MANILA – The House prosecution panel on Saturday slammed Vice President Sara Duterte’s argument that her alleged death threats against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. are covered by free speech, countering that no constitutional right is absolute and leaving the final ruling to the Senate impeachment court.
Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, the prosecution teams’ spokesperson, issued the statement after Vice President Duterte’s defense team formally argued to the impeachment court that her comments were protected free expression.
“You know, all lawyers would agree that there’s no such thing as absolute freedom. All freedoms are also subject to some regulation,” Alonto Adiong said during the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City.
“One cannot go around the streets accusing anybody of something without the necessary consequence of that action, either verbally or acted upon,” he added.
In an online press conference in November 2024, Duterte said she had instructed someone to kill President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then-Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez if an alleged plot against her succeeded.
