Vice President Sara Duterte said publicly in her conversations with her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, that he might face the same fate as former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. once he returns to the Philippines, if allowed by the International Criminal Court.

Ninoy was assassinated upon his arrival in Manila on 21 August 1983. His death was widely considered a retaliation to his critical statements against former president Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., the father of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

According to Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro, there are no credible threats against the Vice President nor her father.

“Until now, the alleged threats to VP Sara, have still not been shown to the NBI and then to the PNP. So where did they get this, we need materials, evidence before making these kinds of statements. There is no truth to that,” she said.

Earlier, VP Sara said there is a threat against her, allegedly issued by the President, First Lady Liza Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

In response, the Vice President “threatened” to assassinate the First Couple and Romualdez.

While there is no submitted evidence of a threat against Duterte to law enforcement agencies, security for both leaders of the country remains tight.

Castro also asked where the Vice President got the thought that the elder Duterte might be the next Ninoy Aquino.

“That's what makes me wonder, where do you get these stories like this? Where do you get the comparisons to the former Ninoy Aquino? Where do you get those threats?” she noted.

Castro also recalled that former President Duterte had already likened himself to a political leader, but it was not Ninoy— it was Hitler.

“He said something himself, he even said here and I quote, ‘Hitler massacred three million—actually, it’s supposed to be six million Jews. Now there are three million, what is it? Three million drug addicts in the Philippines – there are. I'd be happy to slaughter them. At least if Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have me.’” Castro said, quoting Duterte.

“It is a far cry from comparing former President Duterte to Ninoy Aquino, who did not have any record of mass murder or crimes against humanity,” she added.

The Duterte patriarch is currently detained in The Hague as he is facing trial in the International Criminal Court for charges of crimes against humanity in relation to extrajudicial killings during his administration’s controversial war on drugs.