NBI probe into Sara Duterte threats against Marcos inconsistent, defense claims

MANILA, Philippines – The defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday, July 13, poked holes in the investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) into alleged threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., questioning its validity during the impeachment trial. Defense lawyer Mark Vinluan, during his hours-long cross-examination, highlighted the alleged inconsistencies in the NBI probe. This was essential to the trial as the fourth article of impeachment — grave threats against the President, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House speaker Martin Romualdez — was initially hinged on the NBI probe. The NBI forwarded its complaint to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on January 30, 2025, alleging that Duterte’s violation constituted three counts of grave threats and one count of inciting to sedition. But in a certification dated February 5, 2025, the DOJ returned the NBI’s recommendation and said it lacked necessary evidence. So, if the NBI did an investigation and sought witnesses, why did the DOJ return the complaint? Vinluan asked. Prosecution witness and former NBI cybercrime division chief Jeremy Lotoc said the DOJ returned their complaint because it asked for additional evidence, including more affidavits from NBI agents. Lotoc is now the regional director of the NBI Bangsamoro Administrative Region in Muslim Mindanao. Another point Vinluan assailed was the inconsistency of the dates. One of the NBI’s investigative forms was originally dated February 12, 2025, based on the DOJ’s receiving stamp, but was manually revised to January 30, the defense lawyer alleged. “There is a stamp, Department of Justice received. But it appears that it was initially stamped February 12, 2025. But there is a marking, a manual marking that converted it to January 30, [2025],” Vinluan said. The defense lawyer also pointed out alleged discrepancies in the docket numbers of the NBI documents. The complaint, as well as the DOJ certification, had two different docket numbers. “All of these were subpoenaed again from the NBI…. So, these were transmitted to the House committee on justice by subpoena…. And this was the basis that was used by the House committee on justice in filing the articles of impeachment before this Senate impeachment court,” Vinluan said. But during a question-and-answer session with Senator-judge Risa Hontiveros, Lotoc said the grave threats allegations against the Vice President still stand despite the alleged inconsistencies or changes. For opposing counsel Amando Ligutan, lawyer for the House prosecution team, the alleged discrepancies have no bearing on the impeachment itself. “As to what the court will do, as to what the DOJ will do on the complaints filed by the NBI, they have nothing to do with the issue in this case. The question is whether the Vice President betrayed public trust by contracting an assassin to kill the President,” Ligutan said during his objection to Vinluan’s cross-examination. Biased probe? Vinluan, during his cross-examination, inquired if Marcos had a hand in the NBI probe into Duterte. The defense lawyer noted the NBI’s connection to the President: the NBI is an attached bureau of the DOJ, and the DOJ chief is answerable to the President. However, Lotoc said it’s within their mandate to probe alleged threats against high-ranking officials, including the President. He said the NBI may even do it motu proprio or on their own initative. Section 5(g) of Republic Act No. 10867 or the National Bureau of Investigation Reorganization and Modernization Act states, “[Probe] cases involving threats to security or assaults against the persons of the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.” “Did BBM (Bongbong Marcos), at any point, intervene in the investigation?” Vinluan asked. “Of course not, sir,” Lotoc said. So, if the NBI investigated the alleged threats against Marcos, did it do the same for the Vice President? According to the defense team, there was an “Oplan Romanov” or alleged threat against Duterte’s life and her family. Lotoc said they conducted a motu proprio investigation, too, for the Vice President, but found no concrete threat. “Again, since wala kaming validated information, wala kaming nakitang confirmed doon sa allegation at threats against her life, wala kaming napagsimulan (Again, since we did not find validated information, we did not confirm anything on the allegation and the threats against her life, we did not start any proceedings),” the NBI official said. During the trial, Vinluan also raised multiple typographical errors in the affidavits used by the NBI for its complaint. He also asked if the bureau used templates for the affidavits. “Again, you can ask the one who signed the affidavit,” Lotoc said, referring to the signatories in the affidavits. – Rappler.com