If the Department of Justice is now contemplating filing terrorism charges against Vice President Sara Duterte, it’s not without solid basis or something plucked out of thin air.
What the DOJ is saying is that her threat to kill President Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez is an act intended to “harm or threaten the lives of people,” with the goal of instilling fear.
If the agency proceeds to file charges against her on the basis of the Anti-Terrorism Law—a piece of legislation pushed by her own father Rodrigo Duterte while he was still the Chief Executive—this would be a supreme irony she least expected.
What goes around comes around, as the saying goes.
Malacañang has described Sara’s statement as an “active threat” against the President, who said he would not let her threat go unanswered. The Presidential Security Command has already tightened the security for the President and his family.
The National Bureau of Investigation had issued a subpoena for her to appear at the NBI’s main office on November 29 so she could explain her side. But she chose not to do so, saying she had to attend to urgent office matters. She faces grilling on alleged grave threats under Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code, in connection with Section 6 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10175) and possible violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (Republic Act No. 11479).
Justice Undersecretary Jesse Andres cited Section 4(a) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, which defines terrorism as any act intended to cause death, serious bodily injury or endanger a person’s life. The law specifies that when such acts are carried out to intimidate the public, create fear, or spread a message of terror, the offender shall be deemed guilty of terrorism and face life imprisonment.
The DOJ official has emphasized that Duterte’s threat went beyond mere words, noting that “she has already begun to act on it,” as she admitted that she had spoken to someone, identified the targets—three names—with clear instructions on what to do if she had been killed.
He underscored the gravity of Duterte’s assassination plot, saying that “a threat to the President is a threat to every Filipino.”
Meanwhile, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, a former Supreme Court chief justice appointed to the post by the elder Duterte in 2018, has condemned the former chief executive for his “selfish and brazen” motives in urging the military to take action against Marcos and call for his overthrow so that his daughter could take control of Malacañang.
Are the recent statements of Sara Duterte and her father
part of a plot to destabilize the current administration? If so, authorities must nip it in the bud as this could undermine law and order and plunge the nation into a period of political uncertainty and social unrest.