The camp of former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. praised the Quezon City Police Department Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit's (QCPD-CIDU) for arresting the suspect who allegedly threatened to shoot the presidential candidate.
“We commend the QCPD leadership under Gen. Remus Medina, for their quick action in apprehending the primary suspect who was responsible for issuing death threats against former Sen. Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos,” said Marcos spokesperson lawyer Vic Rodriguez.
"As much as we are trying to elevate our campaign to highest possible level, there are still some groups and individuals who could not seem to accept our call for unity. We take these threats very seriously because we know that there are some groups who could be out to bring him harm just to stop him from winning the presidency,” Rodriguez added.
The QCPD-CIDU identified the suspect as Michael Go, 49, a Grab driver, and a resident of Quezon city.
“I was blocked by Marcos, Jr. Pakisabi mag-ingat siya sa Tandang Sora QC. Pagdumaan siya dun babarilin ko siya di ako takot makulong. Hindi rin ako takot mamatay. Isang malaking karangalan ipaghigante mga kasama ko aktibista biktima ng martial law (Tell him to be careful in Tandang Sora QC.If he passes there I will shoot him, I'm not afraid of death or imprisonment. It would be an honor to avenge my activist friends who were victims of Martial Law,)" read Go's alleged Twitter post from March 15 which is now deleted.
The tweet was referring to the Martial Law era extrajudicial killings.
Somewhere around 3,257 activists, protesters, opposition politicians, and even journalists were killed during Ferdinand Marcos Sr.'s administration. Marcos Sr. is Marcos Jr.'s father.
The QCPD report notes that some members of the Marcos camp filed a complaint against Go about 15 days later on March 30, launching the investigation against the 49-year-old.
On March 31, at approximately 10:30 p.m., officers of the QCPD led by Capt. Roberto Trimor and QC barangay tanods served the arrest warrant against Go.
For his part, Go surrendered himself to the QCPD and vehemently denied all of the allegations made against him.
"Hindi po aking account iyan kasi wala po akong Twitter account at yung FB (Facebook) account ko naman po ay hindi Michael Go kundi binaliktad kong pangalan na Leahcim Og (It's not my account because I don't gave a Twitter account. My Facebook account isn't Michael Go but my name backwards Leahcim Og)," Go explained to the police.
He is currently under the custody of the QCPD pending inquest and will be charged with grave threats related to Republic Act (RA) 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
Meanwhile, rival presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo is similarly no stranger to threats of violence against her and her supporters; some of which include acid attacks and bomb threats.