House Deputy Majority Leader and Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre proposed on Wednesday the “Anti-Solicitation to Murder Bill” in response to the recent admission of Vice President Sara Duterte that she contracted a killer to carry out a politically motivated murder plot.
In filing House Bill 11166, Acidre said Duterte’s public acknowledgment, which she claimed was “not a joke,” sparked nationwide outrage and raised questions about accountability at the highest levels of government.
Acidre stressed the urgency of introducing measures to address incitement to violence.
The proposed legislation defines solicitation to murder as the act of urging, encouraging, or inducing another person to commit murder, whether directly or indirectly, with or without compensation or reward.
Acidre emphasized that the bill seeks to penalize solicitation regardless of whether the solicited crime is carried out.
“House Bill 11166 is a response to the lack of a clear law against this type of violence,” Acidre said in Tagalog. “This kind of behavior, even from the highest government official, cannot be allowed to go unpunished,” he added.
The proposed legislation seeks to address Duterte’s threats aired during a live virtual press conference to have President Ferdinand Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez killed as a form of revenge following an alleged plot to eliminate her.
Both Marcos and Romualdez condemned her statements. Thereafter, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) issued a subpoena addressed to the Vice President seeking her explanation on the matter amid applicable charges under the Revised Penal Code.
Two separate impeachment complaints citing “betrayal of public trust,” among other issues, was also filed against Duterte recently. The Vice President denied instigating an assassination plot and claimed that her words were just “taken out of logical context.”
“Public officials must lead by example and uphold the rule of law,” Acidre stressed. “This bill will send a clear message: we must not allow intimidation and violence to be part of our society, especially when it comes from those in power.”
