THE National Bureau of Investigation yesterday served a new subpoena to Vice President Sara Duterte, asking her to attend a preliminary investigation on death threats she made against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The one-page subpoena dated December 2 was served by NBI operatives and received by Duterte’s office in Mandaluyong City.
“Under and by virtue of the authority vested in me by Republic Act 10867, you are hereby commanded to be and appear in the Office of the Director, Bldg D., 9th Floor Filinvest Cyberzone Bay City, Diosdado Macapagal Blvd, Pasay City, Philippines at 10am on the 11th day of December 2024 then and there to give your evidence in a certain investigation to be held at that time and place, conducted by the undersigned,” said the subpoena signed by NBI Director Jaime Santiago.
The NBI said the subpoena was served to “shed light” on the investigation for alleged grave threats under Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Section 6 of Republic Act 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and possible violation of RA 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
Duterte said she has contacted “someone” to kill the First Couple and Romualdez if she herself was killed due to her ongoing rift with the President. She has backtracked and clarified that her controversial statement was not a threat to Marcos. She said she was only highlighting a threat to her life.
She also said her statement was “taken out of its logical context,” and that the “Marcos administration’s insistence that the President’s life is under active threat is ominous.”
The NBI also summoned Duterte’s staff members who moderated an online press conference in the wee hours of November 23, during which she uttered the death threats the Marcoses.
Also summoned was former Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles as she was also present in the press briefing, a correspondent of a foreign media, members of the local media, and a vlogger who covered the press briefing.
The NBI clarified the media members are being summoned not as respondents but as witnesses who can explain what happened in the press briefing.
Duterte has failed to appear during the November 29 hearing called by the NBI for her to shed light on her remarks.
The NBI has already confirmed the authenticity of the video showing Duterte issuing the threats against the President.
The agency also requested Facebook to preserve the said video so that it could be used as evidence.
Last month, Duterte also said she wanted to cut off the President’s head when he refused to give his watch to a graduating cadet of the Philippine Military Academy that they attended.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has tapped the NBI “to thoroughly investigate the matter, and hunt down the supposed assassins contracted by the Vice President, to make them accountable.”
BETRAYAL
The “original” Partido Demokratiko ng Pilipinas (PDP)-Lakas ng Bayan said it “strongly denounced the reckless action and inflammatory statements” of the PDP-Duterte wing that encouraged the people to join the protest rally at the EDSA Shrine in support of the Vice President.
PDP-Laban party chairman Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III and party president former senator Emmanuel Pacquiao said the PDP-Duterte wing enticing the public to go out and join the EDSA rally is self-serving.
“Their call for public disturbance and their misuse of the party name for selfish political motives is a betrayal of the principles upon which the PDP Laban was founded – principles centered on justice, peace, and the rule of law,” they said in a statement.
The PDP-Duterte wing, in a post on its official Facebook account titled “Labas na! Tara na sa EDSA,” is urging the public to get out of their homes and join actions at the EDSA Shrine to denounce in what it said was oppression of the people by the Marcos administration.
Dozens of Duterte supporters have been gathering at the Shrine since last week.
Pimentel and Pacquiao said the people should be discerning “and avoid being swayed by those who exploit our nation’s political landscape for their gain.”
“The actions of this rogue faction are neither representative of PDP Laban’s ideals nor the aspirations of its founding members and loyal supporters,” they added.
They said the PDP Laban stands firmly behind the Constitution, the rule of law, and democratically elected government, and that moves to divide and destabilize the government is “the last thing our nation needs.”
“The Philippines has faced enough challenges, and the last thing our nation needs is division and destabilization at the hands of those who prioritize personal agenda over the welfare of the Filipino people,” they added. – With Raymond Africa
