Prosecution presents second witness in Sara Duterte impeachment trial

The House prosecution panel on Monday afternoon presented Atty. Jeremy Lotoc, regional director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), as its second witness in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Atty. Amando Virgil Ligutan, counsel for the prosecution, offered Lotoc as a witness on Article IV of the Articles of Impeachment, which concerns the alleged grave threats and assassination plot targeting President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

"Napag-alaman ng NBI na ang mga pagbabanta ng Bise Presidente ay seryoso at totoo," Ligutan said during the fourth day of the impeachment trial.

(The NBI found that the Vice President's threats were serious and credible.)

Lotoc previously served as chief of the NBI Cybercrime Division, which investigated Duterte's late-night online press conference in November 2024, during which she allegedly disclosed that she had contracted an assassin to kill Marcos, the First Lady, and Romualdez should she herself be assasinated.

"We were directed by then NBI Director Jaime Santiago to conduct an investigation with regard to a certain video involving an online press conference held on November 23, 2024, where the Vice President uttered that she had already contracted a person to kill the President, Liza Marcos, and the former Speaker of the House," Lotoc said.

During the first week of the trial, the prosecution presented NBI Senior Agent John Mark Calilung as its first witness. — MCG, GMA News