Marcos fires back at VP Sara's death threats: ‘Ang katotohanan ay hindi dapat i-tokhang’

MANILA, Philippines — The truth cannot be killed, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said to Vice President Sara Duterte as he fired back against her death threats. 

In a video statement on Monday, November 25, Marcos issued a lengthy statement in response to Duterte’s tirades against him— which included plans to have him, First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez killed if anything bad happens to the vice president. 

Marcos called such threats criminal. 

“Kung ganun na lang kadali ang pagplano sa pagpatay ng isang presidente, papaano pa kaya ang mga pangkaraniwan na mamamayan? 'Yang ganyang krimimal na pagtatangka ay hindi dapat pinapalampas. 'Yan ay aking papalagan,” Marcos said. 

(If you can plan to kill the president so easily, how much more for a regular citizen? These criminal threats cannot be allowed to pass. I will fight back.) 

Marcos alluded to former president Rodrigo Duterte’s infamous “tokhang”, which is the police operation that saw the deaths of thousands of drug suspects. 

The term "tokhang" has since become anonymous to execution. 

“Hindi na sana hahantong sa ganitong drama kung sasagutin lang sana ang mga lehitimong katanungan sa Senado at House of Representatives. Ang katotohanan ay hindi dapat i-tokhang,” Marcos said. 

(It would not come to a drama like this if she answered legitimate questions from the Senate and the House of Representatives. The truth cannot be executed.) 

Marcos said he wants an end to the chaos caused by the vice president. He stated that Congress has the full right to exercise its functions as an independent body, and its oversight functions must be respected.

The president stressed that the whole executive branch and all the agencies are not exempt from Congressional investigations.

Marcos also addressed Sara’s accusations that his administration failed to address the country’s issues, using her as a punching bag instead. 

However, Marcos said that while the government is still working on these problems, the rule of law must still be upheld. 

“As a democratic country, we need to uphold the rule of law,” Marcos said. 

While Sara has backtracked on her statements, claiming that they were taken out of