Presidential candidate and former Defense secretary Norberto Gonzales claimed that there were threats of “possible terrorist action” coming from Vice President Leni Robredo’s campaign should Ferdinand ‘BongBong’ Marcos Jr. win the May 9 elections, suggesting that it is the work of communist forces within the Robredo camp.

He made the claim during a joint press conference at The Peninsula Manila in Makati City on Easter Sunday, alongside fellow presidential hopefuls Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso.

He said that he is still verifying if the threats are truly coming from within Robredo’s camp, as well as confirming the legitimacy of the planned threats.

“Ang tinitingnan ko talaga kung talagang nanggaling sa Vice President iyan. Hindi niya talaga pinaniniwalaan ang resulta ng survey kaya naghahanap na sila ng other options, possibilities dito sa sinasabing possible terrorist action (What I’m really looking at is if those really came from the Vice President’s camp. She doesn’t really believe in the results of surveys so they are now searching for other options and possibilities here, on that alleged possible terrorist action),” Gonzales shared.

“Hindi ko masasabi na walang communist element sa grupo ni (I can’t say that there’s no communist elements within the group of) Vice President. I can say, yeah, there are, there are,” he added.

Previously, National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) spokesperson Lorraine Badoy also red-tagged Robredo’s campaign but the Vice President has regularly dismissed these allegations.

Badoy claimed that the alleged endorsement of Communist Party of the Philippines founder, Jose Maria Sison for Leni Robredo, “is proof positive that this marriage made in the bowels of hell has been consummated”.