THE defense panel of Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday, July 13, 2026, firmly denied allegations that she had contracted a person to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
"We deny that. That is not accurate. We will present counter-evidence," a member of the defense panel, lawyer Mark Vinluan, said, disputing the prosecution's characterization of Duterte's statements.
During the resumption of the impeachment trial, which continues to center on Article IV, accusing Duterte of committing grave threats over statements she made during an online press conference on November 23, 2025, the prosecution presented National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc as its second witness to explain the agency's findings that led to the filing of criminal complaints of grave threats and inciting to sedition against the Vice President.
During his testimony, Lotoc told the impeachment court that investigators considered Duterte's statements “serious and real,” saying the NBI examined not only the words she uttered but also the surrounding circumstances to determine whether they constituted criminal offenses.
Lotoc said they considered four factors in their investigation: the manner of utterances, literal meaning of the utterances, nature of the instruction, and the relationship between the parties.
The prosecution presented portions of the November 23 online press conference showing Duterte bad mouthing and cursing the Marcoses and Romualdez, a cousin of the President.
“It’s very much factor (cursing and bad mouthing) because we want to establish the intent of the Vice President and that intent is crucial in the investigation we want to determine if those utterances made by the Vice President were just a product of temporary fit of anger, spur of the moment or serious actual and real threat,” said Lotoc.
“Klaro sa utterances ng Bise Presidente even before the online press conference on November 23, the Vice President had already contracted a person to kill the President, Liza Marcos and the former speaker. Mahalaga (ito) basically its indicative of intent, that the utterances was deliberately made by the Vice President,” he added.
Lotoc also cited Duterte's alleged instruction to the supposed assassin not to stop “until they are killed,” saying the language suggested persistence and determination that law enforcement could not simply dismiss.
He testified that the NBI also considered the deteriorating relationship between Duterte and Marcos, pointing to her resignation as the secretary of the Department of Justice and previous public remarks describing their ties as “toxic.”
Those circumstances, he said, were among the factors that led investigators to conclude that the statements should be taken seriously.
The NBI official told senator-judges that authorities were also concerned the remarks could encourage other groups to exploit the situation.
“If such statements are left unaddressed, another group might take advantage of them, believing the Vice President would be blamed if an attack were carried out,” Lotoc said in Filipino, adding that such a scenario could result in “public disorder, anarchy and chaos.”
“Based on these patterns and consistencies made by the Vice President, it appears that these statements have a tendency to stir up the people against the government, disturb the peace in the community and undermine the public peace and order,” he added.
Lotoc said investigators also took into account the reactions of those allegedly threatened, noting that Marcos himself considered the statements serious and real.
Addressing the issue of free speech, the NBI official said investigators carefully weighed whether Duterte's statements were constitutionally protected expression before recommending charges.
He argued, however, that freedom of speech does not extend to utterances that satisfy the elements of a criminal offense.
“When the second highest official of the land publicly says she contracted someone to kill three people and instructed that person to be relentless, we believed it went beyond the bounds of protected speech,” Lotoc said.
“If we allow the argument that it is within the bounds of freedom of speech, if we allow that to become the norms of our society then who would prevent anybody of doing the same to anyone? Imagine the anarchy and chaos it would bring to our country. Freedom of speech protects lawful expression not utterances that satisfies the elements of a criminal offense,” he added.
Based on the investigation, the NBI concluded there was sufficient basis to file complaints for grave threats and inciting to sedition against Duterte.
Lotoc also maintained that proof that an assassin actually existed was not necessary to establish the offense of grave threats, adding that the crime may be committed even when the threat carries conditions.
Under questioning by Senator-judge Bam Aquino, Lotoc acknowledged that investigators were unable to identify or locate the person whom Duterte allegedly claimed to have hired.
He said the NBI had found no validated information confirming the existence of such an individual and clarified that any inquiry into whether steps had been taken to carry out the alleged plot would fall under the jurisdiction of the bureau's intelligence units.
The witness also revealed that the NBI had initiated a separate investigation into reported threats against Duterte's life and twice invited her to cooperate.
According to Lotoc, the Vice President did not appear, leaving investigators without leads to pursue the case. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)