Imee Marcos checks on Duterte aide amid ‘threat’ vs brother Bongbong

November 24, 2024 | 5:36pm

MANILA, Philippines — Despite the “assassination” remarks made against her brother by Vice President Sara Duterte, Sen. Imee Marcos visited the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City on Sunday, November 24, where the Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief of staff is staying.

Marcos was seen disembarking from a chopper that landed at VMMC at 2 a.m. to visit OVP Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez.

Aside from Marcos, Lopez is accompanied by Sens. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Christopher “Bong” Go as Duterte temporarily went home to see her children.

Lopez was hospitalized on Saturday morning after having a panic attack, following the House Committee on Good Government’s order to transfer her to the Women’s Correctional Facility in Mandaluyong City, which she refused to comply with.

In response, Duterte held a press conference on the same day, lashing out at President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, threatening to “assassinate” them in the event that she is killed—a statement she called “not a threat.”

Lopez had been held at the House detention facility since Wednesday, November 20, after being cited for contempt over her evasive responses to lawmakers investigating the vice president’s alleged fund misuse at the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) during Duterte’s tenure as DepEd secretary.

In response to Duterte’s remark, the Executive Secretary had referred the “active threat” to the Presidential Security Command for immediate proper action.

The remark was also considered by the National Security Council as a “matter of national security.”

In a statement sent to reporters, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said the “matter is now subject to an ongoing investigation.”

“If the evidence warrants, this could lead to eventual prosecution,” the DOJ said. 

Meanwhile, Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said the National Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group are also probing the matter. 

“The DOJ is ready and willing to hear whatever complaint that may be filed by the law enforcement agencies against anyone and to give anyone who may be charged out of that unfortunate incident that is ongoing to their day in court and later on their own pieces of evidence to present a complaint,” Vasquez said in a mix of English and Filipino in an interview with DZBB.