Sara Duterte rejects charges she plotted to kill Marcos
Vice President Sara Duterte is seen in a screengrab from a video posted on her Facebook page.
Vice President Sara Duterte on Friday rejected outright the complaints of inciting to sedition and grave threats filed against her by the National Bureau of Investigation for allegedly making arrangements to kill President Marcos, his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez last year.
Accompanied by her lawyers, she presented her counter affidavit to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to “set the facts straight” regarding the allegations.
“I categorically deny the charges against me,” she said on the first page of her affidavit, which was provided by the Office of the Vice President (OVP). “Being accused of a criminal offense, I am constitutionally presumed innocent even in these proceedings,’ and need not dignify the complaint with a reply, when no evidence has been shown to support it.”
“Nevertheless, I welcome this opportunity to set the facts straight and to correct Complainants’ false allegations, clear my name of their baseless charges, and spare our government and our people the corresponding waste of limited time, effort, and resources being caused thereby,” she added.
Only the front page of the affidavit was given to the Inquirer by the OVP since it was the portion of the document that was “authorized” for release.
Duterte’s lawyer, Michael Poa, told reporters that they could not yet disclose the full contents of the affidavit to avoid influencing the DOJ Panel of Prosecutors, which will conduct the preliminary investigation (PI).
Duterte stood on the right side of another lawyer beside POA.
READ: Palace: Sara Duterte’s latest attack vs Marcos applies to her, family
Poa said her presence at the DOJ was the fulfillment of her promise to face the charges.
“She also said that he will face the right venues. This time, on the first day of the preliminary investigation, she appeared and filed his counter affidavit, and she just laid out the reasons why this (the complaint) should not continue. And that the accusations against her should be trashed,” Poa said without elaborating on the reasons.
No questions
Duterte told reporters that she won’t answer their questions upon the advice of her lawyers.
When asked if they expected a fair treatment from the DOJ, Poa said they expected nothing less.
“That’s the minimum. We expect due process, not just for the Vice President, but anyone who goes through the preliminary investigation in the DOJ. We can only expect due process,” he said.
The complaint was filed by the NBI after the Vice President said during an online press conference on Nov. 23, 2024, she said she had contracted someone to kill Marcos, his wife and the Speaker
should an alleged assassination plot against her succeed.
Duterte was summoned by NBI investigators following her threats last year, but she didn’t appear for questioning.
Duterte vehemently denied that she made a security threat against the President, who led their “Uniteam” ticket which swept the 2022 national elections.
READ: Sara Duterte appears, submits reply to NBI raps on threat to Marcoses
“Common sense should be enough for us to understand and accept that a supposed conditional act of revenge does not constitute an active threat. This is a plan without flesh,” Duterte told reporters on Nov. 26, 2024.
The country’s two top officials had a falling out last year that broke open when she resigned as education secretary in July 2024. She has since launched tirades against Mr. Marcos, accusing him of incompetence and of using drugs, and campaigned against the administration in next week’s midterm polls.
She was impeached by the House last December and will be tried by the Senate in July.
According to Poa the next PI hearing was set for May 16 but Duterte will most likely not attend since she is no longer needed to appear in succeeding proceedings.
