🇵🇭 Fighting words in the Philippines

Hello friends!

I’ll be back for good next week, but we’ve got to talk about the Philippines. What a week! 

The Bongbong Marcos-Sara Duterte feud has exploded and what happens next is anyone’s guess. I’ve seen a few pieces about impeachment possibilities but that seems awhile off. Here’s where we’re at Thursday morning.

See you next week,

Erin Cook

It began Friday evening when the VP hosted what has generously been dubbed an ‘online press conference.’ During this, Duterte revealed she had engaged an assassin to kill Marcos, his wife Liza Araneta and House Speaker (and Marcos's cousin) Martin Romualdez, in the event of her own assassination. 

“I already talked to a person. I told the person, ‘If they kill me, kill Bongbong Marcos, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez.’ No joke, no joke. I’ve left instructions,” the Inquirer reports her saying. 

Well, that’s not good. 

“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 has referred this active threat to the Presidential Security Command for immediate proper action. 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,” the presidential palace said in response on Saturday, as per the Inquirer. 

It all comes back to questions about the alleged misuse of confidential funds in the Office of the Vice President. These funds have been at the heart of the Marcos-Duterte Uniteam split and answering any questions about them seems to be downright offensive to the VP. 

Duterte fronted up to the House on Monday, ostensibly to answer questions about just where all that money went. She was compelled to undergo an oath — a move she declined the last time she attended which ended in a bickering back and forth and no real answers — but maintained she was there largely in support of OVP officers who had attended. 

Unfortunately, one of those staffers, Special Disbursement Officer Gina Acosta, was rushed to hospital during the hearing after falling tremendously ill. As the GMA reports: ‘Prior to falling ill, Acosta said she turned over the entire P125 million worth of OVP confidential funds to a certain “Colonel Lachica” who heads the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) even if she was the disbursing auditor.’ 

If Duterte was struggling to deal with the confidential funds issue, threatening the lives of the president, the speaker and the first lady may be a tougher one. She’s maintained that it’s not really a threat because it had the caveat of her own untimely death, which I can kinda see the logic of but it doesn’t really work like that. 

In her defence, she also pointed to the 1983 assassination of Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., which was widely believed to have been on the orders of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. In a family statement, the Aquinos very much want to be excluded from this narrative. Justice for Ninoy and all who have been killed, they say, but there is no space for political violence in the Philippines: “This is also the stance of the family he left behind. We firmly oppose any threat of violence or assassination. Let’s pray for our nation.”

The National Bureau of Investigations issued a subpoena to Duterte on Tuesday, Rappler reports. She’s been instructed to front up to NBI Director Jaime Santiago’s office tomorrow. On the alleged assassin themselves, NBI said: “Today, the NBI has begun conducting a manhunt operations to search for the alleged assassin/s hired by the self-confessed mastermind, VP Sara herself and make them accountable. The [Department of Justice] reiterates its stance that threats made by any public official, regardless of their position, will not be tolerated and must be addressed through appropriate legal channels.”

The Department of Justice confirmed yesterday that Duterte’s comments were being reviewed through the anti-terror law prism, which is just about as heavy-hitting as you can get. “We sent a subpoena to VP Sara to give a chance to shed light on her remarks in the viral video in which she was fuming and talking, and issued a threat. The threat was not just in the mind because she already started to act on it,” Undersecretary Jesse Andres said yesterday. 

“Section 4 [describes] the acts of terrorism and one of the acts defined there as punishable in Section 4 of the Terrorism Law is when one engages in acts intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to any person. Or endangers a persons life,” he said, as per GMA. 

Elsewhere, the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Catholic Church have all issued a variety of statements which boil down to: please, everyone, relax. This also tells us that Marcos enjoys the full support of institutions in the country. While this is beyond bonkers and a sincere concern, we are not quite seeing a Philippines on the edge. Still, there may be some rancour in the ranks. The AFP has warned members that when you’re in the AFP you’ve got to keep it tight. Want to get political? Get a new job. 

Supporters of the Vice President showed up for a vigil at the EDSA memorial on and off over the week. They’re all paid, says the PNP. Maybe so, but I’d be wary of writing off any show of support for Duterte. The clan still courts immense support among people in the country and this is extraordinarily easy to reframe as ‘Sara trying to protect herself but is being victimised by the state in doing so.’ She’s struggling to find the footing on that — it was all a joke, bro! — but papa Duterte’s belligerence is made for this moment. 

Duterte ally Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa’s comments on Tuesday show where this may be heading: “Let’s get ready to rumble, The more you hurt her, the more she [will] fight back.”