President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. on Friday confirmed the authenticity of leaked messages he reportedly sent to lawmakers, discouraging them from filing an impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.

“Well, it was actually a private communication, pero na-leak na (but it has leaked already). Yes. Because that’s really my opinion. This is not important. This does not make a difference to even one single Filipino life. So why waste time on it?” Marcos told reporters.

Despite Duterte's alleged threats against him, Marcos said he ordered the impeachment efforts to be halted, asserting that such moves would only “tie down” the House of Representatives and the Senate.

In his alleged text to lawmakers, Marcos described Duterte as “unimportant” in the “larger scheme of things.”

Marcos was quoted as texting: “So please do not file impeachment complaints. It will only distract us from the real work of governance, which is to improve the lot of all Filipinos.”

The President emphasized that pursuing impeachment would not benefit the country.

“What will happen to them — if somebody files an impeachment? It will just take up all our time and for what? For nothing, for nothing. None of this will help improve a single Filipino life,” he stressed.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a storm in a teacup,” he added.

Open to reconciliation

When asked if his relationship with Duterte had reached a breaking point, Marcos replied, “Never say never.”

Last weekend, Duterte claimed she had instructed someone to kill Marcos, Speaker Martin Romualdez, and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos should an alleged plot against her succeed.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) summoned Duterte on Friday to explain her remarks about the President, his wife, and the House speaker.

Duterte did not appear before the NBI, stating she only learned late that a House inquiry into the Office of the Vice President’s budget use, scheduled on the same day as her summons, had been canceled.