Marcos has ’nothing to do’ with impeachment rap filed against Sara Duterte—Malacañang

Malacañang stressed that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos has “nothing to do” with the impeachment case filed by various groups against Vice President Sara Duterte.

“The impeachment complaint filed in the House of Representatives by several private citizens is clearly the complainants’ independent initiative, and its endorsement [is] the prerogative of any member of the House of Representatives,” the Palace said.

“The President has nothing to do with it,” it noted, adding that Marcos’ earlier statement on the matter is “unambiguous.”

This comes a day after civil society organizations, religious groups, and families of tokhang victims submitted an impeachment case vs. Duterte to the Secretary General’s Office at the House of Representatives. Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña endorsed the complaint, accompanied by former senator Leila de Lima.

Marcos earlier confirmed that he asked lawmakers not to pursue impeachment raps against Duterte amid the latter's attacks and threats against him. 

“That’s really my opinion, this is not important. This [will] not make any difference to even one single Filipino life, so why waste time?” Marcos told the press on Friday, Nov. 29.

“What will happen if someone files an impeachment? It will tie down the House [of Representatives], it will tie down the Senate, it will just take up time and for what? For nothing,” he added, saying that “none of this will help improve a single Filipino life."

Duterte's attacks vs. Marcos

Duterte has been in hot water due to her alleged misuse of funds for her office and during her tenure as the Department of Education (DepEd) secretary.

She also made headlines after giving an expletive-laden rant against Marcos and his kin during a Zoom press conference on midnight of Nov. 23, where she accused First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos of funneling cash-filled envelopes through the DepEd. She also implied that Romualdez, during a plane ride, told her that the Marcoses were pilfering campaign funds.

What takes the cake is her unequivocal account of contracting a hitman to assassinate Marcos, his wife, and Romualdez if she were killed.

"May kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi ko sa kanya, 'Pag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta, at si Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke,'" Duterte said in response to a commenter wishing for her safety. "Nagbilin na ako, Ma’am. 'Pag namatay ako, 'wag ka tumigil hanggang hindi mo mapapatay sila.' And then he said yes."

The following day, Malacañang said they are "acting on the Vice President’s clear and unequivocal statement that she had contracted an assassin to kill the President if an alleged plot against her succeeds."

"The Executive Secretary [Cesar Chavez] has referred this active threat to the Presidential Security Command for immediate proper action," they stated.

They stressed that "any threat to the life of the President must always be taken seriously, more so that this threat has been publicly revealed in clear and certain terms."

Duterte, however, said in a statement on Nov. 26 that the “insistence” of the current administration that Marcos' life is "under active threat" is "ominous," calling the narrative "farce" and "imagined."

"There is absolutely no flesh on the bone, and despite the absence of a reliable investigation, authorities were quick to consider this a national security concern,” she noted.

According to her, common sense “should be enough for us to understand and accept that a supposed conditional act of revenge does not constitute to an active threat.”

Later in the day, the NBI served a subpoena to Duterte, compelling her to shed light on the investigation into threats she made against the President. She, however, was a no-show at the first hearing scheduled on Nov. 29.

Duterte is also facing several complaints from the Philippine National Police (PNP), including direct assault, disobedience, and grave coercion, following a confrontation with the police.