Sara Duterte slams 'insistence' that Marcos' life under active threat

Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday slammed the Marcos administration for allegedly insisting that the life of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. was under active threat following her controversial kill remark.

In a statement, Duterte said "a supposed conditional act of revenge does not constitute to an active threat."

"The Marcos administration's insistence that the President's life is under active threat is ominous," she said.

"I raise this caution as the President and his sycophants aggressively sell a narrative based entirely on my statement, which is taken out of its logical context," she added.

The vice president made the kill remark during an online media conference at the House of Representatives, where Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief of staff Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez was detained after being cited in contempt.

She said she already ordered a person to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez, should she herself get killed.

Duterte later clarified that her "assassination" statement was not a threat, saying she only highlighted the alleged threat to her security.

She had also stated on Monday that the same statement was "maliciously taken out of logical context."

In response, Marcos vowed to block "criminal attempts" against his life.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday afternoon served the subpoena to Duterte following her remark.

No assassin? 

In an ambush interview, Duterte said the Marcos administration's alleged act of adding the word "assassin" into the narrative "makes things even more terrifying."

"Paki-check. May sinabi ba akong assassin doon? Wala. So nilalagay nila do'n sa narrative nila 'assassin.' Nilalagay nila sa narrative nila, 'murder plot,'" she said.

(Please check. Did I mention the word ‘assassin?’ No. So they put that in the narrative 'assassin’ and 'murder plot.’)

According to the Vice President, she is confident "that an honest scrutiny would easily expose this narrative to be farce, imagined, or nothing at all."

"This is a plan without a flesh. 'Pag pinilipilt mo siya na active threat siya, isipin ninyo ang buong mundo na nanonood. Ganito ba ang kapasidad ng mga Pilipino na mag-isip? Wala silang pakialam diyan pero ako nahihiya ako na ganito ang kapasidad ng mga tao sa administrasyon," she added.

(This is a plan without a flesh. 'When you pretend that it is an active threat, think of the whole world watching. Is this the capacity of Filipinos to think? The administration doesn’t care about that but I am ashamed of it.)

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) on Saturday said that threats made by Duterte against Marcos have been referred to the Presidential Security Command (PSC) for immediate proper action.

The PSC later on implemented tighter security measures in the wake of the Vice President's supposed threat, which it considers a "matter of national security."

"Acting on the Vice President’s clear and unequivocal statement that she had contracted an assassin to kill the President if an alleged plot against her succeeds, the Executive Secretary has referred this active threat to the Presidential Security Command for immediate proper action," the Palace said in a statement.

"Any threat to the life of the President must always be taken seriously, more so that this threat has been publicly revealed in clear and certain terms," it added. — VDV, GMA Integrated News