VP Sara’s threat to kill Marcos carries harm, betrays public trust —solons

Vice President Sara Duterte’s threat to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and others makes the third impeachment complaint filed against her sufficient in substance because her words can translate to real harm, House justice panel members said Tuesday.

Negros Oriental Second District Rep. Janice Degamo, widow of the slain Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo, was one of the lawmakers who made the assertion during the House justice panel deliberation on the sufficiency in substance of the impeachment complaints filed against the Vice President.

During the hearing, a video of Duterte saying that she already contracted an assassin to kill the President, First Lady Liza Marcos, and then Speaker Martin Romualdez was also played.

“May kinausap na ako. Sinabi ko sa kaniya na kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta at si Martin Romualdez. No joke. Sabi ko, 'wag ka tumigil hanggang hindi mo mapatay sila, and then he said yes,” the Vice President said in the video.

(I already talked to someone. I told the person if I was killed, kill BBM, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez. I told the person not to stop until these people are killed, and then he said yes.)

“My husband, the late Governor Degamo, before he was murdered, received threats before he was tragically murdered. The threats at first were conditional, like if you do this, something will happen. But then even though they were conditional, the fear and intimidation they caused were very real. Conditional threats can turn into actual harm. That happened to us,” Degamo said, referring to the assassination of her husband three years ago.

“In the same vein, when the Vice President made statements implying harm to the President, the First Lady, and the former Speaker, those statements are serious even if phrased as conditional. Because words from her position carry weight. It can intimidate other officials. It can influence decision and even undermine public trust. That is why in impeachment terms, such conditional threats are considered sufficient in substance,” she added.

As the second highest ranking public official in the country, Degamo said Duterte’s words could bring danger.

“A threat does not have to be absolute or immediate to be serious. What matters is its potential impact, especially if the speaker holds power. Conditional threats can intimidate or coerce. A statement that starts with [the word] if can pressure officials or institutions to act a certain way,” she pointed out.

“Maybe words from ordinary people may be limited in effect, but threats from a person who is holding a national leadership post carry far reaching consequences,” she added.

House Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima of ML party-list, for her part, said that the Vice President did not even try to deny the threat she made in an expletive-filled video.

“Sa halip na bawiin ang pahayag, kinumpirma pa niya na nakausap nga niya ang isang taong may kakayahang gawin ang kanyang pagbabanta. She confirmed it in a media interview. The core ultimate fact alleged here is that instead of resorting to lawful remedies, the Vice President contracted an assassin to kill the President, the First Lady and the former Speaker, alleging conspiratorial violence against the highest officials of the land. How can that be disputed? There is a video, there are clippings, and there is a video, duly authenticated by the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), which formed the basis actually of the filing of cases for inciting to sedition [against the Vice President],” De Lima said. 

“Klaro po ito. They constitute high crimes and betrayal of public trust of the gravest constitutional magnitude. Why culpable violation of the Constitution. Hindi ito simpleng pagbabanta lamang. This is a willful breach of her duty. Kung sanay sila sa pagbabanta, sa pag-uutos, o pakikipagsabwatan sa pagpatay ng tao, dapat itong panagutin sa batas,” she added.

Even without a criminal conviction, De Lima said such an allegation, if admitted, squarely falls within the constitutional concept of other high crimes.

“The Vice President’s oath of office is not a ceremonial one. It is a constitutional commitment to uphold lawful processes, maintain peace and order, and protect the stability of the Republic,” de Lima, a former Justice Secretary, added.

But for Quezon City Rep. Bong Suntay, the Vice President’s words are not necessarily actual threats because they are conditional.

Suntay, to support his assertion, said his wife always threatens to kill him when he goes home late but he remains alive.

“The Vice President said she hired someone to kill [the President] if she herself was killed. Lo and behold they are both alive. There is no overt action done,” Suntay said.

“You know, sometimes when I go home late, my wife always threatens to kill me. Ang sabi sa akin ng asawa ko, papatayin kita eh. Umaga ka na naman umuwi. But I am still alive. And my wife only kills me with love. Common sense dictates that if you are really serious in killing someone you do not announce it to the whole world, why would you announce that?” Suntay added.

But for Representatives Benny Abante of Manila and Belle Zamora of San Juan, a threat from the Vice President, conditional or otherwise, is a credible threat because her position gives her access to tools and personnel needed to execute the threat she made.

“You have seen the video. That amounts to a credible threat, a red flag for national stability and constitutional order. Why? Because the Vice President is not a private citizen. The wife of Congressman Suntay is a private citizen. The Vice President carries access, influence and security resources,” Abante, one the endorsers of the impeachment against the Vice President, said.

“That the threats were conditional is inconsequential. The mere act of engaging an assassin, as stated in the complaint, is opposed to her oath. And that the mere act of uttering these statements is already impeachable because at the very least, it amounts to a betrayal of public trust, aside from all of the offenses charged in the impeachment complaint,” Zamora added.

The House justice committee suspended until Wednesday its deliberations on the sufficiency in substance of the impeachment complaints against Duterte. On Monday, the panel found the two impeachment complaints against the Vice President sufficient in form. —AOL, GMA Integrated News