DOJ says it received a tip about alleged assassination plot vs. Bongbong Marcos

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Sunday said that its Office of Cybercrime (OOC) received an online tip about an alleged kill plot against presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra confirmed this with GMA News Online, noting that this tip is still being verified as of posting.

“The OOC has already requested the preservation of the suspect account. The DOJ, on the other hand, has directed the NBI (National Bureau of investigation) to validate the tip. Pending verification,” he said.

“We are keeping other details confidential for security reasons,” he added.

Marcos' camp said that the OOC pushed through the investigation after receiving a TikTok post that read, “WE ARE meeting everyday to plan for BBM’s assassination. Get ready.”

Citing information from the OOC, Marcos' camp said that DOJ-OOC officer-in-charge lawyer Charito Zamora sent a letter to Tiktok’s Law Enforcement Outreach Trust and Safety, requesting the platform to “preserve the data related to the subject account while the Philippine authorities are working on the legal process for its disclosure.”

In a separate message to reporters, Guevarra said that the OOC “acted immediately in view of the serious nature of the information received.”

“The NBI will give priority attention to any validated information pertaining to a threat to the personal security of any presidential aspirant,” he stressed.

He added that the DOJ has not received any similar information of personal threats to other aspirants for top national elective posts.

Atty. Vic Rodriguez, chief of staff of Marcos, said Sunday that they commend the OOC for its “swift and uncompromising response to uncover those behind this open threat to harm” Marcos.

He however stressed that they are “not cowered” by the threat.

“While the report on the assassination plot is concerning, we are not cowered by such threat. Bongbong shall continue to personally deliver his message around the country with firm resolve to unify the nation,” he said in a statement. —KG, GMA News