De Lima: Sara must be ousted over assassination threat

Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima on Tuesday said Vice President Sara Duterte does not deserve to remain in office over her alleged threat to have President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. assassinated during a November 2024 televised interview.

De Lima made the statement as she endorsed the sufficiency in substance of the third impeachment complaint against the Vice President before the House Committee on Justice.

She said the alleged threat against the President, First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and then Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez falls under impeachable offenses of “betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution and other high crimes.”

“Bakit naman po betrayal of public trust? Kung totoo ang respondent ay nais gumamit ng dahas para patahimikin o mapatalsik ang mga mataas na lider ng pamahalaan, pagyurak ito sa kaayusang constitutional,” De Lima told the panel.

“This is betrayal of public trust in its most severe form. Hindi na dapat manatili sa posisyon ang ganitong mag-isip,” she added.

De Lima said the alleged declaration also qualifies as “other high crimes” because it sought to disrupt constitutional succession and endanger national security.

“At bakit naman pong maituturing itong ‘other high crimes?’ Ang ‘other high crimes’ ay tumutukoy sa mga gawain na may mabigat na epekto sa maayos na pagpapatakbo ng pamahalaan. Kung totoo ang alegasyon ng sabuwatan upang patayin ang mga pinakamataas na opisyal ng bansa, ito ay magdudulot ng kaguluhan sa constitutional succession, panganib sa pambansang seguridad at kawalan ng katatagan sa pamahalaan,” she explained.

“There is perhaps no clearer example of an offense that strikes at the orderly working of government. Even without a criminal conviction, such an allegation, if admitted squarely, falls within the constitutional concept of other high crimes,” she added.

De Lima pointed to video evidence related to the Vice President’s statement.

“Assuming the allegations are true - and how can that be disputed, there is a video, there are clippings, there is a video duly authenticated by the NBI (Nationa Bureau of Investigation) which formed the basis for the filing of cases for inciting to sedition - so klaro po ito. This constitutes high crimes and betrayal of public trust of the gravest constitutional magnitude,” she said.

She maintained that the alleged threat also constitutes a “culpable violation of the Constitution.”