Vice President Sara Duterte has requested that her hearing with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) be moved to a later date.
The NBI had issued a subpoena against Duterte for Friday, November 29, so that she might explain her statement regarding having hired a hitman to see to the deaths of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez.
She was supposed to appear before the NBI but claimed to have learned too late that the House hearing on the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) alleged misuse of hundreds of millions in confidential funds to take place on the same day was cancelled.
“Late na niya nalaman na canceled ang kaniyang appearance before the House committee hearing. Hindi na siya nakapunta dito and asked for a resetting,” NBI Director Jaime Santiago said.
(She learned too late that her appearance at the House committee hearing was cancelled. She was unable to come here and asked for that the hearing be rescheduled.)
He announced December 11 to be the new tentative date for the hearing.
Duterte’s lawyers requested in a letter to the agency that they send a “a clear copy of the complaint filed against her or any other document that initiated the investigation,” along with the questions they will be asking in advance.
The NBI means to investigate the alleged threat to Duterte’s life as well.
“Tatanungin namin, ‘Sino ba yung pinaghihinalaan mo, may ebidensya ba tayo?’” Santiago told reporters.
(We will ask, “Who are you suspecting, do we have evidence?”)
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday that Duterte may be charged with libel, defamation, and grave threat for her tirades against the President, his wife, and House Speaker.
Duterte however defended her assassination threat, claiming it had been taken out of context, as the “revenge” plot hinges on the condition that the threat to her life would have to succeed before it is set in motion.
She said that this means the plot “does not constitute to an active threat,” adding that the use of the term “assassin” has blown the matter out of proportion and distracts from political persecution.
