Sara Duterte trial: Prosecution wraps up grave threats case

MANILA, Philippines – The prosecution panel in the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte finished on Wednesday, July 22, the presentation of the fourth impeachment article, which seeks to hold her liable for her threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The prosecution waived its right to conduct a redirect examination of its third witness, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag, saying it was “unnecessary.” “If a conviction or acquittal is dependent alone on the evidence of the prosecution, then I can say very confidently that the prosecution has proven its case,” private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan said in a press conference after the trial. “But let us wait to hear what is the defense of the defense,” Kapunan added. Play Video The ninth day of the trial saw Duterte-allied senators try to assail the credibility of Matibag, with Senator Pia Cayetano even bringing up his supposed inconsistent statements about the Senate gunfight in May. Aside from Matibag, the prosecution had presented two other witnesses — NBI senior agent John Mark Calilung, and former NBI cybercrime division chief and now BARMM Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc. Their testimonies separately sought to prove that the video of Duterte’s virtual press conference where she uttered the threat was authentic, and that the statements were a serious and true grave threat, regardless of whether there was a condition or not. The defense previously argued that Duterte’s conditional threat — to have the President killed if something bad were to happen to her — was justified. The prosecution has insisted Duterte’s confession that she had hired an assassin was an “admission against interest.” The NBI, however, has yet to locate the supposed hitman nearly two years since the threat was uttered. Matibag told the court on Wednesday that the NBI had narrowed down the number of persons of interest to less than 20, but it would take the agency another three to six months to identify the assassin. Matibag said Duterte’s remark is no longer just a “threat” but a “plan” to kill the President, when taken up with other statements of the Vice President, as well as those of her brother Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte alluding to a Marcos decapitation scenario. Matibag added that the NBI is investigating whether there is conspiracy between the siblings. The prosecution also presented before the court videos of Mayor Sebastian’s remarks, as well as the affidavit of self-confessed Davao Death Squad hitman Arturo Lascañas, who had implicated the Vice President in the extrajudicial killings in Davao City when she was mayor. Cayetano castigated the prosecution for presenting the affidavit despite the lack of notarization, but Luistro defended the move on Wednesday. “It was never claimed by the prosecution that this affidavit is notarized,” Luistro said. “This was presented as part of the testimony of the witness and the NBI probe.” When the trial resumes on Wednesday, July 29, the prosecution will move to the presentation of the article 1 of the impeachment complaint related to Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds. – Rappler.com Must Read Money trail: How exactly was Sara Duterte’s P125M exhausted in less than 24 hours?