NBI found Sara Duterte had intent, motive, capability to carry out threats vs. Marcos — witness

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) found that Vice President Sara Duterte had the intent, motive, and capability to carry out her 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.

'Intent is crucial'

Lotoc further said the NBI’s investigation sought to determine whether Duterte’s statements constituted actual threats by establishing her intent and examining the reactions of the alleged recipients and government agencies.

“We want to establish the intent of the Vice President. That intent is crucial in our investigation. We want to determine whether those utterances made by the Vice President…” Lotoc told the impeachment court.

Ligutan then asked what led the NBI to conclude that the alleged threats were real and serious; Lotoc answered that investigators considered at least four factors.

These included the delivery and manner in which the statements were made, their literal meaning, the nature of the instruction, and the relationship between Duterte and the people she mentioned.

“Number one, the delivery and manner in which the utterances were spoken, number two—the literal meaning of the statement, number three—the nature of the instruction, and number four—the relationship between the parties,” Lotoc said, enumerating the factors.

Lotoc also pointed to Duterte’s demeanor during the Nov. 23, 2024 online press conference.

“The Vice President was furious and fuming mad,” he said, pointing to Duterte’s demeanor during the Nov. 23, 2024 online press conference.

He added that investigators observed Duterte repeatedly cursingMarcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez in the video.

“Nakita po namin sa video nung ni-run namin ’yon, I think more or less walong beses po siyang galit at nagmumura at minumura si Presidente, si First Lady and former Speaker of the House,” Lotoc testified.

(We saw in the video when we reviewed it that, more or less, around eight times she was angry and uttered curses directed at the President, the First Lady, and the former Speaker of the House.) –NB, GMA News