Vice-President Sara Duterte speaks to the media at the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City on November 25, 2024, while the hearing on alleged irregularities in the use of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education is suspended. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA — Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, House quad comm lead chair, on Saturday said there is evidence that impeached Vice President Sara Duterte admitted to a "kill plot" against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez.

This came after Duterte on Friday denied threatening the life of Marcos Jr., which is the first article on the impeachment complaint signed by over 215 House members and sent to the Senate for trial.

Duterte said her remarks in late 2024 about the supposed plot had been taken out of context. Her supporters have also argued that if Duterte had uttered a threat, it was a "conditional" one and not actionable.

“‘Yung videos, ‘yung pahayag na ating bise presidente, kaya nga po naisama po ‘yan [sa complaint] and kaya nga po may proseso,” said Barbers in a statement.

(Well the first Article of Impeachment includes evidence, the videos and statements from our Vice President, that’s why it was included [in the complaint] and why there is a process.)

VP Duterte's claim of tapping hitman for Marcos Jr. an ‘active threat’: Malacañang

WHAT DUTERTE SAID

Duterte made the controversial statement during a midnight press briefing last November, when a House panel decided to transfer her chief-of-staff Zuleika Lopez to a correctional facility in Mandaluyong. 

Lopez was being detained at the House then for contempt.

“May kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi ko sa kaniya na kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta at si Martin Romualdez. No joke. Nagbilin na ako,” she said.

(I have talked to someone. I told him that if I am killed, he should kill [Marcos Jr.], Liza Araneta and Martin Romualdez. No joke. I already left instructions]

“‘Pag namatay ako, sabi ko, 'wag ka tumigil hanggang hindi mo mapatay sila and then he said 'yes',” she said.

(If I am killed, I said, don't stop until you have killed them, and then he said 'yes'.)

NBI ‘meticulous’ in probe over VP Duterte’s death threats against Marcos

The Palace deemed Duterte's statements an "active threat", but the vice president defended her remarks, saying they are a supposed conditional act of revenge and a "plan without a flesh".

Barbers said that the articles of impeachment forwarded by the House have basis.

“Meron pong mga nakadikit na ebisensya po [They have evidence attached],” he said.

Barbers, a Duterte ally during the presidency of the vice president's father Rodrigo, said she cannot just be asked to resign.

"Hindi naman pupuwede ‘yun. Bigyan natin ng proseso, bigyan natin ng due process e karapatan naman din niya bilang bise presidente at kahit sino sa atin karapatan natin na depensahan ang ating sarili sa mga ganitong klase ng mga pagkakataon,” he said.

(That’s not how this should be. Let's give her the process, let's give due process since it is her right as a vice president and anyone of us has the right to defend ourselves in situations like this.) 

Sara Duterte says she’s ‘okay’ after impeachment: ‘We leave it to the lawyers’

Meanwhile, House Assistant Majority Leaders Taguig City 2nd District Rep. Pammy Zamora, Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Adiong, and Zambales 1st District Rep. Jefferson Khonghun — members of the "Young Guns" group in the House majority —  called Duterte's denial of the threat an attempt to "erase her own reckless statements from public memory" raises national concern.

Rep. Zamora said Duterte's claim of talking to someone to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez in case she is killed "is a direct admission of a criminal conspiracy, and now she wants to pretend she never said it?"

"With a Vice President who openly speaks about assassination plots, should Filipinos be worried about her fitness for office? Should law enforcement agencies investigate her potential connections to rogue elements that could undermine national security?" Adiong said.

The National Bureau of Investigation announced an investigation into the supposed kill plot but has not announced any updates since.

Khonghun meanwhile asked the NBI to fast track its investigation over Duterte's supposed threats, underscoring Marcos Jr.'s safety.

“Her statements are not just reckless, they are dangerous, and she must be held accountable,” he said.