Sara Duterte's camp: Madriaga's claims of ouster plot, term-sharing are 'pure fiction'

The camp of Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday rejected the allegations by Ramil Madriaga, who identified himself as her former aide and supposed bagman, calling his statements “pure fiction” and lacking evidence.

In a statement, Duterte’s legal counsel Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr. said Madriaga’s claims of a supposed secret term-sharing agreement, a planned ouster, and assassination plots against President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. were “not even remotely believable.”

“His allegations of a secret term-sharing agreement, planned ouster, and assassination plots against PBBM are pure fiction, and not even remotely believable,” Panelo said.

“If the need arises, we will be happy to refute each delusional claim point by point with evidence — something that has eluded all his allegations, past and present,” he added.

Former president Rodrigo Duterte allegedly had plans to remove Marcos from his post in 2025 to give the position to his daughter Sara Duterte, according to the handwritten letter of Madriaga.

GMA News acquired the letter from a reliable source from Madriaga’s camp, which has his signature and was dated April 11, 2026, according to a report by Tina Panganiban Perez on 24 Oras on Monday.

This was ahead of the appearance of Madriaga before the House Committee on Justice for the vice president’s impeachment proceedings on Tuesday. Madriaga arrived at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City before 7 a.m.

“This is precisely what I meant when I said that the more Ramil Madriaga speaks, the better it becomes for Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense,” Panelo said.

“I have repeatedly said that making Madriaga testify would just reveal his lack of credibility and expose his lies. He has now succeeded in doing exactly that even before uttering a single word under oath in the House Justice Committee,” he added. —KG, GMA News