Vice President Sara Duterte claimed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s own words confirmed her suspicions of his involvement in the processes surrounding her impeachment.

In a sit-down interview, Duterte recounted that, accompanied by Senator Imee Marcos, she had confronted President Marcos about alleged impeachment plans targeting her in the House of Representatives.

President Marcos, Duterte said, denied this initially. However, he apparently let slip that one of his administration’s priorities was the charter change, which he then claimed was solely to modify economic provisions.

“So sabi ni Senator Imee sa kanya na parang tipong, ‘Hindi ‘yan economic provisions, kasi kung binuksan mo ‘yung amendments ng Constitution, bubuksan mo lahat ‘yun. Hindi mo puwedeng sabihin na ‘Ito lang, economic provisions lang.’ Kasama na doon ‘yung political,” the vice president explained.

“Doon kasi diniscuss na tatanggalin ‘yung opisina ng vice president at papapahabain ‘yung terms ng members of the House of Representatives—so more than three years na ‘yung isang termino. So doon ‘yun, na-confirm ko na alam ni BBM ‘yung ginagawa, bilihan ng signature sa People’s Initiative doon sa discussion namin ni Senator Imee Marcos,” she said.

After being confronted with the issue of Duterte’s impeachment, Marcos allegedly told her not to worry, as he will see she is taken care of, an assurance he has never given her in the past.

“Lumapit siya sa akin. May binulong siya sa’kin… Sinabi niya sa’kin, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.’ So parang nagulat ako. Na parang, nagsinungaling ka kagabi, na hindi mo alam ang impeachment. Kasi bakit ka naman magsasabi ng ‘I’ll take care of you,’ diba? Ang tagal namin nagsama sa kampanya, halos mamatay-matay na kami sa init, sa dehydration, sa pagod, hindi man nagsabi ‘yan na ‘I’ll take care of you,’” she shared.

“Why do you need to take care of me? You know something. Huli-huli talaga ang mga lalaki sa pambobola, e,” Duterte laughed, emphasizing that he had only assured her in that way after being confronted.

In another occasion following a reduction in the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) budget, President Marcos also supposedly told Duterte to look out for her safety.

“‘Mag-ingat ka, tuturuan ka namin,’” she quoted him.

The impeachment complaints against President Marcos were scrapped by the House justice committee, which later found two of the impeachment complaints lodged against Vice President Sara Duterte sufficient in substance.