‘Self-confessed mastermind’: VP Sara Duterte faces subpoena over assassination threat

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte will be summoned by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) over her apparent plans to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assassinated in the event of her death.

NBI Director Jaime Santiago said the agency has primary jurisdiction in investigating threats against the president. Duterte's statements are being taken seriously, he added.

“Ngayon po ay ginagawa at ise-serve na kaagad immediately (We are preparing this and will serve it right away),” Santiago said during a press briefing at Malacañang Palace, referring to the subpoena.

Santiago said Duterte would be served the subpoena by Tuesday, November 26, and would have five days to acknowledge receipt. Once acknowledged, she will be required to explain and elaborate on her statements.

Where her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, would often make controversial statements that would later be dismissed as jokes, the vice president made it clear that she was not joking that she had contacted a hitman to kill Marcos if she died.

Santiago warned that even if Duterte ignores the subpoena, the investigation will proceed.

This is not the first time that the president was publicly threatened in recent memory. In 2020, a public school teacher made a post online promising a reward to whoever would kill former Rodrigo Duterte.

It was also the NBI who arrested the said teacher back then. Asked about that precedent, Santiago admitted that additional courtesy is being extended to Sara since she is a sitting vice president.

Nonetheless, the NBI said that they are probing Duterte's remarks. Santiago said that upon studying the vice president’s video, it was clear that her threat was not conditional. The hitman was instructed to kill Marcos if she dies—not necessarily if she is killed.

“‘Pag ako namatay.’ Paano kung na-overdose siya o nalason siya na wala naman kasalanan ang mga agencies? Wala namang kasalanan ang president. Kaya iba yung ‘Pag ako napatay (‘If I die.’ What if she overdoses or is poisoned without any fault from the agencies? The president wouldn’t be at fault. That’s different from saying ‘If I am killed)," Santiago said.

Justice Undersecretary Jesse