me, you kill BBM, Liza and Martin Romualdez. You will never stop until you haven’t killed them). No joke, no joke,’” he said, referring to the statement presented before the Senate impeachment court.
The defense has argued that Duterte’s remarks should be viewed in the context of an alleged plot against her, invoking what it called “Oplan Romanov,” an alleged operation that supposedly placed the Vice President under threat.
The prosecution, however, has maintained that no evidence supporting the alleged plot has been presented before the Senate impeachment court. (PNA)