Nelson Morales

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

Article (news)

VP Sara Impeachment

Jaehwa Bernardo

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178401916795920260713-senate-vp-sara-impeachment-day4-lotoc-MT12.jpg" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" 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"/>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</div>MANILA (UPDATE) — A National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) official stressed Tuesday that &quot;typographical errors&quot; in the agency&#x27;s documents presented during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte &quot;[do] not alter the fact&quot; that she made statements the bureau considered as offenses.Lawyer Jeremy Lotoc, who previously headed the NBI&#x27;s Cybercrime Division and now serves as regional director for the Bangsamoro region, was questioned by lawyer Mark Vinluan, a member of Duterte&#x27;s defense team, after the latter pointed out another typographical error in the affidavit of investigation displayed during the Senate impeachment trial.The document shown during the hearing read, &quot;three (1) counts of Grave Threats,&quot; which Lotoc explained was a typographical error.&quot;With all these mga infirmities and you mentioned yesterday that your case is airtight, don&#x27;t you think that these errors constitute violations of due process?&quot; Vinluan asked Lotoc, who is a prosecution witness.&quot;Your Honor, the existence of these typographical errors does not alter the fact that the video exists, does not alter the fact that the vice president uttered those statements, does not alter the fact na ang NBI mayroong findings at ang findings nila [is] (that the NBI&#x27;s findings are that) the vice president committed the crime of grave threats and inciting to sedition&quot; Lotoc responded.This came a day after Lotoc himself was questioned by senator-judges over what he said were typographical errors in documents presented during the hearing, including one that referred to Duterte&#x27;s resignation as &quot;the secretary of the Department of Justice&quot; instead of the Department of Education.<div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/13/nbi-s-lotoc-grilled-over-typo-errors-in-documents-1853">READ: NBI&#x27;s Lotoc grilled over &#x27;typo&#x27; errors in documents</a></div>Later in the trial, counsel for the prosecution Virgil Ligutan asked Lotoc what he meant by &quot;typographical error.&quot;&quot;Well, basically, hindi substantial, in so far as the document is concerned. Ito ho &#x27;yong may mga, for instance, maling spelling o nagkamali lang &#x27;yong date, then kapag nakita mo naman sa surrounding circumstances, ito naman ang tinutukoy na date,&quot; Lotoc explained.Lotoc reiterated that such errors &quot;don&#x27;t have any effect at all&quot; on the statements Duterte made in relation to the grave threat allegations against her.Ligutan also raised the lack of an NBI agent&#x27;s signature on the minutes of an interview with a journalist, as well as a discrepancy in docket numbers.Lotoc described both as typographical errors that similarly have no effect on the fact that the Vice President made her statements.Also during the re-direct examination on Tuesday, Lotoc said he believes the Vice President&#x27;s utterances constitute betrayal of public trust, which is an impeachable offense.But Vinluan said it is Merely Lotoc&#x27;s personal opinion.&quot;When the Vice President uttered in public that she already spoke to a person to kill the President… and the two others, as a lawyer, did the Vice Preside make betrayal of public trust?&quot; Ligutan asked Lotoc.&quot;Yes, your honor, as a lawyer,&quot; Lotoc replied.&quot;Objection your honor, that will call for a conclusion of law already, and as a lawyer it will also call also for his personal opinion,&quot; Vinluan said.The impeachment court continued to hear Article IV of the Articles of Impeachment, which accuses Duterte of grave threat and inciting to sedition.<div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/14/defense-plays-more-clips-from-2024-duterte-video-in-lotoc-cross-examination-1559">READ: Defense plays more clips from 2024 Duterte video in Lotoc cross-examination </a></div>The complaint chiefly stems from a November 2024 press conference in which Duterte claimed she had someone instructed to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she were killed first.<div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/14/cayetano-probes-nbi-exec-on-condition-attached-to-vp-sara-s-alleged-threat-1605">READ: Cayetano questions NBI exec on condition attached to Sara Duterte&#x27;s alleged threat </a></div>Duterte also faces accusations of misusing confidential funds, amassing unexplained wealth and bribing government officials, all of which she and her lawyers have denied.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) official stressed Tuesday that "typographical errors" in the agency's documents presented during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte "[do] not alter the fact" that she made statements the bureau considered as offenses.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) official stressed Tuesday that "typographical errors" in the agency's documents presented during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte "[do] not alter the fact" that she made statements the bureau considered as offenses.

'Typos' do not alter fact that VP Sara Duterte made alleged threats: NBI exec

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'Typos' do not alter fact that VP Sara Duterte made alleged threats: NBI exec

Jaehwa Bernardo,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 14, 2026 04:53 PM PHT

|

Updated July 14, 2026 09:49 PM PHT

Read More:

Sara Duterte impeachment trial

Jeremy Lotoc

National Bureau of Investigation

grave threats

inciting to sedition

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