VP Sara Duterte's video threatening to kill Marcos, family presented as evidence

The November 2024 video of Vice President Sara Duterte making a threat to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez has been played before the Senate impeachment court and entered as evidence for the prosecution.

This developed after the Senate impeachment court allowed the prosecution to present a portion of the two-hour press conference as evidence for it to be identified by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent John Mark Calilung, who investigated the authenticity of the press conference that was broadcast via the Facebook page of former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.

The portion played out of the two-hour video is just two minutes and 18 seconds long, featuring the Vice President saying “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.”

(Don't worry about my security because I have already spoken to someone. I told that person that if I am killed, kill BBM, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez.)

"No joke, no joke. Nagbilin na ako, Ma'am. 'Pag mamatay ako, sabi ko, huwag ka tumigil ha, hanggang hindi mo mapatay sila. And then he said yes.”

(No joke. I already gave instructions that if I die, don't stop until you have killed them.)

Calilung said that the Vice President’s threats to kill the President and his family, as seen in the video, are in the “one hour and 15th minute mark until one hour and 17th minute and 18 seconds” or two minutes and 18 seconds.

The defense counsel of the Vice President, Atty. Carlo Narvasa, repeatedly objected to the presentation of the video.

His objections ranged from prosecution lawyer Amando Ligutan asking a misleading question, NBI agent Calilung being an incompetent witness, and the authentication report of the NBI on the video being photocopies, among others.

These objections, however, were repeatedly overruled by the impeachment court.

In allowing the video to be entered as evidence, Presiding Officer and Senator Francis Escudero said: “This is to save time and support the allegation, from the view of the prosecution.”

“The counsel for the respondent will also present the evidence they deem best and that will prove the innocence of the respondent,” Escudero added.

The prosecution said they sought to enter the entire two-hour video as evidence.

The Senate impeachment court will later rule if the video is admissible evidence.

Official sources

Calilung said the videos presented in the impeachment trial were taken from official sources and underwent manual verification.

He said the NBI conducted an open-source investigation on videos in which Duterte made statements allegedly threatening the president’s life.

“Nag-gather po ako ng iba't ibang information na available sa internet wherein anyone can access po yung data na yan,” Calilug said. “Yung pinagkuhanan ko, Your Honor, ng mga information na yan is from the official websites and official webpages po to ensure that the content is accurate.”

(I gathered information from various sources available on the internet, where anyone can access the data. The information I used, Your Honor, came from official websites and official webpages to ensure that the content is accurate.)

Calilug made the statement following Senator-Judge Sherwin Gatchalian’s query on the authenticity of the materials presented before the impeachment court.

“Ibig sabihin po noon (manual comparison), Your Honor, may dalawang monitor during that time and both videos were being played to ensure the contents were identical,” Calilug said.

(Manual comparison means, Your Honor, that two monitors were used, and both videos were played simultaneously to ensure that their contents were identical.)

“It was checked after po. Meron po akong nagre-review na executive officer and the chief po (The executive officer and the chief reviewed it),” he added.

Calilug further said that this process was based on digitally forensic procedure, which is accepted internationally and in courts.

'Scored vs. defense'

House prosecutors Lorenz Defensor and Terry Ridon, speaking at a press conference, said videos showing Duterte saying she had ordered a hit on the President, the First Lady, and Romualdez, as well as her October 2024 remark about wanting to "cut off" the President's head, were points for the prosecution.

“We scored against the defense because the videos were shown, and these videos should be seen by the Senate impeachment court. We scored against the defense because the statements from the Vice President herself supports the Articles of Impeachment,” Defensor said.

“We are very satisfied with the outcome of today's trial and we hope to continue that and we will sustain that throughout. We are not concerned about the objections of the defense team. As far as we are concerned, when the documents are out, it is up for the Senate impeachment court to appreciate,” he added.

“We're claiming victory in the sense that we have already started to present our case, present our evidence for the people and for the court to see and appreciate,” Ridon said.

Ahead of Calilung’s testimony, the Senate impeachment court also allowed Defensor’s manifestation detailing the purpose of presenting the NBI agent as the prosecution’s first witness.

“The prosecution comes before you today to present evidence for Article 4 establishing that Vice President Duterte committed acts that betrayed the public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, other high crimes, in publicly admitting it, through a live broadcast, that she contracted someone to assassinate the president, the First Lady, and the Former House chief,” Defensor said.

“We acknowledge the burden of this trial on the senatorial judges, as well as the Philippine people. But it is a duty that we must discharge together. At the heart of this impeachment procedure lies the fundamental question, can we continue to trust one of the highest constitutional offices to a public official who, on multiple occasions, purposely and willfully and repeatedly resorted to threats of violence against the very institutions that he swore to uphold and protect?,” he added.

The prosecution panel earlier said that they intend to present evidence on this impeachable offense first because such impunity from the Vice President is not acceptable.

The Vice President defended her statement by saying that it was an exercise of freedom of expression. —with Mariel Celine Serquiña/LDF/VBL/NB, GMA News