Sara Duterte impeachment trial: NBI witness says no hitman found

MANILA, Philippines – National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc, the second witness of the prosecution in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, said his team found no “validated information” to identify the assassin supposedly hired by Duterte to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “In fact, up to now, we are still waiting (for information),” Lotoc said during the fourth day of the trial on Monday, July 13. Play Video However, Lotoc insisted that this does not make the threat any less credible or actionable. “Insofar as the crime of grave threats is concerned, (the proof that an assassin was hired) is not needed,” Lotoc said. “Grave threats can be committed with or without condition,” he added. Lotoc headed the NBI’s cybercrime division when it investigated Duterte’s “threat” remarks uttered during a virtual press conference in November 2024. He has been Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) regional director since January 2026. At that online briefing, Duterte claimed that she had tapped a person to kill the President, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then-House speaker Martin Romualdez should something bad happen to her. “The threat was absolute,” Lotoc said. “We examined the utterances objectively, we interpret the same in light of circumstances where the utterances were made, the manner in which they were spoken, the person to whom they were addressed, the relationship between the parties, and the reactions of the recipients of those utterances.” Senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano, however, challenged this position by Lotoc. “There is a difference between saying that a mere statement is impeachable, (from) alleging that she indeed contracted someone to kill,” Cayetano said. “If someone alleges that someone contracted an assassin, you have to prove.” Tuesday’s proceedings gave the prosecution a chance to show parts of the infamous press conference where a “fumingly mad” Duterte uttered expletives against numerous officials. Lotoc said that based on their investigation, the delivery of the statements showed that the threat against the President was serious and real. The defense team, in its cross-examination which was ongoing as of writing, tried to undermine the strength of the NBI investigation by pointing out flaws in the affidavit submitted by the agency to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ had issued an earlier certification saying that the affidavit was insufficient for preliminary case build-up. Vinluan, in his speech last week, argued that Duterte’s kill threat, while unconventional, was justified, as her family was threatened. Lotoc said that the NBI tried to look into the alleged threats against the Vice President, but Duterte didn’t personally show up when the agency subpoenaed her. Upon prodding by senator-judge Bam Aquino, defense lawyer Mark Vinluan also denied that Duterte spoke to a hitman, and asserted that such a position was already reflected in their answer to the articles of impeachment filed in May. – Rappler.com