Vice President Sara Duterte said the Marcos administration is intimidating critics by filing sedition raps against them, similar to what they did with her and Cavite Rep. Kiko Barzaga.

“Ginagamit nilang panakot (They are using it to intimidate),” she said on Friday, Nov. 14, when asked about the inciting to sedition charges filed against the lawmaker, who’s a staunch critic of the Marcos administration and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez.

The Vice President appealed to Malacañan instead to allow the public to raise their sentiments, even if these are criticisms of the administration.

“At ang gusto ko lang sabihin ay katulad kanina, sinabi ko, huwag masyadong maging balat-sibuyas yung administrasyon dahil isa sa aspeto ng demokrasya at good governance ay dissent (What I want to say, similar to what I said earlier, the administration shouldn’t be too onion-skinned because dissent is an aspect of democracy and good governance),” she said.

“At hindi mo pwedeng pigilan yun dahil karapatan yan ng mga tao na magsalita kung ano yung iniisip nila, kung ano yung nararamdaman nila. Kung hindi man pabor sa administration o gobyerno nilang sinasabi ng mga tao ay dapat respetuhin nila yun (You cannot stop that because the people have the right to speak out about what they’re thinking and feeling. Even if it is not favorable to the administration or government, you should respect that),” she added.

Duterte spoke a day before the planned three-day rally of Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) against reports of rampant corruption in government projects. The One Trillion Peso March Movement—composed mostly of liberals, celebrities, and social media influencers—is also planning a separate day of protest on Nov. 30.

The Vice President shared that she herself is facing charges of inciting to sedition and grave threats.

The charges were born from an online press conference in November 2024, wherein Duterte said she asked someone to kill President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Romualdez should she herself get killed.

“Actually, ma'am, inaantay ko lang kung kailan nila ako ikulong (I am just waiting when they will put me in jail),” she told reporters.

“But apparently hanggang ngayon hindi pa rin nila ma buo-buo talaga kung ano iyong strategy nila paano nila ako ikulong dahil wala talaga silang ebidensya ng maling ginawa (they have yet to build their strategy how they will imprison me because they cannot find evidence of wrongdoing).”