Vice President Sara Duterte said on Monday, Nov. 25, that her remarks about hiring someone to assassinate the First Couple and House Speaker Martin Romualdez have been “maliciously taken out of logical context”.
In a statement and open letter written in response to National Security Adviser Eduardo Año’s remarks on Sunday, Nov. 24, the official questioned how a death threat against Marcos became a national security concern.
Duterte maintained that national security pertains to the protection of the Filipino people, the country’s sovereignty, and its democratic institutions.
“I would like to see a copy of the notice of meeting with proof of service, the list of attendees, photos of the meeting, and the notarized minutes of meeting where the Council, whether present or past, resolved to consider the remarks by a Vice President against a President, maliciously taken out of logical context, as a national security concern,” she said.
While Año did not mention Duterte’s name in his statement, the Vice President, during a pre-dawn Zoom press conference on Saturday, Nov. 23, claimed to hiring someone to kill President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Romualdez if she herself is killed.
In response, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin referred the “active threat” against the President to the Presidential Security Command, which, in turn, tightened the security of the President and his family.
Duterte claimed that she herself has received threats, and even hinted that the threats might be coming from the administration.
“In addition, please include in the agenda for the next meeting, my request to present to the Council the threats to the Vice President, the OVP institution and its personnel,” she said in her statement.
The official also questioned why she hasn’t been invited to any National Security Council (NSC) meeting despite being a member as the sitting vice president.
Duterte, who won with Marcos under the UniTeam banner in the 2022 polls, said she never received a single notice of meeting since taking over the vice presidency on June 30, 2022.
”I request the NSA to please send to me the notarized minutes of all meetings conducted by the Council from 30 June 2022, if any. I want to review what the council has accomplished so far, in terms of policies and recommendations for national security,” she said. (Raymund Antonio)