Malacañang: Sara Duterte's 'active threat' to Marcos' life referred to PSC for 'immediate proper action'

Malacañang is taking action against Vice President Sara Duterte after she made an "active threat" to the life of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. as well as his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

In a statement published on their website, the Presidential Communications Office said that they are "acting on the Vice President’s clear and unequivocal statement that she had contracted an assassin to kill the President if an alleged plot against her succeeds."

"The Executive Secretary [Cesar Chavez] has referred this active threat to the Presidential Security Command for immediate proper action," they stated.

They stressed that "any threat to the life of the President must always be taken seriously, more so that this threat has been publicly revealed in clear and certain terms."

Sara made the threat against her former 2022 election running mate during a midnight Zoom press conference on Nov. 23.

This is after a months-long probe into the actions of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) that eventually reached a boiling point when her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, got detained due to being cited in contempt by the House of Representatives.

"'Wag kang mag-alala sa security ko kasi may kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi ko sa kanya, 'Pag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta, at si Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke,'" Duterte revealed.

"Nagbilin na ako, Ma’am. 'Pag namatay ako, 'wag ka tumigil hanggang hindi mo mapapatay sila.' And then he said yes," she added.

Duterte calls out Marcos' 'lies' during the election season

Duterte slammed Marcos and his allies for their supposed "lies" to the public dating back to the election season.

Marcos previously made a promise to the public that he would be able to lower the price of rice to just P20 per kilo. At the press briefing, Duterte claimed that this was all a deception.

"Pruweba ko na sinungaling siya? Tinanong ko dalawang businessman na matagal na sa negosyo ng bigas—because I was concerned, this is a campaign promise na 20 per kilo ng bigas. I really sat down and talked to a businessman," she said.

"Sabi ko, 'Sabihin mo sa'kin kung magagawa ba 'yang P20. Sabi niya, 'Hindi. Napaka-imposibleng gawin 'yan because more than P20 ang cost,'" she continued. "It's either he did not know what he's talking about, he's so incompetent or he was lying to his teeth to get the votes of people."

Duterte then cursed at the First Couple and Romualdez as she mentioned the white envelopes supposedly containing money, which were alleged to have been given to officials of the Department of Education (DepEd).

"Ginigitgit nyo 'yung mga tao ko dyan sa envelop na yan. Liza Marcos, naalala mo nagpadala ka sa'kin ng video, sinabihan mo ako saan kukunin ang pera? You sent me written instructions about money, millions a month. Anong nakalagay doon sa envelope? DepEd—anong ko? Binigay ko sa DepEd!" the former Education chief said.

"Wala ka ngang posisyon sa gobyerno, namimigay ka ng pera ng gobyerno eh. Tapos sisirain niyo 'yung mga pangalan ng kasama ko sa Office of the Vice President? Sasabihin niyo sa mga tao nakaw 'yan, confidential funds 'yan?" she continued.

Investigations on her office's funds

The daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte has been in hot water since August following the alleged misuse of funds for her office's socioeconomic programs and her refusal to answer questions regarding her office's expenses, particularly the confidential funds worth P775 million for the OVP and DepEd during her budget proposal's first hearing.

She was seeking a P2.037-billion budget for 2025, which was cut to P733 million. Her office has a P1.885-billion budget for 2024.

On the night of Nov. 22, Zuleika was ordered to be detained and then transferred from the chamber’s detention facility to the Women’s Correctional Facility in Mandaluyong City by Joel Chua, who is the chairman of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.

"'Yung mga congressman na yan na naghi-hearing, ano ang sinasabi nila pagkatapos? 'Pasensya na kayo ha, kailangan kasi namin ng pera, mag-eeleksyon na.' 'Di mo pala gusto ginagawa mo eh bakit mo sinisira pangalan ko, Joel Chua?" Duterte said.

Zuleika's contempt citation came after lawmakers found her committing undue interference in the panel’s hearings about the OVP's alleged misuse of funds. Her boss, however, was having none of it.

"Walang contemptuous doon sa ginawa ni Usec Lopez," she maintained, referring to the the OVP official’s letter to the Commission on Audit asking that the agency refrain from giving the House the audit observations on OVP’s confidential funds expenses.

"Lahat ng tanong sinagot niya, pumunta siya, maayos siya kumausap, and then sasabihin niyo sa amin bakit kami susulat sa COA? Bakit hindi kami susulat sa COA eh hindi pa tapos ang appeal namin? Hindi tapos ang audit namin?" she questioned.

Meanwhile, an emotional Zuleika detailed in the same Zoom press conference that she was brought to the women's prison in the middle of the night after policemen showed up in her room to serve the transfer order.

''I said, 'I'm not going anywhere. I need my lawyers now.' And then they said, 'There is no need for a lawyer because we are just doing our job to serve it,''' she said.

"This is a threat to my life. It's not harassment," she stressed.

Duterte is currently staying in the House premises to stand in solidarity of her chief of staff. Her brother, Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte, gave her "unconditional permission to stay indefinitely" in his office to "discharge her day-to-day duties."