Jamaine Punzalan

Article (news)

Rowegie Abanto

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178393596323120260713-senate-vp-sara-impeachment-day4-lotoc-MT1.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="The defense and House prosecution panels cross-examine Atty. Jeremy Lotoc, Regional Director of the National Bureau of Investigation–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (NBI-BARMM) and former chief of the NBI Cybercrime Division, as he takes the stand during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte at the Senate in Pasay City on Monday, July 13, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The defense and House prosecution panels cross-examine Atty. Jeremy Lotoc, Regional Director of the National Bureau of Investigation–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (NBI-BARMM) and former chief of the NBI Cybercrime Division, as he takes the stand during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte at the Senate in Pasay City on Monday, July 13, 2026. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA (<strong>2nd UPDATE</strong>) — Vice President Sara Duterte&#x27;s alleged grave threats in November 2024 was &quot;serious and real,&quot; an official from the National Bureau of Investigation told the Senate impeachment court Monday.</p><p>&quot;To me, as chief investigator at the time, the utterances made by the Vice President [were] serious, and the threat was real and actual,&quot; Jeremy Lotoc, a lawyer and current chief of the NBI Bangsamoro, said as he took the witness stand on the fourth day of the impeachment trial of Duterte.</p><p>Lotoc is part of the prosecution&#x27;s witnesses on the fourth article of impeachment, which accuses the Vice President of arranging an assassination plot against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., issuing grave threats, and inciting sedition.</p><p>In an online media briefing on Nov. 23, 2024, Duterte declared that she had already contracted someone to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she were murdered.</p><p>Lotoc was head of the agency&#x27;s cybercrime division in 2024 when Duterte issued the alleged grave threats.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/13/duterte-defense-team-to-present-witness-to-prove-operation-romanov-exists-1458">Duterte defense team to present witness to prove &#x27;Operation Romanov&#x27; exists</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>BASIS</strong> </div><p>Before arriving to the conclusion that Duterte&#x27;s remarks were credible, Lotoc said his team considered the &quot;content and context&quot; of Duterte&#x27;s remarks on Nov. 23, 2024 and the reactions from the recipients of the perceived threats.</p><p>The NBI also took note of Duterte&#x27;s statement on Oct. 18, 2024, when she said she wanted to behead Marcos, he added.</p><p>In analyzing the November 2024 media briefing, Lotoc said they considered the &quot;delivery or manner&quot; by which Duterte issued the alleged threat, &quot;the literal meaning&quot; of her statement, &quot;the nature of the instruction,&quot; and &quot;the relationship between the parties.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The vice president was furious and fuming mad when she uttered those [remarks],&quot; said Lotoc, who later noted that the alleged threat was &quot;absolute.&quot;</p><p>Duterte&#x27;s position as the &quot;second-highest official of the land&quot; led the NBI to believe that she was &quot;definitely&quot; capable of executing the alleged threats, he added.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="960" height="540" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YaIJ4Vfb_2Q?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div><p>House Impeachment Prosecutor Joel Chua of Manila&#x27;s 3rd District, who was mentioned in Duterte&#x27;s November 23, 2024 video, said the clips showed the vice president&#x27;s &quot;violent nature&quot; that is &quot;unbecoming&quot; of her position.</p><p>In the video, Duterte said: &quot;P**** I** hindi mo pala gusto &#x27;yung ginagawa mo eh. Bakit mo sinisira ang pangalan ko, Joel Chua?&quot;</p><p>&quot;Makikta natin dito sa mga salaysay at mga video na ipinakita &#x27;yung kanyang pagiging violent nature na very unbecoming para sa pangalawang pangulo ng ating bansa,&quot; said Chua.</p><p>Chua said he hired security personnel after hearing Duterte&#x27;s statement.</p><p>&quot;Noong una itong binanggit, noong gabing nangyari &#x27;yung insidente na subject ng grave threats ngayon, at that time, syempre hindi mo maaalis na medyo matatakot naman talaga tayo. Hindi naman ordinaryong tao ang nagbitaw ng ganyang pananalita. Pangalawa sa pinakamataas na opisyal ng ating bansa,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Sino naman ang hindi matatakot sa mga pananalita ng ating bise presidente. Alam naman natin ang kapasidad nila. Kaya nga at that time, sa totoo lang wala naman akong security. But because of that naglagay ako ng security, dahil hindi naman talaga ordinaryo itong nagbitaw ng salita laban sa atin,&quot; he added.</p><p>&quot;Makikta natin dito sa mga salaysay at mga video na ipinakita &#x27;yung kanyang pagiging violent nature na very unbecoming para sa pangalawang pangulo ng ating bansa.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>CRIMINAL COMPLAINT</strong></div><p>Trial presiding officer Francis Escudero asked Lotoc: &quot;Based on your investigation, Atty. Lotoc, was there enough basis to file a criminal complaint, as you did, for the crimes you charged the vice president with — prima facie evidence only ha, not as to whether she committed it or not  — because only a court of justice can determine that?&quot;</p><p>Lotoc replied, &quot;yes.&quot; </p><p>&quot;We believe that the vice president committed a crime of grave threats and inciting to sedition,&quot; the NBI official said.</p><p>Escudero then clarified if this was &quot;only in so far as satisfying the requirement of prima facie evidence to file a case.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction,&quot; Lotoc said. </p><p>Findings of the NBI investigation resulted in the filing of three counts of grave threats against Duterte.</p><p>Defense counsel Mark Vinluan denied that Duterte had contracted an assassin to kill the President.</p><p>Vinluan said his team would present evidence to prove that the claim was baseless.</p><p>--<strong> with a report from Vivienne Gulla, ABS-CBN News</strong></p><div> </div><div><strong>WATCH:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="960" height="540" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mPGAXK-K1Ns?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>An executive from the National Bureau of Investigation on Monday took the witness stand on day 4 of the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.</p>

An executive from the National Bureau of Investigation on Monday took the witness stand on day 4 of the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

NBI exec says Duterte's alleged grave threats 'serious and real'

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NBI exec says Duterte's alleged grave threats 'serious and real'

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 13, 2026 03:14 PM PHT

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Updated July 13, 2026 07:23 PM PHT

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