MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has broken his silence on allegations linking Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio to a supposed plot to assassinate him, saying his administration treats all threats with utmost seriousness.
“I don’t know, you know… I am really not in a position to say what that’s about,” Marcos said when asked directly if the Vice President was capable of orchestrating an assassination attempt against him, during an interview with India’s Firstpost.
“But you have to be careful… but then you know in my position, there always is some kind of threat and we take them all very seriously,” the President added.
The question stemmed from Duterte-Carpio’s controversial virtual press conference in November 2024, where she mentioned the names of President Marcos, First Lady Louise “Liza” Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez in the context of an “assassination” comment.
She made the statement while criticizing the House’s order to transfer her then chief of staff, Atty. Zuleika Lopez, from its detention facility to the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City.
The Vice President’s remarks were immediately referred to the Presidential Security Command (PSC) for evaluation.
Duterte-Carpio later clarified that it was not a threat, saying she merely intended to highlight an alleged threat to her own security.
Nonetheless, in February, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed sedition and grave threat complaints against her related to the same incident.
The issue also became one of the seven Articles of Impeachment filed against Duterte-Carpio, specifically citing an alleged conspiracy to assassinate President Marcos, the First Lady, and Speaker Romualdez./PN
