Asked to comment on President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) should be blamed if he gets killed, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that the President may have been referring to past alleged CIA-backed assassinations documented in books.

The question was posed by Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate during the House Committee on Appropriations hearing on DND’s budget on Wednesday.

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“Mr. Chair, I think, the President kasi loves to read books. He reads a lot of books. In fact, when he has a book that is new and good, he gives us copies of the book,” Lorenzana said.

“Siguro nabasa niya iyong (Maybe he read that in books)… we believe that it’s true also, there is some history that proves that the CIA has been responsible for incidents in the past […] maybe he is just basing his fears from past activities of the CIA,” he added.

In a speech in Cebu City last August 21, Duterte said that the CIA could be listening to his conversations, which could be plotting to kill him.

“I know ang nakikinig sa akin is United States siguro, yan ang CIA. ‘Yan ang papatay sa akin, ang ulol na yan e (I know that the United States is listening to me, the CIA. They would kill me),” Duterte said.

READ: Duterte: CIA will kill me

Lorenzana clarified, however, that the United States’ Embassy in the Philippines has assured them that there is no plot to take out Duterte.

“We don’t have any information, we are in direct contact with the embassy here and they have assured us that there is no such thing, according to them it is not part of their activities anymore, iyong (the) assassination,” he said. /ee

READ: No info within PNP on CIA assassination plot vs Duterte, says Albayalde

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