Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Article (news)

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/178399150686220260713-senate-vp-sara-impeachment-day4-lotoc-MT3.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><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 — The camp of Vice President Sara Duterte is expected to poke more holes into the testimonies of National Bureau of Investigation&#x27;s Jeremy Lotoc when the impeachment trial resumes Tuesday, with the court set to tackle again the Article 4 of the articles of impeachment.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/sara-duterte-impeachment-trial">READ: The Impeachment Trial of Sara Duterte</a></div><p>Article 4 accuses Duterte of committing grave threats over her controversial remarks that she had allegedly hired someone to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez should she be assassinated.</p><p>Lotoc told the court that he considered Duterte&#x27;s public statements against the Marcos couple and Romualdez to be credible enough to warrant an investigation.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/13/lotoc-duterte-s-grave-threats-against-marcos-fall-outside-freedom-of-speech-1657">Lotoc: Duterte’s ‘grave threats’ against Marcos fall outside freedom of speech</a></div><p>During cross-examination Monday, defense counsel Mark Vinluan pointed out what he said were consistencies in the investigation data form that the NBI had attached to its complaint and that it had submitted to the Department of Justice.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/13/wrap-defense-notes-typos-dates-as-nbi-exec-details-probe-of-duterte-s-threats-2250">WRAP: Defense notes typos, dates as NBI exec details probe of Duterte’s ‘threats’</a></div><p>UP College of Law associate dean Paolo Tamase said the defense may &quot;maximize&quot; this narrative and pound on the alleged &quot;sloppiness&quot; of the NBI&#x27;s investigation.</p><p>&quot;On the part of the defense, napakita nila na parang may errors or may pagka-sloppy yung ibang part ng imbestigasyon in the sense na yung date hindi nag-a-align... Dahil doon sa inconsistency na iyon, marahil naipakita na hindi sineryoso yung trabaho ng gobyerno at marahil napilit lang yung imbestigasyon,&quot; Tamase said in a DZMM interview Tuesday.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/13/-ganito-po-talaga-impeachment-court-spox-says-trial-may-continue-on-to-the-night-2343">‘Ganito po talaga’: Impeachment court spox says trial may continue ‘on to the night’</a></div><p>Tamase said the defense&#x27;s discovery of the errors effectively shifted their strategy that may undermine the position of the prosecution. </p><p>&quot;Powerful yung point na yun na nagawa nila (defense) kasi yung taktika mukhang nag-iba. Hindi na tayo ganun ka-focus sa objections nung presentation nung witness, nag-focus yung defense kung paano bubutasin yung testimonya,&quot; Tamase said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/13/sara-duterte-s-lawyer-tries-to-establish-marcos-link-to-nbi-complaint-2204">Sara Duterte&#x27;s lawyer tries to link Marcos to NBI complaint</a></div><p>&quot;Yung inconsistency ng dates importante siya primarily [in] undermining yung kredebilidad nung imbestigasyon,&quot; he added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;MINOR ERRORS&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>House prosecution team legal spokesperson Benjamin Tolosa, Jr. told DZMM Teleradyo on Tuesday that some supposed inconsistencies in the documents may be clarified in court and that the prosecution may conduct a redirect examination of Lotoc in the next session.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/13/nbi-s-lotoc-grilled-over-typo-errors-in-documents-1853">NBI&#x27;s Lotoc grilled over &#x27;typo&#x27; errors in documents</a></div><p>&quot;Para lang maging maliwanag para mabigyan sya ng paraan na mabigay yung kanyang panig, san ba nanggaling ito, and ang pinakaimportante dyan, anong naging epekto nito sa investigation na he conducted at conclusions that he reached... But in so far as we&#x27;re concerned, we&#x27;re still pleased how he handled his direct examination, even his cross examination,&quot; Tolosa said.</p><p>Tolosa also insisted that as Lotoc pointed out, the essence of their investigation remained unaffected by the &quot;errors&quot; raised by the defense.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/13/defense-questions-converted-received-date-on-nbi-s-investigation-data-form-on-duterte-2204">Defense questions ‘converted’ received date on NBI’s investigation data form on Duterte</a></div><p>&quot;The point is, yung mga minor typographical error, inconsistencies in dates, maganda tinanong ni Sen. Risa Hontiveros si Atty. Lotoc ano ba ang epekto ng mga ito sa kanilang investigation? Did it change the words stated, the threats made by the Vice President? Clear naman yung sinagot na wala, walang nagbago, hindi napalitan yung tenor ng sinabi ni [Duterte], how bad it was,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;May epekto ba yung minor discrepancies sa napakalinaw na public statements and admissions?&quot; Tolosa added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WfgJAmZdy2o?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K0kdHoLWloU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tN2P8JlYxeo?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kYxq9lz4IEQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>UP College of Law associate dean Paolo Tamase said the defense may "maximize" this narrative and pound on the alleged "sloppiness" of the NBI's investigation.</p>

UP College of Law associate dean Paolo Tamase said the defense may "maximize" this narrative and pound on the alleged "sloppiness" of the NBI's investigation.

Defense poised to pound 'sloppy' NBI probe at impeachment trial day 5

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Defense poised to pound 'sloppy' NBI probe at impeachment trial day 5

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 14, 2026 09:21 AM PHT

Read More:

sara duterte

inday sara

politics

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impeachment trial

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