NBI found Sara Duterte had intent, motive, capability for threats vs. Marcos, others — witness

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) found that Vice President Sara Duterte had the intent, motive, and capability to carry out alleged threats against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez, the Senate impeachment court was told on Monday. On the fourth day of the impeachment trial, NBI-BARMM Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc, who headed the bureau’s Cybercrime Division in 2024, testified further on the bureau's investigation of the Vice President's remarks in a Zoom press conference on November 23, 2024. “The NBI, in its analysis, established the intent, motive, and capability of the vice president to carry out the threats she mentioned,” Lotoc told the impeachment court. Lotoc added that investigators also conducted an open-source investigation to determine whether Duterte had made similar statements on previous occasions. He said they found an Oct. 18, 2024 Office of the Vice President press conference in which Duterte allegedly said she wanted to “cut his head” while referring to President Marcos. Lotoc also recalled Duterte’s statements during the Nov. 23, 2024 online press conference. “Huwag kang mag-alala, ma’am, sa security ko sapagkat may kinausap na akong tao. Ang sabi ko sa kaniya, ‘Pag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Marcos, si Martin Romualdez. No joke, no joke. Nagbilin na ako, ma’am. Ang sabi ko sa kaniya, ‘Pag namatay ako, huwag kang tumigil hangga’t ‘di mo sila mapapatay,’ and he said yes,” Lotoc quoted Duterte as saying. (Don’t worry, ma’am, about my security because I have already talked to someone. I told that person that if I am killed, kill BBM, Liza Marcos, and Martin Romualdez. No joke, no joke. I already instructed that person that if I die, don’t stop until you have killed them, and he said yes.) Lotoc further testified that several government agencies treated Duterte’s remarks as a serious threat. He said the Presidential Communications Office classified the statements as an “active threat,” while both the PCO and the Philippine National Police used the term “assassin” in their assessments. Before Lotoc took the witness stand, House private prosecutor Atty. Amando Virgil Ligutan outlined what the prosecution sought to establish through the NBI official’s testimony. “Dineklara ng bise presidente na siya ay kumontrata na ng isang tao para patayin ang Pangulo ng Republika ng Pilipinas, ang Unang Ginang, at ang dating Speaker ng House of Representatives,” Ligutan said. (The Vice President declared that she had contracted a person to kill the President of the Republic of the Philippines, the First Lady, and the former Speaker of the House of Representatives.) Ligutan also said the prosecution intended to show that the NBI concluded Duterte’s alleged threats were genuine. “Pangatlo, napag-alaman ng NBI na ang mga banta ng bise presidente ay seryoso at totoo,” he said. (Third, the NBI found that the Vice President’s threats were serious and real.) Lotoc testified that the NBI opened its investigation on Nov. 23, 2024—the same day Duterte made the controversial remarks during an online press conference streamed on former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque’s Facebook page. According to Lotoc, he instructed NBI Senior Agent John Mark Calilung to preserve the digital evidence, particularly the video of the online press conference. The bureau also identified the individuals present during the livestream and conducted an analysis of the statements made by Duterte. –NB, GMA News