NBI: Ex-President's ICC case a factor in assessing VP Sara's threats

MANILA, Philippines – National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) official Jeremy Lotoc on Tuesday told the Senate impeachment court that former President Rodrigo Duterte’s case before the International Criminal Court (ICC) was among the factors considered in assessing Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged capability to carry out threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. During the fifth day of Duterte’s impeachment trial, Lotoc said investigators factored in the vice president’s relationship to the former president and his pending ICC case over alleged extrajudicial killings when evaluating whether she had the capability to execute the threats she allegedly made during a November 2024 online press briefing. Under cross-examination by defense lawyer Mark Vinluan, Lotoc acknowledged he had no personal knowledge that Duterte had contracted someone to kill the president or the other targets, but maintained that the evidence the NBI gathered linked her to such a plot. The NBI official also asserted that typographical errors and document inconsistencies pointed out by the defense did not alter the NBI’s findings that Duterte committed grave threats and inciting to sedition. On the sedition charge, Lotoc said actual sedition need not occur for the offense of inciting to sedition to apply, explaining that the law penalizes those who attempt to overthrow the government or disturb public peace. Private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan said the House prosecution panel will no longer present Office of the Vice President chief-of-staff Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez and House Legislative Security Bureau official Capt. Belinda Bello, arguing that their testimonies on Duterte’s alleged grave threats would be “unnecessary,” “redundant,” and a “surplusage” after the testimonies of NBI Senior Agent John Mark Calilung and Lotoc. The day’s proceedings also touched on the term “Oplan Romanov,” with Lotoc and Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo saying it was first publicly used by Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte during a rally referring to alleged threats against the Marcos family. Outside the witness testimony, Presiding officer Francis Escudero announced that the impeachment court would rule on Wednesday on the prosecution’s request to subpoena Duterte’s bank and tax records after hearing oral arguments from both sides. Meanwhile, NBI Director Melvin Matibag defended his request to reschedule his testimony after Senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano criticized the move, explaining that he needed to attend an FBI-hosted regional summit on transnational crime in Bangkok. His testimony has been reset for July 20. The vice president, speaking before proceedings began, maintained that the complaint against her is not supported by evidence, pointing to Day 4 as proof of what she has said all along. The prosecution panel pushed back sharply, with Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon challenging defense lawyers to do better, arguing that pointing out document discrepancies did not diminish the underlying threats. Ridon also framed the dilemma for the defense: If Duterte did not contract a hitman, then her statements in a November 23, 2024 online press briefing were lies, and if the statements were true, she made real threats, leaving her either a lying or a threatening official. The prosecution further questioned Duterte’s fitness for the presidency on those grounds. Editor’s note: This update was generated with the aid of artificial intelligence based on Inquirer.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer and Cebu Daily News articles and reviewed by a human editor./ dp /atm