If you don’t like someone, killing them is basically what the Vice President of the Philippines suggested after she appeared to threaten to have the country’s president killed if she, herself, were killed.
Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte-Carpio is under fire for comments imposing violence against her country’s leader during a conference at the House of Representatives on Saturday in response to someone warning her of being in enemy territory due to her being at the lower chamber of Congress overnight with her chief of staff.
I’m response, she said she would have President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta, and Speaker Martin Romualdez killed.
“I have talked to a person. I said, if I get killed, go kill BBM, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke," Duterte said. "I said, do not stop until you kill them, and then he said yes."
However, Duterte did not mention any threats against her safety.
In response, National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said the country’s government is taking the vice president’s remarks seriously and has heightened and strengthened security protocols.
“We are also closely coordinating with law enforcement agencies to detect, deter, and defend against any and all threats to the president and the first family,” the Presidential Security Command said in a statement.
Her threats are under investigation and may lead to charges, the Presidential Communications Office stated.
“If the evidence warrants, this could lead to eventual prosecution,” adding that it would be “closely coordinating with law enforcement agencies to detect, deter, and defend against any and all threats to the President and the First Family.” The threat was “one made so brazenly in public” and had become “a matter of national security.”
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ABS-CBN News pointed out that Duterte and her father— the former president of the Philippines— are known for making off-the-cusp, violent remarks which they would later walk back. Reuters stated that her threat is from an order by lawmakers to jail her chief-of-staff for allegedly impeding its probe over Duterte’s alleged abuse of public funds.