LIVE UPDATES: Sara Duterte Impeachment Trial (July 14, 2026)

The House prosecution panel will be presenting more witnesses to testify on the fourth Article of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, which covers her assertion that she had arranged for someone to kill President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez if she is killed.

Impeachment court spokesperson Regie Tongol said this on Tuesday evening, following the announcement that the House prosecution panel will no longer present Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief of staff Zuleika Lopez and House Legislative Security Bureau executive director Captain Belinda Bello as witnesses.

Vice President Sara Duterte can effect the alleged threat against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his family, considering that she is the second-highest government official and the daughter of someone who faces charges of crimes against humanity for alleged extrajudicial killings, a Prosecution witness said Tuesday.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) BARMM Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc said this on the fifth day of the impeachment trial of Duterte, when asked by Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian if he believes that the Vice President has the capability to fulfill the alleged threat.
 

The House prosecution in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte will no longer present Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief of staff Zuleika Lopez and House of Representatives security official Captain Belinda Bello.

Private Prosecutor Lorna Kapunan announced this on Tuesday after NBI-Bangsamoro Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc testified before the impeachment court for two trial days.
 

Vice President Sara Duterte betrayed public trust when she threatened to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker and Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez killed, a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) official testified before the Senate impeachment court on Monday.

Atty. Jeremy Lotoc, NBI regional director for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and former chief of the NBI Cybercrime Division, was referring to the Vice President's statements during a late-night online press conference:

"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.)

The defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday argued that her assertion that she had spoken with someone to kill the President was just a response to a question and not a threat.

According to defense lawyer Mark Vinluan, Duterte’s remarks during the media briefing could not be considered “threats” but merely responses.

“It is our position that the statements made by the Vice President were not threats in the first place. That’s why we were categorizing it as a mere response to a question and answer,” he said.

Vice President Sara Duterte maintained Tuesday that the allegations against her are unsupported by evidence, as allegedly shown during the fourth day of her Senate impeachment trial.

Duterte gave the critique in a statement released as the Senate started to reconvene for Day 5 of the impeachment trial.

"The country witnessed what I have been saying all along: the complaint is not supported by evidence," the Vice President said.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc on Tuesday said he believes "Operation Romanov" referred to an alleged assassination plot against President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and the First Family—not Vice President Sara Duterte.

Lotoc, a witness presented by the House prosecution panel, made the statement after Senator-Judge Panfilo Lacson asked whether he had the impression that the supposed "Oplan Romanov" threat was directed at the Vice President.

Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis "Chiz" Escudero on Tuesday reminded the defense and prosecution to refrain from issuing side remarks in the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Escudero issued the reminders as lawyer Mark Vinluan, one of Duterte’s legal counsels, continued his cross-examination to lawyer Jeremy Lotoc, director for the National Bureau of Investigation in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, on the fifth day of the impeachment proceedings.

Vinluan questioned if the NBI issued a subpoena or personally corresponded to First Lady Lisa Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez as part of their investigation into Duterte’s alleged threats against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. during a late-night press conference in November 2024.

“Yet you concluded they were victims…Without any personal correspondences with them, you came out with the conclusion,” Vinluan said.

To which Lotoc answered: The evidence is clear, sir”.

“According to you,” Vinluan said, earning a reaction from the audience.

Private prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan immediately objected Vinluan’s remarks and moved for the latter to be “admonished for stating those unprofessional remarks.”

“We are infront of national TV. That is his answer. If you are not satisfied with his answer, please do not lay any value to what the witness answered,” Ligutan said.

Escudero, for his part, reminded the parties to avoid issuing side remarks and ordered for Vinluan’s statements be stricken off the record.

“Kindly avoid side remarks. Henceforth, the presiding officer will have it stricken off the records and whatever question you pose and afterwards withdraw, will likewise be stricken off the records as to avoid any attempts of showmanship usually seen on TV, yes, will not be tolerated by this impeachment court,” he added.

Malacañang on Tuesday rejected claims of Vice President Sara Duterte's lawyers that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) could not conduct an impartial investigation into her alleged threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. because the bureau is under the Department of Justice (DOJ), which is part of the executive branch.

During a Balitanghali interview, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the defense lawyers themselves should understand the NBI’s legal mandate as she questioned why they were only raising the issue now.

“Unang-una naman, lawyer naman sila at alam naman nila kung ano ba ang mandato ng NBI at alam naman nila na ito ay nasa Department of Justice,” she said.

(First of all, they're lawyers and they know the NBI's mandate, and that it is under the Department of Justice.)

Castro stressed that the issue was not the agency conducting the investigation but the statements made by the Vice President, which, she said, were publicly available.

Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, the longtime aide of Vice President Sara Duterte, arrived at the Senate on Tuesday, the fifth day of the impeachment trial of the country's second highest official.

Lopez came at the Senate past 1 p.m. ahead of the resumption of the trial at 2 p.m.