MANILA – House prosecution spokesperson and Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said Vice President Sara Duterte’s Nov. 23, 2024 online remarks went beyond a mere threat, arguing that her statements indicated an alleged arrangement for the killings of top government officials.

Duterte is facing an impeachment charge over statements she made during an online press briefing in which she said she had contracted someone to kill President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez should anything happen to her.

In an interview over dzRH, Adiong said the Vice President’s own narration suggested that there was already an alleged agreement with another person.

“Hindi na pagbabanta ’yon. Ano na po ’yan? Meron na pong (That is no longer a threat. What is that? There is already a) capability. Because the understanding has already been made. The request has already been made and, as a response to that request, the hitman agreed … to carry out the order,” Adiong said.

He said the prosecution’s position rests on Duterte’s description of an alleged arrangement rather than on statements made in anger.

“Hindi lang po ito pagbabanta na, sabihin natin ‘pag galit ‘yung isang tao, naririnig naman po natinnormally, ‘Patay ka sa akin,’ ‘Suntukin kita,’ ‘Papatayin kita,’ sabihin natin na ganoon (This is not only a threat that, let’s say when a certain person is angry, we normally hear, ‘you’re dead to me,’ ‘I will punch you,’ ‘I will kill you,’ let’s say it’s like that),” he said.

Adiong said the circumstances were different because Duterte herself claimed that she had already spoken to another person, which, according to him, implied an agreement and mutual understanding.

He added that the Vice President even described allegedly instructing the person to carry out the killings if something happened to her.

“Ibig sabihin ‘meron na akong nakausap at sinabi ko sa kanya, may mangyari sa akin, patayin mo si BBM, siLiza at Martin Romualdez. Huwag kang titigil hangga’t hindi mo sila mapatay (Meaning to say, ‘I already talked to someone and I told him/her, something happened to me, you kill BBM, Liza and Martin Romualdez. You will never stop until you haven’t killed them). No joke, no joke,’” he said, referring to the statement presented before the Senate impeachment court.

The defense has argued that Duterte’s remarks should be viewed in the context of an alleged operation dubbed “Oplan Romanov,” which it claims placed the Vice President under threat.

The House prosecution, however, maintained that no evidence supporting the existence of the alleged plot has so far been presented before the Senate impeachment court.