Prosecutors: VP's threat mirrors teacher’s arrest over Duterte bounty

MANILA, Philippines — Members of the prosecution team believe the correct comparison to the grave threats allegations against Vice President Sara Duterte is the case involving a public school teacher who was swiftly arrested for placing a bounty on Duterte’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

In separate press briefings on Monday, counsel for the prosecution panel Benjamin Tolosa Jr. and public prosecutor Manila Rep. Joel Chua mentioned the case of Ronnel Mas, a resident of Masinloc, Zambales who taught at Taltal National High School, who in 2020 said that he will provide P50 million to whoever can kill the former president.

Tolosa brought up Mas’ case after being asked about references made by Duterte supporters regarding the accusations against the Vice President and the threats complaint against actress and television host Kris Aquino in 2019 — with the Vice President’s allies claiming that Aquino was not penalized.

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READ: Teacher regrets P50-M offer to kill Duterte

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“Difficult to comment on that because I’m not really aware of the words given by Ms. Aquino but what I can say is that the more correct comparison should be drawn with the threats made by a simple public school teacher, who, during the previous administration, threatened the president during that time,” Tolosa said.

READ: Kris Aquino admits she’s angry in ‘edited’ audio recording, maintains Nicko Falcis ‘abused company funds’

According to Tolosa, Mas was arrested even if it is evident that the teacher does not have the capacity to provide the bounty he claimed.  Tolosa then compared this to Duterte’s threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez — which he said can be carried out by the Vice President.

“If we can remember, what he said was that whoever can kill or have the President killed, he will give P50 million.  Obviously, the public school teacher, he has no capacity to pay that P50 million, but we know how swift the action of the law enforcement agencies here, he was charged,” Tolosa said.

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“We should compare it with that […] we are talking about a simple public school teacher here, the one who gave these threats, and an admission that there is already an agreement with an assassin that came from the second-highest, second most powerful official of our government,” he added.

Chua on the other hand said that if Mas was prosecuted over threats against the former president, then all the more should high-ranking officials like Vice President Duterte should be subjected to accountability mechanisms.

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“For example if I say that ‘if you do not pay your debt, I will kill you.’  Can’t you file complaints for grave threats?  Much more if these threats came from people in high positions and those in power,” Chua said.

“In fact, if you remember, during the past administration, there was one person who threatened the life of the former president, that we know does not have the capacity and money, because he offered a bounty of P50 million.  And you know, he does not have a capacity to implement this, no capacity to provide the bounty, and yet he was arrested and charged,” he added.

Duterte’s threats, contained in Article IV of the Articles for Impeachment, is the first topic to be discussed by the Senate Impeachment Court.  Two witnesses have been called to the witness stand already — NBI Senior Agent John Mark Calilung who was called last Tuesday and Wednesday, and NBI Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc.

The threat against the Marcos couple and Romualdez came during an online briefing last November 23, 2024, as she lashed out over the House’s decision to detain her chief-of-staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez.

Lopez’s detention came after she was cited for contempt by the House committee on good government and public accountability of the 19th Congress, as she supposedly committed undue interference during the panel’s investigation of alleged confidential fund misuse within Duterte’s offices.

Chua heads the said panel.

At one point in the briefing, Duterte was asked if she is not concerned about her safety.  In response, the Vice President said that they should not worry about her security as she has already talked to a person to kill the President, the first lady, and the former Speaker, if she herself got killed.

The defense panel has maintained that Duterte’s statements were part of free speech, but several government officials and the prosecution team believe it was a grave threat — regardless of whether or not the Vice President executed a contract with an assassin to kill the three.

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Last Wednesday, prosecution team member and San Juan Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora said that the prosecution panel believes that her statements alone constituted an impeachable offense. /mr