Panelo: Sara Duterte not linked to alleged threat vs witness

Vice President Sara Duterte’s legal counsel, Atty. Paolo Panelo, on Friday said the vice president has nothing to do with the alleged death threat against Ramil Madriaga.

Panelo said Duterte’s camp is even supporting calls to provide Madriaga with additional protection.

"We want him alive and in the pink of health because he’s the only one who can admit that he made up his testimony against the Vice President, and identify his handlers," Panelo said in a statement.

"If he stands firm on his testimony, we want him to come forward and add details to his overly general and obviously fabricated accusations, so we can shatter his testimony even more," he added.

Madriaga, a self-proclaimed “bagman” who accused Duterte of receiving drug and Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators money through covert cash deliveries, earlier claimed he saw how money from POGO and drug-linked financiers was funneled to groups supporting Duterte’s political rise.

However, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology clarified that the alleged threat to Madriaga’s life stemmed from an altercation with another person deprived of liberty at the Taguig City Jail.

Duterte on Wednesday filed a perjury complaint against Madriaga, who claims to be her former aide, an assertion the vice president has denied.

The vice president earlier said Madriaga had offered no proof or documents to support his allegations. She also said he had previously been accused of kidnapping, posed as a campaign supporter and later surfaced as a witness in her impeachment case.

In December 2025, Madriaga alleged that drug dealers and POGO operations funded the Inday Sara Duterte Is My President Pilipinas national campaign and other parallel groups.

Madriaga’s allegations were later included in the impeachment complaint against Duterte.

Duterte denied having a personal relationship with Madriaga and alleged he is working to undermine her possible plans to run for president.

The vice president recently announced she intends to run for president in the 2028 elections.