Palace slams VP Sara’s ‘illegal, dangerous’ call to kidnap solon

Malacañang on Friday denounced Vice President Sara Duterte’s remark urging the kidnapping of Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co, calling it both “illegal and dangerous.”

“Ang payo niya is pa-kidnap si Zaldy Co… illegal iyon. So, ganoon ba magbibigay ng suggestion ang isang bise presidente – ang gumawa ng iligal? Delikado iyon,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon program on PTV-4.

Castro clarified that Co, accused of involvement in anomalous flood control projects, was allowed to leave the country because no hold departure order was issued against him. She added that the travel clearance was granted by the Speaker of the House, not by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

“Dapat alam niya bilang bise presidente na ang pagbibiyahe ng mambabatas ay hindi sakop ng Pangulo,” Castro said, pointing out Duterte’s own frequent foreign trips despite corruption allegations raised in the impeachment complaint against her.

House Speaker Faustino Dy III, in a Sept. 18 letter, revoked Co’s travel clearance and ordered him to return from the United States within 10 days to face the charges.