Vice President Sara Duterte addresses the media at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City on November 26, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday said they have launched an investigation into the possible criminal liability of Vice President Sara Duterte and her security staff for a standoff involving her top aide and some law enforcers. 

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The issue stemmed from an incident last weekend when Duterte and her security personnel allegedly arranged a "forced transfer" of her chief-of-staff Zuleika Lopez from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) to St. Luke's Medical Center "using a private ambulance that they hired."

The PNP probe would determine if Duterte and her staff could be held liable for "Resistance and Disobedience to a Person in Authority, along with other criminal and administrative offenses."

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"In a video that surfaced, VPSPG (Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group) head, Colonel Raymund Dante Lachica, was seen physically pushing and assaulting the PNP doctor-in-charge, which could lead to a direct assault complaint," PNP Chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said.

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Lopez is currently under the custody of the House of Representatives after being cited in contempt during a hearing on the OVP's alleged misuse of confidential funds. Duterte has decried the House probe as political harassment.

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"The rule of law is fundamental to our democratic system. No one, regardless of their position, should be above accountability," Marbil said, adding that they would be impartial in their investigation.

Duterte is also under investigation over her controversial press conference where she revealed a plan to have President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr assasinated should she get killed.

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