Vice President (VP) Sara Duterte was pushed to the edge. This is basically the defense of her lawyers in justifying her alleged threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“She and her family were threatened and while her response was unconventional, it was justified. What triggered her response was a question about ‘Operation Romanov,’ which is the plot to eliminate VP Sara and her entire family,” said defense lawyer Mark Vinluan during the impeachment trial’s third day on July 8.

The prosecution is in the middle of presenting its evidence on Duterte’s alleged threats against Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former speaker Martin Romualdez — the fourth allegation in the articles of impeachment.

After the court ended the presentation of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officer John Mark Calilung, Vinluan delivered a closing statement. He said that when Duterte allegedly threatened to assassinate the president, she was not a vice president, but a “wife, mother, daughter, and sister who only sought to protect her own and her family members’ lives.”

“Rather, when VP Sara left the administration, she suffered various forms of threats and harassment for many months from the powers that be, and the culmination was her statement on that fateful early morning in November 2024,” Vinluan said.

“She didn’t commit an impeachable offense. She drew the line in the sand and said, enough is enough. That is the meaning, and that is the context,” the defense lawyer added.

The defense said there was “Operation Romanov” which was an alleged threat against Duterte and her family. The threats against Zuleika Lopez, Duterte’s chief-of-staff, also triggered Duterte’s meltdown, said the defense.

In fact, during their cross-examination of Calilung, the defense played a portion of Lopez’s remarks during the infamous press conference. She said there that she was facing possible harms and that her life was under threat.

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This was the big picture, the context behind Duterte’s meltdown. But are these reasons enough to justify her behavior?

The prosecution thinks Vinluan failed to exonerate his client.

“It’s not that it’s not enough. There was no explanation at all,” said House prosecutor Joel Chua in Filipino on Wednesday.

Besides, Calilung thinks that Duterte’s threats against the President were “absolute” and not conditional. There was also no question about the authenticity of the press conference’s video. Calilung vouched for it, along with the journalists who attended the briefing.

Also for the record, former national security Eduardo Año said in November 2024 that Duterte’s threats were no joke and they were a matter of national concern.

“Any and all threats against the life of the president shall be validated and considered a matter of national security,” Año said. (READ: VP Sara Duterte’s assassination threat against Marcos a national security matter, official says)

It’s not that simple too. Showing the supposed context and Duterte’s reasoning might not be enough to downplay her threats, especially if she said that she was not joking at the time.

“No joke, no joke,” the Vice President said during her November 23, 2024 Zoom press conference.

Of all people, the Vice President should know that words do kill as proven by her father’s war on drugs. And in the international arena — at the International Criminal Court — it was shown that one’s own words may be used against oneself. – Rappler.com