Palace: VP Sara did not refute alleged threats vs Marcos

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang said Vice President Sara Duterte did not deny the alleged grave threats case against her and instead invoked freedom of expression as a defense.

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro claimed that the second day of the impeachment trial on July 7 showed no denial from the vice president’s camp regarding allegations that Duterte threatened to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and former House speaker Martin Romualdez.

“Hindi ito dineny ng bise presidente at ang kanyang depensa lamang dito ay freedom of expression. So walang pagtanggi, walang pagpapasinungaling sa akusasyong totoo niyang pinagbantaan ang buhay ng pangulo,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a press briefing on Wednesday, July 8.

(The vice president did not deny this, and her defense only is the freedom of expression. So there’s no denial, no rejection of the accusation that she really threatened the life of the President.)

Malacañang added that Marcos has already commented on the alleged threats and is not monitoring the impeachment trial.

The grave threats allegations, covered under Article IV of the Articles of Impeachment, are being tackled first in the Senate impeachment court during the opening days of the impeachment trial against Duterte.

The first witness, National Bureau of Investigation Cybercrime Division agent John Mark Calilung, relayed to the Senate impeachment court the controversial remarks of Duterte in a 2024 press conference, where she said she had already contacted someone to kill the president, the first lady and the former House speaker.

Snippets of the press conference and other videos showing Duterte uttering remarks against Marcos and the government were also shown at the Senate impeachment court.

In June, the vice president’s camp said in its answer to the Articles of Impeachment that Duterte was merely exercising her freedom of expression and that her utterances were constitutionally protected.

The alleged grave threats and assassination plot will be the subject of the impeachment trial for 11 days out of the 92 trial days.

One guilty vote on any of the four Articles of Impeachment is not enough to convict Duterte; a conviction requires a two-thirds vote from the Senate impeachment court, which would remove her from the vice presidency and prohibit her from holding public office in the future.