ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Sino ang di matatakot?': Chua admits hiring bodyguards for fear of VP Duterte

'Sino ang di matatakot?': Chua admits hiring bodyguards for fear of VP Duterte

Published Jul 13, 2026 09:22 pm

At A Glance

  • Rep. Joel Chua admitted hiring personal security in 2024 after feeling threatened by Vice President Sara Duterte's remarks against him and other congressmen.
  • He said Duterte's statements, replayed during her Senate impeachment trial Monday, revealed a violent nature unbecoming of the country's second-highest official.
  • The prosecution also presented NBI official Jeremy Lotoc, who described Duterte's 2024 death threat to President Marcos as serious and potentially leading to anarchy.
Vice President Sara Duterte (left), Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua (PPAB)
Vice President Sara Duterte (left), Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua (PPAB)


House solon-prosecutor Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua has admitted to hiring personal security in 2024 after feeling threatened in connection with remarks made about him and other congressmen by Vice President Sara Duterte.
In a press conference on Monday, July 13 on the sidelines of day four of Duterte’s Senate impeachment trial, Chua said that he felt compelled to obtain bodyguards due to the stature of the Vice President.
“Hindi ordinaryong tao itong nagbitaw ng ganyang pananalita, bagkus pangalawa sa pinakamataas na opisyal ng ating bansa," noted the Manila congressman.
(This is not an ordinary person making such statements, but the second highest official of our country.)
"Sino naman po ba ang hindi matatakot sa mga pananalita ng ating Bise Presidente?” Chua added.
(Of course, who would not be afraid of the words of our Vice President?)
He was responding to a reporter who asked how he felt after the impeachment court played on Monday afternoon video excerpts wherein Duterte mentioned him and criticized members of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.
Chua chaired the good government panel, which in 2024 carried out a months-long investigation in aid of legislation on alleged confidential funds misuse amounting to P612.5 million on the part of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd).
Duterte served as education secretary from 2022 to 2024.
Chua said he already heard Vice President Duterte's statements before, but remained affected when the recordings were replayed in court.
“Pero makikita natin dito sa mga salaysay at video na pinakita ang kanyang pagiging violent nature na very unbecoming para sa pangalawang Pangulo ng ating bansa.”
(From the accounts and videos shown, we see his violent nature, which is very unbecoming of the Vice President of our country.)
Chua said he did not have any security detail before the incident, but was forced to change it. “Because of that, naglagay ako ng security dahil hindi naman talaga ordinaryo itong nagbitaw ng salita laban sa atin. Hindi ito isang salita na binabalewala.”
(Because of that, I placed security since it was not an ordinary person speaking against us. This is not a statement to be ignored.)
During Monday’s trial, the prosecution presented Jeremy Lotoc, a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regional director and former chief of its cybercrime division.
Lotoc described respondent Duterte's death threat to President Marcos on Nov. 23, 2024 as "serious, actual, and real"--one that could lead to "anarchy" in the country if left unaddressed.

Related Tags

joel chua Impeachment Sara Duterte confidential funds Bodyguards Threats
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ static_articles_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.