PNP to probe VP Sara’s threats against Marcos

MANILA, Philippines — Stressing it is treating all threats to the safety and security of President Marcos seriously, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has launched an investigation on the remarks of Vice President Sara Duterte that she has contracted an assassin to kill the Chief Executive.

During an online news briefing yesterday after midnight, Duterte said she already asked someone to assassinate President Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez, if she ends up dead.

Acting on Duterte’s latest threats against Marcos, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said yesterday they will assist the Presidential Security Command (PSC), the unit tasked to protect the Chief Executive, in investigating the matter.

“The PSC should investigate that but we will help them,” Marbil said in a message on Viber.

Recognizing the grave nature of Duterte’s threat, Marbil directed the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to conduct a thorough and immediate investigation of her statement.

“The safety of the President is a national concern and any direct or indirect threat to his life must be addressed with the highest level of urgency,” the PNP said in a statement.

Duterte went ballistic after the House of Representatives ordered the transfer of her chief of staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez to the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City from the House’s detention center.

Lopez was cited in contempt by the House committee on good government and public accountability for “undue interference” in the panel’s probe into the use of confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education when she was still the agency’s secretary.

Hundreds of police officers, some of whom were armed with long firearms, secured St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City. Lopez was transferred from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) where she was initially brought due to dizziness and vomiting.

During her stay at the VMMC, several allies of Duterte visited her. Among them was Sen. Ronald dela Rosa who criticized the House for its order transferring Lopez to the CIW, a detention facility for women convicted of