In the wee hours of Saturday, November 23, Vice President Sara Duterte sent a stern warning to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez: If she gets killed, so will they.

Responding to a Diehard Duterte Supporters (DDS) vlogger’s question about her remedy to corruption and criminality, and supposed calls for people power during a press conference via Zoom, Duterte said: “‘Wag kang mag-alala sa security ko kasi may kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi ko sa kanya, ‘pag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta, at si Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke.”

(Don’t worry about my security because I’ve already talked to someone. I told him, if I get killed, kill BBM, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke.)

“Nagbilin na ako, Ma’am. ‘Pag namatay ako, ‘wag ka tumigil hanggang hindi mo mapapatay sila. And then he said yes,” she added, without naming the apparent assassin that she had contracted. 

(I’ve already made arrangements, Ma’am. If I die, don’t stop until you kill them. And then he said yes.)

Addressing Duterte’s warning to the President and First Lady, Malacañang said on Saturday that “the  Executive Secretary has referred this active  threat to the Presidential Security Command for immediate proper action.”

The OVP called the news briefing past midnight, after the House committee on good government ordered the transfer of her chief of staff,  Zuleika Lopez, from the House detention facility to the Women’s Correctional Facility in Mandaluyong City.

Lopez was supposed to be the only one giving the unauthorized press conference from her detention cell but Duterte took over after her chief of staff suffered an anxiety attack. She was transferred to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center on Saturday morning and was later moved to the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City. Upon orders of the House panel, Lopez was later returned to the VMMC.

In another virtual press conference on Thursday, Duterte claimed that Romualdez “is the only person who wants me dead.”

Filipinos online weighed in on Duterte’s latest public rant, with some saying that she should either resign or get impeached because her actions were “unbecoming of a government official,” while her supporters continued to defend her. (READ: ‘She can’t be a leader’: Filipinos online slam Sara Duterte over latest public rant)

Duterte has been at odds with Romualdez since last year, when the House rejected her confidential funds request for 2024. Since she officially severed ties with the Marcos administration after her resignation as education chief in June, she has been attacking Marcos and his government to the point of apologizing to voters she had persuaded to support Marcos in the 2022 presidential elections.

Duterte has been staying in the office of her brother, Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte since Thursday, to be accessible to Lopez, who has health problems. The Vice President had said that she planned to stay there for as long as there are OVP staff detained at the House or until Congress adjourns in June, if needed.

Lopez was detained at the House facility starting Wednesday night, November 20, after being cited for contempt due to her evasive answers during the probe into her boss’s alleged misuse of funds at the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, when Duterte was DepEd chief. (READ: Fake receipts? Here’s a summary of House probe into Sara Duterte’s funds)

Following Duterte’s tirades against Marcos, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief General Romeo Brawner assured the public that the AFP “is a professional organization focused on its mandate to protect the people and the state” and that its personnel “are loyal to the Constitution and the Chain of Command.”

“We are facing greater challenges that require the strength of a united country and armed forces. As a cornerstone of national stability, the AFP shall remain non-partisan, with utmost respect for our democratic institutions and civilian authority,” Brawner said.

“We call for calm and resolve, and for everyone to hold on to our values of respect and nationalism that will guide us in these trying times. We reiterate our need to stand together against those who will try to break our bonds as Filipinos,” he added. – Rappler.com