Marcos fires back at VP Sara: ‘Ang katotohanan ay hindi dapat i-tokhang’
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 2:06 p.m.) — The truth cannot be killed, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared in response to Vice President Sara Duterte's death threats.
In a video statement on Monday, November 25, Marcos issued a lengthy response to Duterte's tirades against him, which included plans to have him, First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez killed if anything happened to the vice president.
Marcos condemned such threats as criminal.
"Kung ganun na lang kadali ang pagplano sa pagpatay ng isang presidente, papaano pa kaya ang mga pangkaraniwan na mamamayan? 'Yang ganyang kriminal na pagtatangka ay hindi dapat pinapalampas. 'Yan ay aking papalagan (If you can plan to kill the president so easily, how much more for a regular citizen? These criminal threats cannot be allowed to pass. I will fight back)," Marcos said.
Marcos alluded to former president Rodrigo Duterte's infamous "tokhang," the police operation that led to the deaths of thousands of drug suspects.
The term "tokhang" has since become synonymous with execution.
"Hindi na sana hahantong sa ganitong drama kung sasagutin lang sana ang mga lehitimong katanungan sa Senado at House of Representatives. Ang katotohanan ay hindi dapat i-tokhang (It would not come to a drama like this if she answered legitimate questions from the Senate and the House of Representatives. The truth cannot be executed)," Marcos said.
Congressional authority. Marcos said called for an end to the chaos caused by the vice president. He said Congress has the full right to exercise its functions as an independent body, and its oversight functions must be respected.
The president also stressed that the entire executive branch and all agencies are not exempt from Congressional investigations.
Marcos also addressed Duterte's accusations that his administration had failed to address the country's issues and was using her as a punching bag instead.
However, Marcos maintained that while the government continues to work on these problems, the rule of law must be upheld.
"As a democratic country, we need to uphold the rule of law," Marcos said.
Although Duterte has backtracked on her statements, claiming they were taken out of context, her threats have already made headlines worldwide.
Duterte's tirades against Marcos are not new, but the situation took a turn for the worse when her chief aide Zuleika Lopez was detained at the House of Representatives during their investigation into the Office of the Vice President's alleged misuse of confidential funds.
The vice president has consistently refused to attend these probes until today, November 25.
History of threats. Sara had previously stated that she imagined beheading Marcos. She also threatened to exhume the remains of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and throw them into the West Philippine Sea.
With Sara's explicit declaration of plans to kill the president, security and justice agencies are treating this as a serious concern requiring investigation.
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