PNP investigates Duterte’s ‘killer’ vs. Marcoses, Romualdez

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) will focus its investigation on identifying the assassin allegedly contracted by Vice President Sara Duterte to assassinate President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and House. Speaker Martin Romualdez, in case she herself is murdered.

“You can look at the details of the PNP data, for example. So nandun tayo sa level na yun. Yun talaga ang abot namin kung totoo nga bang may hitman, kung totoong baka naman walang hitman or baka naman yan ay figure of speech na naman. So ‘yun ang ating mga titingnan diyan and we will include all these people in our investigation,’ CIDG Director Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III said during a press conference on Monday, November 25, 2024.

(That’s really the focus of the PNP, because that’s already specific. So we’re at that level now. That’s really what we can investigate – whether there is indeed a hitman, or maybe not, or maybe it’s just another figure of speech. So those are the things we’ll look at, and we’ll include all of that in our research.)

Torre said that, on the orders of PNP Chief General Rommel Marbil, they are investigating the incident where Duterte admitted to ordering someone to kill the First Couple and Romualdez if she were killed.

He said they will identify the facts of the case, establish a chronology of events and analyze and discuss the possible laws that were violated during the incident.

Torre said the results of the investigation will be forwarded to the appropriate authorities or agencies of the government for possible filing of charges in connection with the incident.

‘Kami, we will limit ourselves to the investigation. So kapag investigation, ang gagawin lang namin we will just establish the facts of the case, we will investigate and discuss this with the relevant laws and then we will draw conclusions and make our recommendations and that’s it, tapos kami Bye, Torre said.

(We will confine ourselves to the investigation. So what we will do during the investigation is establish the facts of the case, examine them and discuss them in relation to the relevant laws. Then we will draw our conclusions and our recommendations, and that that’s all, we’re done with it.)

“Then the investigation report will be forwarded to the relevant authorities in the case as this may be something for which we need a private complainant. This could be something that could be taken up by other branches of government. This could be taken up by the SolGen (Solicitor General) and the other agencies kung saan direction nila ipupunta or dadalhin ang imbestigasyon na ito,” he added.

(Then the investigation report will be forwarded to the appropriate authorities who will file the case, as this may require a private complainant. This may be something that can be taken up by other branches of government, such as the Solicitor General, or other agencies , depending on the direction they choose with their research.)

Meanwhile, PNP spokesperson Brigadier General Jean Fajardo said the PNP will also investigate the mistakes and negligence of the police in handling the tension during the transfer of Duterte’s Chief of Staff Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) of St .Luke’s. Medical Center on Saturday, November 23.

In a viral video, Duterte confronted a police officer who tried to close an ambulance door with the vice president still standing behind it.

Lopez was held at the House of Representatives Jail on November 20 after being cited for contempt by the House Committee on Good Governance and Public Accountability for alleged “improper interference,” amid the ongoing investigation into the alleged irregularities in the use of the Agency’s resources. of the vice president.

Due to security concerns, the panel ordered her transfer to the Women’s Correctional Institution in Mandaluyong City.

Lopez, who was then accompanied into the facility by Duterte, became hysterical and later felt ill, prompting authorities to take her to a hospital.

Duterte disputed Lopez’s transfer to Mandaluyong. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)