NBI: VP Sara Duterte's threat to kill Marcos is grave threat, inciting to sedition

The video of a press conference showing Vice President Sara Duterte making a threat to kill President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and his family members in certain circumstances constitutes inciting to sedition and three counts of grave threat, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Wednesday. 

During a House Committee on Justice hearing into the impeachment complaints filed against Duterte, NBI Deputy Chief of Staff of Legal Services Atty. Yentl Malicad said these findings are stated in the NBI’s investigation report on the Vice President’s press conference held at dawn of November 23, 2025.

In the said video, Duterte uttered: “Pt** ina ninyong lahat — Martin Romualdez, Liza Marcos, Bongbong Marcos. Huwag kang mag-alala, Ma’am. Sa security ko kasi may kinausap na ako na tao. Sabi ko sa kanya, kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta, at si Martin Romualdez. No joke, no joke. Nagbilin na ako, Ma’am. 'Pag mamatay ako, sabi ko, huwag ka tumigil hanggang hindi mo mapatay sila.”

(Motherf*ck*r — Martin Romualdez, Liza Marcos, Bongbong Marcos. Don't you worry, Ma'm. I already talked to my security. I told that person, if I am killed, then you should kill BBM, Liza Araneta and Martin Romualdez. No joke, no joke. I already gave instructions that if I die, don't stop until you are able to kill them.)

“Base po sa ebidensiya na nakalap ng NBI at nai-submit po sa Department of Justice (DOJ) for the purpose of preliminary investigation, ang naging findings po ng NBI, the acts of the Vice President constitute inciting to sedition and grave threats,” Malicad said during the questioning of House Deputy Minority Leader Perci Cendaña of Akbayan Party-list. 

(Based on the evidence gathered by the NBI and submitted to the DOJ for the purpose of preliminary investigation, the NBI finds that the acts of the Vice President constitute inciting to sedition and grave threats.) 

NBI Director Melvin Matibag, for his part, said the video speaks for itself. 

“It does not need explanation. It is an actual threat to the President,” Matibag said. 

During the same hearing, NBI Agent John Mark Calilung testified that the press conference video featuring the Vice President making the threat is an authentic video based on NBI authentication process. 

“We do authentication to ascertain that the video is authentic and genuine and ensure that the video is not edited, spliced, o AI-generated. We checked the hash value, which is the fingerprint of the digital file. If the video is edited, the hash value will change,” Calilung said.

“It is part of the authenticated video,” he added.

The two impeachment complaints filed against the Vice President accuse her of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, among others, mainly over the following acts: 

• alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential fund and using them as bribes;
• threatening to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family, including her desire to remove the head of the Chief Executive; and 
• alleged accumulation of unexplained wealth. 

Duterte was a no-show in the House Committee on Justice hearing on Wednesday, April 29.

GMA News Online contacted her office to get her comment on what the NBI said, and will update this story when they issue a statement.

In November 2024, however, Duterte stood firm that her statement that she ordered to have Marcos killed if an alleged plot against her succeeds was “maliciously taken out of logical context.”

She said her “assassination” statement was not a threat, adding that she only highlighted the alleged threat to her security. —with a report from Giselle Ombay/KG, GMA News