Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro reported an alleged threat to her life to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday.

Castro cited a social media post from “Luminous by Trixie Cruz-Angeles and Ahmed Paglinawan” criticizing her “Chucky” remark, which she said was supposedly aimed at Vice President Sara Duterte. The post was uploaded on 2 January 2026.

She highlighted a portion of the post that stated (translated from Filipino): You understand that when they let you fall, only your appendix and [coccyx] are left unharmed, as a result of your actions.”

“So I really have to report this matter because if something happens to me, at least there is a report of the people who have floated grave threats such as this,” she said.

Castro said the person behind the post appeared to know what he was doing.

“I think Ahmed Paglinawan is claiming his post, but it happens that this Facebook account is in both their names, so I really have to report it,” she said.

The Palace official also confirmed that she knows lawyer Trixie Cruz-Angeles personally. Cruz-Angeles served as press secretary in 2022 but later left government service. Castro joined the Presidential Communications Office in 2024.

Castro said she is considering filing charges against the bloggers, although Cruz-Angeles did not appear to be involved in the posting.

“Right now, my only plan is to report it. If I were to file a case, I would think about it first, but I need to report it first so that at least if something happens to me, they have people to investigate,” she said.

Castro said she was alarmed upon reading the post.

“At the time, of course I was scared because you aren’t used to death threats, but to say that your appendix was not bruised means something else, that there is a threat to your life, so that’s how I felt and up to now I still feel that way,” she said.

Castro said freedom of expression should be exercised but not taken to extreme lengths.

“It’s not necessary that if you oppose what someone says, you threaten their life. Any discourse on threatening life, being violent, does not pass. They should not imitate their idols,” she said.

The bloggers are known supporters of Vice President Duterte.

Cruz-Angeles and Paglinawan responded on their Facebook page, calling Castro’s move “an attempt to suppress speech and expression” critical of the Marcos administration.

They said Castro, as a lawyer, should know the Revised Penal Code definition of grave threats and insisted the post did not contain any threat.

They also criticized Castro for seeking NBI assistance.

“By making this report and publicizing it to the full extent that the resources of PCO can, she intends an unmistakable chilling effect on others who post their opinions and criticism of public officials in the exercise of their official functions on social media,” the post read.

Castro said she would monitor for similar posts but had not found other “alarming” content.