The Department of Justice on Monday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the President and gave her five days to respond to a subpoena.
“The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Justice Undersecretary Jesse Andres told reporters Monday.
“The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind will now face legal consequences… and the legal consequences arising out of this criminal plot will be dealt with the full force of the law.”
Speaking to reporters, Duterte said she planned to respond to the subpoena.
“I will gladly answer the questions they want to ask, but they must answer my questions as well,” she said. “We’ll just talk there when I get the subpoena.”
Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed a hitman to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos should an alleged plot to kill her succeed.
The Vice President, who is facing potential impeachment hearings, told reporters early Saturday that she herself was the subject of an assassination plot.
In the expletive-laced press conference, Duterte also singled out First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez as potential targets.
“The Vice President is not immune from suit. She can be the subject of any criminal or administrative case,” Andres said, adding the subpoena was in the process of being served.
He said the Office of the Ombudsman holds jurisdiction over high-ranking government officials and has the authority to investigate and discipline them.
He added that a manhunt was underway for the “assassin” allegedly engaged by Duterte.
“The investigation that the government will undertake is urgent. It is important to know what steps were taken to hire the services of a murderer who is planning a bad plan against our president,” said Andres.
“There are numerous legal liabilities for anyone found to have conspired to commit an attempt on the life of our Chief Executive,” he added.
For his part, Richard Anthony Fadullon, prosecutor general of the National Prosecution Service (NPS), said the threat “cannot be taken lightly.”
“We, being part of the executive branch, are mandated to closely work with the National Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies in making sure that whatever cases may be filed later on will be backed-up and supported by evidence.”
On the other hand, the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) said it will do a separate probe.
“The PNP is looking into that matter because we have specific details. We are at that level. Is there really a hitman? Maybe there is no hitman and it was another figure of speech. These are the things we are looking at and we will be including all of those in our investigation,” CIDG chief Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III said at a press briefing held at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
He said they would identify the facts of the case, make a chronology of events and analyze and discuss the possible laws violated by Duterte.
“The investigation report will be forwarded to the proper authorities to determine who must file cases because this could be something that will need a private complainant. This could be something that can be taken up by other branches of the government. This could be taken up by the SolGen (Solicitor General) and the other instrumentalities,” Torre said.
“If there is a need to subpoena other resource persons or other subjects or witnesses on this matter, we will cross the bridge when we get there. As of the moment, this early, we’re just making the investigation proper,” he added.
In an interview with Manila Standard, independent policy analyst and constitutionalist lawyer Michael Yusingco noted this development is normal and not politically motivated.
“The life of the President, his family and the Speaker was publicly threatened so it is only incumbent upon the government agencies to investigate and determine whether necessary charges must be charged,” Yusingco said. With Vince Lopez and AFP
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Philippine VP Duterte ‘mastermind’ of assassination plot: justice department.”
