A lawyer representing Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday launched a sharp rebuttal against the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), characterizing its criminal complaint as being built upon “weak and manipulated” evidence.
Atty. Paul Lawrence Lim, the Vice President’s counsel, argued that the findings presented during Wednesday’s House Committee on Justice hearing lacked a credible foundation.
He alleged that the evidence—centered on Duterte’s statements regarding President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the First Lady, and Representative Martin Romualdez—had been selectively edited to create a narrative of guilt.
“Evidence is curated, even spliced. Context is ignored. Opinion is substituted for facts. Guesswork is presented as investigation results,” Lim said in a statement.
The lawyer’s remarks were a direct response to NBI Director Melvin Matibag, who informed the House panel that the bureau had established a “reasonable certainty of conviction” to pursue charges of grave threats and inciting to sedition.
Lim, however, contended that the bureau’s conclusions required a “gigantic leap in logic” that ignored standard evidentiary rules.
“These cannot be the foundation for probable cause, much less a prima facie case with reasonable certainty of conviction. Simply repeating a conclusion, no matter how vehemently, does not make it true,” Lim added.
The defense maintained that the NBI failed to establish any genuine link between the Vice President’s rhetoric and an actual criminal act, suggesting that the investigation was designed to imply guilt through ambiguity.
“The non-existent connection to the Vice President is posed as a mystery still under investigation with no immediate answer, but strategically implies guilt. This excites judgment without evidence,” the counsel noted.
Lim further slammed the legislative proceedings as a “fishing expedition” intended to provide a “semblance of substance” to the ongoing impeachment efforts in the House of Representatives.
He asserted that now that the committee hearings have concluded, the legal team expects the matter to be settled in a neutral judicial forum.
“With the committee hearings finished, the issue of the alleged commission of crimes will be addressed at the proper fora, where evidence is expected to support judgment, and the rule of law is expected to be respected,” Lim concluded.