The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) informed the House Committee on Justice on Wednesday that it has established a “reasonable certainty of conviction” against Vice President Sara Duterte regarding allegations of inciting to sedition and grave threats.
During the impeachment proceedings, lawmakers reviewed a video clip from a livestream originally aired on the social media account of former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
In the footage, the Vice President detailed a specific instruction to an unnamed individual to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then-Speaker Martin Romualdez if she were to be killed.
“May kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi ko sa kaniya na kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta at si Martin Romualdez. No joke. Nagbilin na ako. ‘Pag namatay ako, sabi ko, ‘wag ka tumigil hanggang hindi mo mapatay sila,’ and then he said yes.”
NBI lawyer Yentl Malicad testified that the bureau’s assessment found all necessary legal elements to support charges of inciting to sedition.
Furthermore, NBI agent John Mark Calilung reassured the panel that the digital evidence underwent rigorous authentication.
“Ensuring it was an accurate and unaltered record of what transpired, with no edits, splices, or artificial intelligence generation,” Calilung said.
The investigation revealed that the bureau successfully coordinated with Meta to preserve the original livestream data.
When questioned by Akbayan Party-list Representative Percival Cendaña on whether the statements qualified as grave threats, Malicad confirmed that the evidence submitted for preliminary investigation supports that classification.
NBI Anti-Cybercrime Division Chief Jeremy Lotoc added weight to the seriousness of the plot, stating that investigators believe a specific “assassin” had indeed been assigned based on the nature of the conversation.
Lawmakers, including Akbayan Party-list Representative Chel Diokno and FPJ Panday Bayanihan Party-list Representative Brian Poe, emphasized that the Vice President’s status does not exempt her from criminal liability, noting that threats against the President of the Republic constitute a direct challenge to national security and have historically been prosecuted as serious offenses.