Philippine VP denies plot to assassinate president Marcos

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday denied she was plotting to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, saying her comments that sparked a government probe only reflected “consternation” with her one-time ally.

The country’s justice department on Monday called Duterte the “self-confessed mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the president and issued a subpoena demanding she appear at a formal inquiry.

The move followed Duterte telling reporters she had instructed one of her security team members to kill Marcos, his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos and cousin Martin Romualdez if an alleged plot to assassinate her was successful.

But Duterte appeared to walk those comments back Tuesday, describing them as an expression of “consternation” at the Marcos administration’s “failure to serve the Filipinos while it masterfully persecutes political enemies”.

She also said the government’s plot accusations amounted to “farce”.

“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 said in a statement.

“I am confident that an honest scrutiny would easily expose this narrative (of a supposed plot to kill Marcos) to be farce, imagined, or nothing at all.”

‘Active threat’

The Marcos-Duterte alliance that swept to power in 2022 has collapsed spectacularly in the lead-up to next year’s mid-term elections, with both sides trading allegations of drug addiction.

In the expletive-laced press conference on Saturday, Duterte had named the Marcos couple and Romualdez as targets, saying she had told a security team member: “If I die, don’t stop until you have killed them.”

Hours later, the presidential palace said it was treating the comments as an “active threat”.

Duterte, daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, was Marcos’ running mate in a presidential election that saw their ticket win in a landslide.

She remains his constitutional successor should he be unable to finish his six-year term.

But she is currently facing an investigation in the House of Representatives, led by Romualdez, over her alleged misuse of millions of dollars’ worth of government funds.

Both Romualdez and Duterte are widely expected to run for president in 2028.

Duterte stepped down as education secretary in June as relations between the two families reached a breaking point.

In October, the vice president said she felt “used” after teaming with Marcos for the 2022 poll.

Months earlier, her father had accused Marcos of being a “drug addict”, with the president the next day claiming his predecessor’s health was failing due to long-term use of the powerful opioid fentanyl.

The vice president told reporters Tuesday: “I agree with the assumption that he (Marcos) is a drug addict”.

Neither have provided evidence for their allegations.